Thunderstorms have been forecast for wide areas of the continent and are expected to continue into the weekend, according to The Weather Channel.

Behind the widespread wet conditions is a low-pressure trough that extends from northern inland New South Wales to north-western Queensland to central parts of the Northern Territory and then across to the southern parts of Western Australia.

The Weather Channel said yesterday the thunderstorm activity would produce a large band of rain and thunderstorms that will move across to the eastern states across the weekend.

In the meantime an upper-level trough is expected to generate showers and thunderstorms over south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales during today, and this activity will combine with the trough approaching from the west during the weekend.

Increasing rainfall is also expected across Queensland’s North Tropical Coast and Tablelands over the weekend, and into early next week, around the Cairns/Tully Innisfail area as a moist onshore flow concentrates across the area. Flooding is likely to develop here, with four-day totals from Saturday through to Tuesday in excess of 200 mm indicated.

Elsewhere, across the same period, widespread totals of 25 to 50 mm are expected across much of New South Wales, Victoria, and north-eastern Tasmania. Seven-day totals of 50 to 100 mm are indicated for parts of western Queensland with renewed flooding over several of the inland river systems likely.

Several flood warnings remain in force for southern inland Queensland and northern inland New South Waless.

Weather over tropical waters to the northwest of the mainland has become more active, with several thunderstorm clusters visible. The equatorial trough is now well defined across the area, and cyclone development may follow before the end of December.

Source: The Weather Channel