PARTS of Queensland have seen the heaviest ever October rainfall and things are only going to get worse.

HORRIFIC rainfall is set to continue in Queensland which has seen its wettest October on record.

It’s only the very beginning of the wet season in the Sunshine State but in some towns the rain is the worst it has been in years.

Up to 400mm of rain was dumped in parts of the state since Saturday, and it has led to flooding and even a death.

A 67-year-old man has been found dead inside his car after being swept away by floodwaters near Gympie last night.

Tom Saunders, the chief meterologist at Sky News, said the sheer amount of rainfall is unprecedented in some parts of Queensland for this time of year.

Hervey Bay and Bundaberg have recorded their wettest Octobers on record. Just under 400mm fell in Bundaberg, smashing the 1953 record of 280.8mm and, Hervey Bay, more than 374mm fell – breaching the 240.1mm record set in 1949.


Comment: Monthly rainfall record smashed in one day in Bundaberg, Australia; 339mm (13inches) in 24 hours

“During the wet season, there’s definitely been much heavier rain in the past,” said Mr Saunders.

“But for this time of year, the very beginning of the wet season, we have broken some records.

“This is the level of rain we’d expect to see around the January or February part of the year.”

Westwood Range, just south of Gladstone, also saw some of the worst of yesterday’s rain with 369mm falling and 170mm coming down in just six hours.

Captain Creek, just inland from Seventeen Seventy, also got a drenching with 307mm falling in one day.

Maryborough has had a lashing this month with more than 350mm rain. Yesterday, more than 103mm of rain fell in the city making it the heaviest downpour in four years. Record rain also fell Gympie – which had its biggest downpour in two years.

The heaviest rain in seven months landed in Tewantin, which saw a 104mm downpour yesterday – bringing the total rainfall to more than 300mm this month.

So why has so much rain fallen, so early?

“The rain is due to a humid easterly airstream, which is warm humid air off the Coral Sea coast which is feeding moisture into a trough near the Queensland coast,” said Mr Saunders.

“Over inland Queensland there’s a cold pool of air that’s moving from the Southern Ocean. Cold air and warm air, they don’t mix well and always leads to extreme weather.

“Also this clash has a huge amount of moisture and as a result we’re seeing heavy rainfall.”

He added that the trough will edge north over coming days which will cause the heaviest rain to slowly move up the coast from today until Thursday, contracting to just the northern tropics by Friday.

“Many drought affected parts of western and northern Queensland are also seeing showers and thunderstorms this week,” he said.

“A new weather system will cause further showers and thunderstorms over inland Queensland during the weekend.”