Big stretches of the Outback are set to receive a year’s worth of rain in the coming days, increasing the risk of flooding to dirt roads, and road and rail closures.
Weatherzone is forecasting 20 to 60mm of rain across South Australia, southern and western Queensland and northern NSW over the next four days.
Cloud is already forming over Central Australia and the rain is expected to move east from Sunday.
The downpour could be an “entire season’s worth of rain”, Weatherzone predicts.
The rain is being driven by an unusually strong high pressure system centred to the south of Australia, Weatherzone says, that will cause moisture-laden air to flow over Australia from the east in the next few days.
This airborne moisture, which is coming off unusually warm seas to the east of Australia, will clash with a cut-off upper-level low pressure system as it passes over the continent.
The interaction of the upper low and the atmospheric moisture will cause unseasonably heavy rain over a broad area of central and eastern Australia.
Birdsville in Queensland is forecast to get a thunderstorm on Friday night and up to 20mm of rain on Saturday.
Bourke, NSW, is set to receive possibly heavy falls and 30km/h winds on Sunday.
There are gale warnings in place for the West Australian southwest coast, and strong wind warnings for parts of the South Australian coast.
The Bureau of Meteorology has not issued any warnings related to the forecast rainfall.
Perth is expected to get up to 35mm of rain collectively on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The weather system will be a thawing influence for some parts of the southeast.
The tiny town of Liawenee on Tasmania’s Central Plateau recorded Australia’s first -10C of the year on Tuesday, as a serious cold snap blanketed the southeast of the country.
Not to be outdone, Liawenee went ahead and recorded Tasmania’s second-coldest night ever the next evening, clocking a -13.5C.
