Australians are getting ready for some wild weather, with heavy downpours predicted to affect many parts of the country.
The country is currently experiencing severe storms in Queensland and Victoria, as well as a heatwave in Perth, Western Australia.
The long-awaited monsoon season is expected to bring heavy downpours to the Northern Territory, the Top End, and the Northern Queensland region over the next couple of weeks.
Satellite images show clouds that are stretching across vast distances in Northern Australia.
In the next couple of days, widespread falls of over a hundred millimeters are expected to occur in various parts of the country, such as Darwin, Townsville, and Cairns.
Before the end of the week, some areas may receive up to 500 millimeters of rain, especially in Queensland, which is currently going through severe floods.
According to Ashleigh Lange, a WeatherZone meteorologist, an area of convergence within the monsoon trough has been affecting the northeast region of Queensland.
This led to a weather warning being issued for heavy rainfall in some areas, such as Daintree and Port Douglas.
On Saturday morning, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe weather warning for the region, which included areas such as Kowanyama and Garradunga.
However, the warning was later canceled. There are also flood watches in place for the Mossman River and Daintree River. As of 9 am on Friday, the catchments had received over 270 millimeters of rain.
The agency warned that additional heavy rainfall could lead to minor flooding along the Daintree River.
In addition, the Russel and Mulgrave Rivers near the city of Cairns were also affected by flood warnings. As of Friday, the regions south of the city had received over 115 millimeters of rain. The monsoon season in the north typically begins in December and ends in early January.
The arrival of the monsoon season is a relief to many people in Australia due to the prolonged heat and humidity that they experienced earlier this year. A
ccording to Ms Lange, the late start to the season contributed to the record-breaking heat in Darwin.
She noted that the monsoon season heightens the likelihood that low pressure systems will turn into cyclones, especially if they remain over warm ocean for several days.
She also mentioned that there could be three tropical lows forming in the country during the next week.
Although the low pressure systems are not expected to become cyclones, they could still cause some damage to the country’s northern regions.
While the north is experiencing heavy rainfall, the south is experiencing hot and dry conditions. South Australia is currently experiencing the tail end of a heatwave that lasted for several days.
In a statement, the Bureau of Meteorology warned that extreme heatwave conditions would affect the western part of the North West Pastoral District and the western part of South Australia until the end of this weekend.
Areas most likely to experience extreme heat include Roxby Downs, APY Lands, and Oak Valley.
Temperatures are expected to reach 42 degrees Celsius on Saturday. They will gradually fall to around 30 degrees Celsius until Wednesday.
In Adelaide, temperatures are expected to reach the high 30s Celsius over the weekend. The city will also remain hot until Tuesday.