Monsoon conditions continue to hit nation's tropical north

Parts of the Top End recorded over 300m in just 24 hours.

Transcript

00:00 The active monsoon continues across the tropical north of Australia,

00:04 with the tropical low over the Northern Territory further enhancing rain and winds.

00:08 Our radar imagery from this morning shows where the shower and thunderstorm activity is focused,

00:14 just to the south of Darwin. It's those areas which have seen the highest rainfall totals in

00:19 the 24 hours to 9 o'clock this morning, with Wadair on the western side of the top end receiving over

00:25 300 mm. More widespread moderate falls were seen along the length of the monsoon trough,

00:31 with some isolated higher falls about the north tropical coast in Queensland as well,

00:36 almost 300 mm there too. Now parts of the top end are still under a severe weather warning.

00:42 The warning is for heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding, and also damaging winds.

00:47 Either of these weather phenomena by themselves can create some very hazardous conditions,

00:52 but together they can be quite dangerous. The warning at the moment is covering the Gregory,

00:58 Daly, Tiwi and parts of the Arnhem districts. So let's break it down. Firstly let's look at

01:03 the winds. Here we've got winds above the surface, but they give us a good indication of the strength

01:09 of the wind gusts that might reach the ground. We can see our tropical low over the Gregory

01:14 district, and the strongest winds wrapping around northern parts of the low. They'll persist across

01:20 parts of the Daly, Tiwi and Arnhem districts over the next 12 to 24 hours, with the risk of some

01:27 damaging wind gusts behind the low as well, particularly with thunderstorms. Now damaging

01:32 winds means wind gusts up to 90 km/h. They can bring down trees or tree limbs, and also create

01:39 some quite hazardous weather out on our maritime areas. Some squally monsoonal conditions are

01:44 expected at times over the coming days, so if you're heading out on or near the water, just be

01:49 aware of this wind risk as well. Our rainfall is also going to be most extreme around that tropical

01:56 low. We're seeing rain areas, showers and storms right across the monsoon trough, extending from

02:02 northern parts of the Kimberley through the Northern Territory and Cape York Peninsula,

02:06 but the heaviest rainfall is going to be tied to our tropical low. It'll gradually drift towards

02:12 the southeast through the next day or two, bringing those heaviest falls with it, mostly

02:17 wrapping around the northern and western flanks of the low. As we go into Wednesday, the path of

02:23 that low pressure system becomes a little less clear. It may continue to move towards the southeast

02:29 along the monsoon trough, or start to push back a little to the west. Whichever way it travels,

02:34 it is still going to bring us heavy rainfall and the continued risk of thunderstorms.

02:39 It's likely over the coming days that we will see further warnings issued for heavy rainfall,

02:44 severe thunderstorms and flash flooding, not just around the tropical low, but along the length of

02:50 the monsoon trough. In anticipation of the rainfall that we're expecting over the coming days, we do

02:56 have broad areas for flood watch current for parts of the western top end and across the Cape York

03:02 Peninsula. We're already starting to see river rises in some of these areas, and further river

03:08 rises are anticipated over the coming days. As the monsoon persists and this situation continues

03:16 to evolve, you can find all of the details of your forecasts and warnings via the Bureau's

03:21 website and the BOM Weather app. Stay safe and we'll catch you next time.