A combination of gale-force winds, “abnormally” high tides and heavy rainfall across parts of the Queensland coastline is set to produce a weekend of wild, wet weather in the sunshine state.
The south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales coastlines are likely to see significant beach erosion and possible flooding as large swells and gale-force winds combine with what meteorologists predicts could be the highest tide of the year.
“Because of the weather, we expect to see water levels higher than the highest tide of the year,” Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Lauren Pattie said.
“That can cause and does cause lots of the beaches in south-east Queensland to experience issues such as significant beach erosion and also some localised flooding on some of those low-lying areas. It is a significant swell.”
Rainfall of up to 200mm is forecast in some parts of southern Queensland, with the bulk of the downpour expected on Sunday afternoon and into Monday morning.
At the same time, the average wind speed over waters off the Gold Coast is expected to be between 60 to 70 kilometres per hour, with gusts in excess of that.
“Because of that, we expect to see some really significant surf conditions as well. We expect to see some very large tides, abnormally large tides, so the surf conditions will be dangerous along the south-east coast from roughly just south of Fraser Island,” Pattie said.
The bulk of the wild weather is expected on the Gold Coast, Coolangatta and Brisbane.
Other parts of the state will also see some rainfall, though forecasters expect it to be significantly lower.
“The significant totals are mostly near the south-east and not out towards the ranges, so in places like Toowoomba there will be rain but not the significant totals we’re expecting on the coast,” Pattie said.
The bureau has also put in place a severe weather warning and flood watch for parts of NSW, with the situation expected to develop over the coming days. The bureau is warning of a “developing rain and possible flood situation” in parts of the state’s north.
“NSW might see a little bit less rainfall but not by much,” Pattie said.
“The timing is slightly different. South-east Queensland will see the system developing from Saturday, into Sunday and then Monday. There’s a little bit of a delay in terms of impacts for NSW, but not by much.”
