Parts of the Top End recorded over 300m in just 24 hours.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 The active monsoon continues across the tropical north of Australia,
00:04 with the tropical low over the Northern Territory further enhancing rain and winds.
00:08 Our radar imagery from this morning shows where the shower and thunderstorm activity is focused,
00:14 just to the south of Darwin. It's those areas which have seen the highest rainfall totals in
00:19 the 24 hours to 9 o'clock this morning, with Wadair on the western side of the top end receiving over
00:25 300 mm. More widespread moderate falls were seen along the length of the monsoon trough,
00:31 with some isolated higher falls about the north tropical coast in Queensland as well,
00:36 almost 300 mm there too. Now parts of the top end are still under a severe weather warning.
00:42 The warning is for heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding, and also damaging winds.
00:47 Either of these weather phenomena by themselves can create some very hazardous conditions,
00:52 but together they can be quite dangerous. The warning at the moment is covering the Gregory,
00:58 Daly, Tiwi and parts of the Arnhem districts. So let's break it down. Firstly let's look at
01:03 the winds. Here we've got winds above the surface, but they give us a good indication of the strength
01:09 of the wind gusts that might reach the ground. We can see our tropical low over the Gregory
01:14 district, and the strongest winds wrapping around northern parts of the low. They'll persist across
01:20 parts of the Daly, Tiwi and Arnhem districts over the next 12 to 24 hours, with the risk of some
01:27 damaging wind gusts behind the low as well, particularly with thunderstorms. Now damaging
01:32 winds means wind gusts up to 90 km/h. They can bring down trees or tree limbs, and also create
01:39 some quite hazardous weather out on our maritime areas. Some squally monsoonal conditions are
01:44 expected at times over the coming days, so if you're heading out on or near the water, just be
01:49 aware of this wind risk as well. Our rainfall is also going to be most extreme around that tropical
01:56 low. We're seeing rain areas, showers and storms right across the monsoon trough, extending from
02:02 northern parts of the Kimberley through the Northern Territory and Cape York Peninsula,
02:06 but the heaviest rainfall is going to be tied to our tropical low. It'll gradually drift towards
02:12 the southeast through the next day or two, bringing those heaviest falls with it, mostly
02:17 wrapping around the northern and western flanks of the low. As we go into Wednesday, the path of
02:23 that low pressure system becomes a little less clear. It may continue to move towards the southeast
02:29 along the monsoon trough, or start to push back a little to the west. Whichever way it travels,
02:34 it is still going to bring us heavy rainfall and the continued risk of thunderstorms.
02:39 It's likely over the coming days that we will see further warnings issued for heavy rainfall,
02:44 severe thunderstorms and flash flooding, not just around the tropical low, but along the length of
02:50 the monsoon trough. In anticipation of the rainfall that we're expecting over the coming days, we do
02:56 have broad areas for flood watch current for parts of the western top end and across the Cape York
03:02 Peninsula. We're already starting to see river rises in some of these areas, and further river
03:08 rises are anticipated over the coming days. As the monsoon persists and this situation continues
03:16 to evolve, you can find all of the details of your forecasts and warnings via the Bureau's
03:21 website and the BOM Weather app. Stay safe and we'll catch you next time.