At least one ‘severe’ cyclone tipped to hit Queensland
Forecasters say it will be an average cyclone season with at least one to hit Queensland, but the severity of the storm system may be higher than usual.
Queenslanders are being warned at least one cyclone will make landfall this summer, but it may be more severe due to warmer water temperatures.
The high-risk weather season has begun in the Sunshine State, with bushfires spreading due to heavy rain in previous months providing plenty of fuel.
Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner and State Disaster Co-ordinator Shane Chelepy said more than 1.25 million hectares of land had burned since the fire season started in July.
There have been no deaths, but one residence was destroyed in Forsayth, in the state’s Gulf Country, in a blaze earlier this week.
The Bureau of Meteorology warns fire conditions will continue over the next few months.
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The warning should be heeded in areas not yet impacted by summer storm cells ripping across the state, with one drenching Brisbane in more than 50mm of rain in an hour on Wednesday night.
“The outlook for the next couple of months where we haven’t seen that rainfall, conditions are still ripe for very dangerous bushfires to occur,” meteorologist Kimba Wong told reporters on Thursday.
“Once we do start to see rainfall and conditions wetting out, that bushfire risk does decrease.”
The storms are expected to continue for some months with typical conditions where three air masses collide – an inland trough, a southeasterly wind and warm, moist northeastern air – to create the dangerous conditions.
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“That’s why we typically see some of these storms impacting southeast Queensland in the later afternoon,” Wong said.
Chelepy said it had already been an active storm season, but the state had come out “relatively unscathed”.
However, some communities copped the brunt of the damage with one quarter of homes in Julia Creek, in northwest Queensland, impacted during Monday’s storm with 146km/h winds.
The bureau said it would be an average season with at least one tropical cyclone making landfall and three others remaining off the coast.
But it warns the cyclone may be more severe than usual, with ocean temperatures reaching near-record highs and providing greater energy to weather systems.
Chelepy urged Queenslanders to prepare for extreme weather events.
“No matter where you live in Queensland, you will be at some sort of risk whether it be storm, fire, flood or cyclone,” he said.
He said it appeared residents were becoming storm weary and not heeding warnings, urging Queenslanders to remain alert.
“You will not get warnings for your street or your house, so you need to understand what those warnings mean for you.”
