Updated ,first published
Brisbane’s unseasonably wet weather is wreaking havoc on the city’s railways and roads, with flooding causing train delays and street closures.
Trains on the Cleveland, Beenleigh and Gold Coast lines have resumed after flooding between South Bank and South Brisbane stations caused a signaling fault, but Queensland Rail was warning commuters of residual delays.
Trains on all three main lines were stopped earlier, causing delays of up to an hour for commuters.
Services on the Beenleigh and Gold Coast lines resumed shortly before 3.30pm, followed by trains on the Cleveland line.
Heavy north-westerly cloud brought heavy rain to south-east Queensland on Sunday night which continued throughout Monday.
Flash flooding was affecting roads across Brisbane by Monday afternoon, with continued rain drenching the city for at least another day before it quickly descends to the sea.
More than 20 roads were affected by flooding, including Bruce Highway in Griffin and Margaret Road in the CBD.
By 4pm on Monday, a large north-westerly cloudband had dumped more than 60mm of rain on some parts of Brisbane, although most suburbs received between 20 and 40mm.
The heaviest falls were recorded in Burbank (61 mm), Chandler (45 mm), Aspley (46 mm) and Deagon (51 mm).
Redland City Council opened sanding stations in Thorneside, Cleveland and Redland Bay after more than 64mm of rain fell in Alexandra Hills. Sand storage facilities were also opened on the islands of the bay.
An umbrella will remain an essential accessory on Tuesday, but warm doonas and bed socks will come in handy from midweek, as the sky clears and the insulating effect of the blanket is lost.
Overnight temperatures are due to drop from Tuesday, the weather office predicts, as the band of cloud sitting over Brisbane currently breaks down.
Chief meteorologist Harry Clarke said Brisbane’s weather would remain calm until Tuesday afternoon, with between 10 and 30 millimeters of rain expected across the city.
“There is, especially towards the Gold Coast, higher falls than expected … picking up 50 millimeters or maybe even 100 millimeters when this event is all said and done tomorrow,” he said.
“It’s not a deluge, more moderate, but it’s definitely the heaviest we’ve had in a while.”
Clarke said the cloud cover had an insulating effect during the night, keeping overnight temperatures moderate.
“As soon as this system moves out on Tuesday evening and into Wednesday we’ll get a cooler, drier south-westerly wind behind it, so we’ll see a return to mostly sunny conditions,” Clarke said.
But nighttime temperatures can dip into the single digits.
A cloud band sitting over Brisbane on Monday – and stretching from the Kimberly region of Western Australia to the south coast of NSW – was bringing rain to much of the south-east, including parts of western Queensland.
He said the “unusual” rainfall in western Queensland peaked at about 42mm in Windorah, the town more than 1200km north-west of Brisbane that was affected. and floods in March.
