Bom Weather: Sydney’s sticky humidity shifting toward severe storms this week
Intense thunderstorms are producing heavy rain across northeast New South Wales and southeast Queensland, with Byron Bay recording 75 mm in one hour during Friday’s storms. The presence of slow-moving showers and a coastal trough signals activity concentrating further north into southeast Qld through Friday afternoon and night.
Northern Rivers and Ballina: confirmed heavy totals and local impacts
Slow-moving showers and thunderstorms associated with a coastal trough moved over the Northern Rivers district on Friday morning and early afternoon, with Ballina receiving 86 mm in the three hours up to 12: 15pm AEDT (9: 15 pm ET). Rain gauges at Coopers Shoot and Belongil Creek near Byron Bay registered more than 100 mm in three hours during the morning’s storms, producing flash flooding in some areas.
Bom Weather alerts from the Bureau of Meteorology and Weatherzone
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning for heavy rainfall that was still in place at 2: 30pm AEDT (11: 30 pm ET), and Weatherzone supplied information based on data provided by the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM). Heavy showers and thunderstorms spread into southeast Qld on Friday, with Upper Springbrook collecting 29 mm in one hour around lunchtime and a severe thunderstorm warning issued for parts of southeast Qld shortly after 1pm AEST (11: 00 pm ET). This cluster of official warnings and rapid hourly totals forms the current bom weather alert picture.
Southeast QLD and Upper Springbrook: conditional storm scenarios
If the current focus on southeast Qld this afternoon and night continues, the most intense rain and thunderstorm activity will remain concentrated over southeast Qld while allowing conditions to ease in northeast NSW. The context states the most intense activity will focus on southeast Qld on Friday afternoon and night, so continued slow-moving storms would prolong local heavy hourly totals like the 29 mm at Upper Springbrook.
Should the low pressure trough move further north with the rain and storms, drier weather will return to southeast Qld and northeast NSW from the weekend. The context explicitly links a northward shift of the low pressure trough with a return to drier weather across both regions from the weekend.
The next confirmed signal in this sequence is whether further severe thunderstorm warnings are issued on Friday afternoon and night; the context notes such warnings may be issued. What the context does not resolve is the precise geographic extent or timing of any additional warnings across southeast Qld beyond the broad statement that further warnings may follow. Expect the immediate milestone to be any new severe thunderstorm warnings issued for Friday afternoon and night as the trough and slow-moving storms evolve.
