Record rain soaks outback Queensland as icy blast bears down on rest of country

By Raffaella Ciccarelli • Senior Producer

8:07am Jul 4, 2023

Outback Queensland has been smashed with record-breaking July rain, as the rest of the country braces for an icy blast that will send temperatures plummeting well below average.

Many parts of Western Queensland have experienced 10 to 15 times their monthly average rainfall in a 24-hour period with rain seeping into the baked red clay.

The rain is expected to keep falling today, with showers also forecast for Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Canberra, before it begins to ease on Wednesday.

Forecast accumulated rain during the 48 hours ending at 10pm AEST on Tuesday, July 4, 2023, according to the ECMWF-HRES model (Weatherzone)

The wet weather is being fuelled by a large cloud band, which has been lurking above the Sunshine State since Friday.

Queensland's heaviest falls however have occurred from Sunday, into Monday morning.

Weatherzone this morning confirmed three notable rain records fell in the 24-hour period to 9am on Monday.

"64.4 mm (of rain fell) at Cloncurry Airport, which is about 15 times the site's July monthly average of 4.3 mm. This is also Cloncurry's wettest July day since at least 1978," the weather service said.

"Mount Isa Airport's 78.4 mm is 13 times their July monthly average. It's also the wettest July day observed at either the Airport or old Post Office weather stations in records dating back to 1926.

"Birdsville (recorded) 15.8mm, its heaviest July rain since 1998."

The northwest cloudband was captured siting over Qld on Monday. (Weatherzone)

The cloud band is working to suppress average temperatures in Queensland too.

"As of 4pm AEST on Monday, maximum temperatures were running around 8 to 12ºC below average in parts of the Gulf Country, Northern Goldfields, Central West, Northwest and Channel Country Districts.," Weatherzone said.

But it's set to get even colder for much of the country as an icy blast prepares to unleash.

A thick cloud forming over Australia will see temperatures plummet up to 15 degrees below average later this week.

This morning the capitals woke to slightly warmer conditions compared to yesterday.

Canberra recorded a minimum temperature of 3 degrees, Hobart 4 degrees, and Adelaide 7 degrees.

Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane respectively recorded minimums of 9 degrees, 11 degrees, 10 degrees and 14 degrees, while tropical Darwin saw a warm 21-degree start.