Australia's east coast is being battered by heavy rainfall.
Australia's east coast is being battered by heavy rainfall.
Severe thunderstorms and heavy downpours will continue to batter Queensland and NSW in the coming days.
Queensland has already copped up to 300mm of rain across the weekend in one of the worst starts to the wet season on record.
According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, strong winds, heavy rain and possible storms are expected will continue to lash the state in coming days — particularly in the north where the bad weather could persist until Wednesday.
On Saturday, Brisbane recorded its wettest February day in 46 years — copping a massive 136mm of rain making the period its wettest day since May 2, 2015, when 183mm fell.
The bureau also issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of NSW and ACT — including the Southern Tablelands and parts of Illawarra, South Coast, Central Tablelands, South West Slopes and Australian Capital Territory Forecast Districts.
Severe thunderstorm warning updated, with heavy rainfall redeveloping around #Townsville. Heavy falls possible elsewhere in the warning area, with damaging wind gusts possible in the northwest. Updates: https://t.co/kR2Xz4GYzJpic.twitter.com/cYsZIAG2Gn
"Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding in the warning area over the next several hours," the warning reads.
"Locations which may be affected include Nowra, Braidwood, Canberra, Goulburn, Yass and Queanbeyan."
Canberra residents are mopping up after a day of heavy rainfall, with some areas hit with more than 50mm of rain in an hour.
The ACT State Emergency Service had received more than 200 calls for help on Sunday evening as heavy rainfall closed roads and led to some flash flooding.
Woolshed Creek, in Canberra's northeast, received about 45mm of rain in the hour to 10am Sunday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Many residents posted images on social media showing flooded basements and swollen creeks as authorities urged people not to drive through flooded roads. The majority of the rain fell in the morning, however it persisted throughout the afternoon as a trough gradually contracted to the northeast.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Steph Spackman said there would only be light showers and drizzle overnight.
"It will start to clear out about mid morning Monday and we'll still have those southeasterlies, but the precipitation should be gone by then," she told AAP.
The Australian National University announced its Acton campus would be closed on Monday due to the flooding.
The university said while child care centres would open as usual, students and staff shouldn't come to the campus as "essential safety checks on infrastructure including bridges, creek banks and electrical switchboards" were being conducted.
Jonathan How from the Extreme Weather Desk at the Bureau of Meteorology, told news.com.au yesterday that the heavy rain and thunderstorms in Brisbane will subside by the end of the day — but other parts of Queensland can expect to cop it for a few more days.
"It is quite unusual to see this amount of rain, at this time of year in Queensland and we're seeing some of the biggest daily totals of rainfall in years," he said.
He added that it's going to feel very hot in parts of SA and central and western Victoria in the coming days — as temperatures could reach the mid-thirties. However, a cold front is expected to move in by the middle of next week.
The nasty weather in Queensland almost proved fatal for one young boy, who is lucky to be alive after becoming stuck in a drain on one of the state's wettest days.
Drazic Grimmett waited to be rescued.
According to theCourier Mail, four-year-old Drazic Grimmett was playing with friends in a Morayfield park Saturday morning when he crawled up a stormwater drain.
After travelling about 50m along the pipe, he was unable to get out.
He was eventually rescued by four Caboolture firefighters who had to remove the stormwater grate to get him out.
Among the flash flooding, two tourists had to be rescued by swift-water crews on Friday night after their car was swept from a causeway at Kobble Creek, near Dayboro.
The pair escaped their vehicle but were washed 200m downstream. A four-year-old was also pulled from a drain in Morayfield, north of Brisbane, where he was playing unsupervised before being stuck for more than 20 minutes.
In the past 24 hours the SES has responded to 400 call-outs, mainly in the southeast.
About 150mm of rain has fallen in Brisbane since 9am on Friday, and the drizzle is expected to continue early this week.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a flood watch in the Gulf country, as significant storm activity is forecast in the next few days.
The deluge swamping southeast Queensland has delivered average monthly rainfalls within 24 hours, producing flash flooding, road closures and overspilling dams.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the upper low system saw many areas from the Sunshine Coast to Gold Coast receive more than their monthly average in one day.
The bureau's latest figures show Toolakea (northwest of Townsville) copped a whopping 498mm in five days last week — making it the wettest part of the state.
