Ex-cyclone Esther rain sees outback Queensland rec...

Updated March 05, 2020 16:52:53

The outback town of Thargomindah has broken its 21-year-old record for its wettest day as torrential rain sweeps across drought-declared western Queensland.

Ex-cyclone Esther is combining with an upper trough to bring days of rain, with grass shoots starting to turn dustbowls green.

Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) forecaster Shane Kennedy said Thargomindah and Birdsville have recorded more rain in two days than their rainfall total for the past two years.

"So far in March, Thargomindah airport has seen 201 millimetres. This is also making it the wettest month on record at this station," he said.

"Thargomindah airport, the past two years, has seen a combined total of 166mm of rainfall, so it's already eclipsed that just in two days."

The wettest March had previously been in 2010 with 199mm.

Mr Kennedy said it was a similar story at Birdsville.

"The past two years, its combined rainfall was 130mm and just in two days it's seen 125mm, so substantial rainfall."

Rivers are experiencing major floods and homesteads are cut off as records tumble across the region.

About 30 kilometres from Thargomindah, Anthony Glasson's Picarilli Station has been cut off and his wife is unable to return home after 214mm fell in two days.

He said he hopes it is enough for grass to grow in the drought-declared area.

"The country is very bare, I'll be very excited to see what it does in the coming months," he said.

"The whole town just has a really excited vibe to it — when it's been as dry as it has for so long, it just really lifts spirits.

"I've gone back through some record books here and the last time there's any sort of an event is … 1990 and 1991.

"It's probably one of the biggest events in history for us.

"It's just been monsoonal-type rain set in and it'll just rain consistently for two or three hours and then let up, then six or seven hours later it'll go again."

In Boulia in Queensland's north-west, Shelley Norton, who is on the Boulia Camel Races Committee said she was happy to see the rain.

She said the town, which is currently isolated due to water over roads, is enjoying the slow pace and cooler weather.

Grass is already popping up after 120mm of rain in the past two days.

"It's amazing for out here — it's beautiful and green, the grass is growing," she said.

"It's going to be amazing come races time.

"The dustbowl is gone."

Mariah Powyer and her family have become isolated after three days of rain at Penaroo Station at Eulo, in south-west Queensland.

"We do have enough food and supplies but we're slowly running out," she said.

Ms Powyer's eight-month-old Riley is seeing rain for the first time, his older brother Dean, 3, cannot get enough of it.

Dean rode around the paddocks on a quadbike with his mother to check out the dam, which is now full.

"Dean thinks the rain, mud and driving in it all is amazing," she said.

"He keeps asking us to go outside to play in the rain with the dogs."

Topics: rainfall, storm-event, disasters-and-accidents, emergency-planning, birdsville-4482, longreach-4730, mount-isa-4825, boulia-4829, qld, brisbane-4000, australia

First posted March 05, 2020 10:53:59