Up to 160mm in six hours to fall around the northern rivers, NSW, causing flash flooding.
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00:00 Intense rainfall and severe thunderstorms have lashed parts of northeast NSW and southeast
00:05 Qld overnight, and are expected to continue today, so let's take a look at the latest.
00:11 Severe weather warnings are current for parts of the northern rivers of NSW and the southeast
00:15 Qld coast.
00:17 In these areas we could see heavy rainfall, with six hourly rainfall totals reaching as
00:21 much as 160 mm.
00:24 Now our waterways and infrastructure aren't built to withstand such a large amount of
00:28 rain over such a short period of time, and as a result flash flooding is also a risk
00:33 in these parts, as well as the other hazards that we associate with flooding, such as landslips
00:38 and adverse driving conditions.
00:41 It should also be noted that across the Qld side of the border, locally intense rainfall
00:46 is a risk, with six hourly rainfall totals potentially reaching as much as 250 mm.
00:52 This locally intense rainfall is most likely with thunderstorms through the day today,
00:56 and potentially could lead to life-threatening flash flooding.
01:00 If you or someone you know is living in or travelling through these areas today, it is
01:05 essential to stay on top of the warnings which will be updated regularly through the day,
01:09 and also check in with your local emergency services to keep as safe as possible.
01:13 We've already seen a lot of rainfall in these areas, in the overnight period many gauges
01:18 reaching 200-300 mm.
01:21 Several locations exceeded 300 mm, including Springbrook in the Gold Coast hinterland,
01:28 and Limpinwood across the border in NSW, and it's still raining in these parts.
01:33 Our radar from the last few hours shows those rain areas moving in off the ocean, with a
01:37 few yellow cells that you can see here, with the potential to become thunderstorms over
01:43 the next few hours.
01:45 If any storms do become severe today, we may be issuing severe thunderstorm warnings on
01:50 top of the severe weather warnings that's already current.
01:54 Taking a look at the rest of today, easterly flow will continue to bring a lot of moisture
01:59 onshore, feeding into those rain areas, showers and thunderstorms about the southeast Queensland/northeast
02:05 NSW border area.
02:07 But it's not just those parts which will see the wet weather.
02:11 If I zoom out a little, we can see the showers and storms impacting much broader areas of
02:16 eastern Queensland, northeast NSW and even extending to some of those inland districts
02:21 as well, although with much less rainfall on the way.
02:25 That's reflected in our thunderstorm forecast for today, which shows much broader areas
02:30 in green, indicating possible thunderstorms.
02:33 Our severe thunderstorms are most likely through eastern Queensland and about the Queensland/NSW
02:39 border, with our focal point really being those coastal border areas which may see the
02:45 extremely high rainfall rates.
02:49 The risk of this rainfall is triggering flood watches across central and southeast Queensland
02:54 and northeast NSW, with a minor flood warning already in place for the Tweed River in NSW.
03:01 Now over the next few days, as river rises continue, some of these flood watches may
03:05 be upgraded into flood warnings, and you can find any updates via the Bureau's website.
03:11 Coming into Tuesday, the risk of heavy falls about that border area will continue through
03:15 the morning, but through the later part of the day it should start to become patchier,
03:20 with the risk starting to ease off.
03:22 However, moisture in general is moving south into southern NSW and Victoria, with the risk
03:29 of severe storms and heavy falls picking up through Tuesday and continuing through into
03:34 the middle of the week.
03:37 This situation continues to be dangerous and dynamic, but you can find all the updates
03:42 to your forecasts and warnings via the Bureau's website and the BOM social media.
03:46 Stay safe, and we'll catch you in the next update.
03:48 [Music]