Australia Weather News

Temperatures could be up to four degrees below average in Queensland this week, with weather conditions expected to ease after a rainy spell in central and southern parts of the state.

"After some pretty wet days … we are in for a more settled run into the new week," Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jonathan How said.

He said a slow-moving high-pressure system that was forming in southern Queensland would direct a drier wind pattern across the state.

The bureau forecasted dry conditions inland on Monday with some showers in coastal areas, including from the New South Wales border up towards Wide Bay, Capricornia and the Mackay coast and into the northern tropics.

"Not expecting any big totals, but we'll see maybe a couple of millimetres or so, including around the south-east of the state for the Ekka [agricultural show] activities down there," Mr How said.

"We're still looking at some cooler air lingering after that cloud cover late last week.

"Maximum temperatures, we are looking at anywhere up to four degrees below average, particularly through the south-east."

He said while it would be chilly across the southern interior, the bureau was not forecasting any significant frost.

Mr How said conditions on Tuesday would be similar.

"Showers across the coast will gradually start to clear away, but we will start to see some increased shower activity across the Tropical North, areas from Ingham, up towards Cairns, to the Cassowary Coast," he said.

Cooler temperatures are expected to continue into the weekend.

Unseasonal falls

Last week modelling had forecast in excess of 100 to 200 millimetres of rain from south of Rockhampton towards Bundaberg.

But Mr How said those predictions did not eventuate, as most of the rain sat offshore at the weekend.

"For the week we still did see about 25 to 55mm from up towards Yeppoon, Saint Lawrence, that pocket there and also did see some higher falls down around Hervey Bay and K'gari [formerly known as Fraser Island].

"Inland we did see some moderate falls for the central and south-western parts of the state, still pretty unseasonal for this time of year given it's the dry months.

"But we didn't really see anything cracking triple digits like some of the models were suggesting, and it does come down to just how far off the coast these systems lie."