Rainfall exceeding 200mm in 12 hours around parts of Far North Queensland, Northern Territory, and Western Australia.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 The monsoon has arrived to bring prolonged periods of heavy rainfall,
00:04 thunderstorms and cloudy skies to the tropical north of Australia.
00:08 We've already seen cloud building over the recent days across those northernmost parts
00:13 of the country with showers and storms generating heavy falls in some of these areas.
00:18 Overnight last night we saw rainfall totals exceeding 200 millimetres about Queensland's
00:23 north tropical coast and that is associated with the monsoon trough. It's currently lying
00:30 across the north extending from northern parts of the Kimberley through the Top End and Gulf
00:34 of Carpentaria and into the Queensland Peninsula as well. Now we know this is the monsoon trough
00:40 because it's slow moving and sitting far enough south that it's directing prolonged periods of
00:46 moist northwesterly flow onto these land areas. Now that moist flow will generate significant
00:53 showers and storms over the coming days. The rain will be mostly clustered around the monsoon trough
00:58 and these two lows you see here but it may extend as far south as Broome over Western Australia,
01:04 Tennant Creek through the Northern Territory and Townsville or Mackay over Queensland.
01:09 Over the coming days heavy rainfall, severe thunderstorms and flash or riverine flooding
01:17 are all risks we can expect. Squally winds and elevated sea levels are also possible but rain
01:23 and flooding are really the most dangerous risks that we have ahead of us. Warnings may be issued
01:30 for some or all of these hazards over the coming days so residents and communities across northern
01:35 parts of Australia should have their monsoon plan in place and keep themselves up to date by the
01:40 Bureau's website for the forecasts and warnings. Now we're also keeping a close eye on a couple of
01:47 tropical lows which are developing along the monsoon trough over the weekend. If the conditions
01:52 are right and these systems stay over water long enough they may deepen into tropical cyclones.
01:58 However in this situation the risk of that happening is only low largely because they're
02:03 not staying over water long enough. But however these systems evolve whether or not they do become
02:09 tropical cyclones we are still expecting a heavy rainfall and flooding risk across those northern
02:15 parts of Australia. The rainfall totals over the coming days are likely to be widespread,
02:21 heaviest with thunderstorms and about the western side of Cape York Peninsula and western parts of
02:26 the Top End. That is because this moisture is coming in from the northwest pushing against
02:32 those west-facing coasts. With the monsoon upon us and this situation continuing to evolve it's
02:39 essential to follow all the latest forecasts and warnings via the Bureau's website or the
02:44 BOM Weather App. Catch you next time.