Owen tipped to bring showers, storm chance

Showers with the chance of a storm is the basic summary of the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) forecast for the Southern Downs and Granite Belt regions for today, Friday 14 December, tomorrow and Sunday.

The main falls of rain for Saturday and Sunday are expected to be concentrated in areas east of Warwick towards the range, while the rain chance on Monday will be higher on the Granite Belt.

BOM says severe Tropical cyclone Owen is located over the southwestern Gulf of Carpentaria and is expected to continue to move generally eastwards through today.

“Conditions are favourable for further intensification, and the cyclone is likely to make landfall as a severe tropical cyclone about the southeast Gulf on late Friday or early Saturday, before tracking down the northeast coast as a deep tropical low pressure system over the weekend,” the BOM forecast states.

“Deep tropical moisture is likely to remain in place to the east of a surface trough moving slowly eastwards across the central and eastern state over the next coming days, likely combining with a significant upper trough developing over eastern Australia to lead to showers and thunderstorms over much of the state, shifting to central and eastern districts late in the week.”

Maximum daytime temperatures for the Warwick area over the weekend will be in the high 20’s, while Stanthorpe and surrounds can expect maximums in the mid 20’s.

For the Darling Downs and Granite Belt region –

Forecast for the rest of Friday…

Partly cloudy. High (80%) chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm, possibly severe with possible heavy falls.

Saturday 15 December…

Partly cloudy. High (80%) chance of showers in the east, medium (40%) chance elsewhere. The chance of a thunderstorm from the late morning, possibly severe with possible heavy falls.

Sunday 16 December…

Cloudy. High (80%) chance of showers in the east, medium (50%) chance elsewhere. The chance of a thunderstorm, with some severe storms possible.

Monday 17 December…

Partly cloudy. High (70%) chance of showers over the Granite Belt, medium (40%) chance elsewhere. The chance of a thunderstorm.