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| Heavy rain caused a big washout along part of the Bruce Highway at roadworks at Cardwell. Cardwell resident Les Harris looks at the damage. |
BRISBANE and parts of the southeast face localised flooding this weekend, with the potential for about 300mm or more of rain from today until Monday.
It will be the first good drenching of city back yards in six months and will be followed by hot and muggy conditions next week.
By the time it dissipates, the monsoon low will have brought rain to more than 2000km of Queensland's coast and parts of NSW.
Torrential rain has lashed north Queensland, with Ingham, Halifax and Tully and parts of Townsville suffering some flooding.
More than 25 bulk carriers were forced offshore yesterday as huge seas and torrential rain whipped up by ex-Cyclone Oswald shut down loading at Hay Point near Mackay, one of the world's biggest coal ports.
Port authorities expect it is likely to be a three-day delay costing the state $8.5 million a day in royalties.
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| How the weather will descend on southeast Queensland. |
In the Whitsundays, tourists embraced the wild weather by surfing and kite boarding as airports reopened.
The rain also flushed out the odd north Queensland local, including two crocodiles seen walking on roads in Ingham.
Rainfall in the southeast over the next four days is expected to range from 100mm to 300mm.
Heaviest falls will be near the tropical low and under isolated storms, with the coast being battered by rough seas.
Brisbane's mean January rainfall is 159.6mm.
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| Townsville residents Alexander Colley, 10, Jaaron Colley, 7, and Ryley Colley, won't let a little flooding stop them from enjoying their last few days of the school holiday. |
The low's impact in parched inland areas will be much less than on the coastal strip.
The Mackay to Gladstone region was copping the brunt of it yesterday, with Samuel Hill north of Yeppoon recording 148mm in six hours. Rockhampton had 79mm, Carmila to the north 73mm and Gladstone to the south, 58mm in the same period.
The remains of Oswald should be just north of Rockhampton this morning.
The weather bureau expects the monsoon low to be between Gladstone and Bundaberg tomorrow.
Weatherzone forecaster Melissa MacKellar said there was a low possibility of the system reforming into a cyclone tomorrow.
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| A cruiser was washed onto rocks at Airlie Beach yesterday as the bad weather generated by ex-Tropical Cyclone Oswald set in. |
"It looks like Brisbane is going to be a bit wet but at least the risk of cyclone development in the tropical north will decrease for a while after this," she said.
Ingham Mayor Rodger Bow said most houses escaped inundation despite localised flooding.
"The heavy weather has backed off, the river is subsiding and the system has moved south. Now, we have to sit and wait for the water to go down," Cr Bow said.
Ex-Cyclone Oswald was heading southeast yesterday at 24km/h, with wind gusts of more than 125km/h.
25.1.13
