bom brisbane|bom declares la nina alert

Dr. Watkins said La Niña also brought an early start to the northern rainy season.
The BOM severe weather forecast, released Monday, warned of average to slightly above-average risk of tropical cyclones this season and above-average risk of flooding.

"This could be a little wet for the harvest, unfortunately, if we get a La Niña in November," said Dr. 

Watkins

bom declares la nina alert

"But let's keep our fingers crossed for those who have a great crop out there right now."

Wild weather is coming

Heavy rain fell on central Australia and parts of Queensland this week thanks to the flow of an atmospheric river across the continent.

Hail was reported in Alice Springs on Monday, Birdsville recorded 23.4mm in the 24 hours to 9:00am Tuesday, while 75mm fell at Mount Glorious and 35mm fell in Brisbane.

"Indeed, when I looked at the notes, Birdsville was the wettest place in Australia late on a Monday afternoon, which is unusual to see," said Dr. Watkins.

Over the past week, large parts of the country have recorded decreases of between 10mm and 50mm, including in the southwest and Tasmania.

"We had this event a couple of weeks ago, so the landscape gets a little wet there," Dr. Watkins added.

But attention is turning to the Bight, where the front and low pressure system is developing.

Loading "Over the next few days, we expect to see precipitation on the east coast again; potentially more 10mm to 50mm across the eastern half of NSW and into southeast Queensland."

Widespread impacts are expected from Wednesday, but Thursday currently looks like the big day for widespread storms in the Southeast, with heavy rain, severe thunderstorms, snow and strong winds in the forecast.

Wet weather is expected to continue on Friday before things clear up into the weekend.