Parts of Queensland’s far north are being soaked as a monsoon trough ramps up and a depression in the tropical Pacific shows signs of building into a cyclone.

Weather forecasters are predicting that a tropical low, currently located 140km north east of Mornington Island and tracking south-eastwards, could become a cyclone within the next six to 12 hours.

A cyclone warning is current for coastal  communities from Karumba to Cape York, including Mornington Island.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicts that the system is most likely to cross Queensland’s coast between Aurukun and Kowanyama on Monday night or early Tuesday morning, and is expected to bring heavy rainfall into Tuesday.

WeatherZone said falls in excess of 100mm were predicted for parts of far north Qld in coming days.

To 9am Sunday, Weipa on Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula had recorded 115mm of rain, while the town’s airport received 75mm of rain, which followed its driest December in at least 20 years.

Widespread falls of up to 50mm were also recorded across Queensland’s North Coast and Tablelands, and follows earlier falls in excess of 100mm in parts of the Gulf Country on Friday.

A large tract of grazing and farming country in southern Queensland’s Western Downs also received timely, if not excessive, rain relief on Saturday night when an intense thunderstorm delivered up to 220 millimetres of rain (8.8 inches) to the region.

An area from Chinchilla, Tara and Moonie stretching towards Warwick on the eastern Darling Downs received significant falls, which caused flash flooding and cut off roads.