Australian Weather

13 Feb 2026, 12:05AM UTC

Extremely heavy rain continues to fall in the NE corner of New South Wales and SE Queensland this Friday morning, with some locations having recorded more than 200mm in 24 hours. Notable observations to 9am Friday (AEDT) in NE NSW included: 241mm at Doon Doon, about 20m northwest of Byron Bay, which included 162mm in just six hours 208.8mm at Green Pigeon, a weather station near the town of Kyogle 176.5mm at Main Arm, a weather station near Mullumbimby Notable observations to 9am Friday (AEST) in SE Qld included: 128mm at Tallebudgera Creek Mouth on the Gold Coast 127mm at Tallai, near Hinze Dam in the Gold Coast hinterland 126mm at Burleigh Waters on the Gold Coast What’s causing this ongoing heavy rain? "A deep layer of atmospheric moisture over southeast and central Qld this Friday is providing fuel for heavy rain," Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino explains. "A southerly change that moved through northeast NSW overnight and southeast Qld this morning has also triggered areas of heavy rain near the coast." Image: Combined atmospheric water vapour and rain radar imagery for the six hours from 3:30am to 9:30am (AEDT) on Friday, February 13, 2026. You can see the available atmospheric water vapour (the blue layer) in the loop above. The loop also shows how heavy rain (green, red and yellow) concentrated around the eastern Qld/NSW border overnight, with the southerly beginning to push heavy showers onshore from the coast. How long will this rain continue? This slow-moving low pressure trough will continue to linger over southern and central Qld for the next few days, causing widespread rain and thunderstorms across the state – as well as in the northeast corner of NSW. Severe thunderstorms are likely to break out at times, with heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding. BoM warnings At 6:43am (AEST), the BoM issued a severe weather warning for heavy rainfall for parts of Queensland’s Southeast Coast forecast district. The BoM warned that six-hourly rainfall totals between 50 to 90 mm were likely, with isolated higher falls to around 150 mm possible. At 9:52 am (AEDT), the BoM issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of the NSW Northern Rivers forecast district. The BoM stated that severe thunderstorms could cause flash flooding over the next several hours.  How to stay safe during flooding Some roads may become impassable as flooding develops over Qld and northeast NSW later this week. Anyone living in these areas should keep an eye on the latest warnings over the next few days and take the following steps to keep safe: Don’t enter floodwater. This includes driving, walking or swimming. Obey road signs and plan ahead before travelling through flooded areas. Avoid flooded drains, rivers, streams and other waterways. Check the Queensland Government website or the NSW Hazards Near Me app for local emergency warnings and advice. Contact the SES on 132 500 for emergency assistance. In life-threatening situations, call 000 (triple zero).

12 Feb 2026, 5:50AM UTC

When storms set in late on Wednesday night and continued into this Thursday morning in Alice Springs, it made it eight days straight that the iconic Northern Territory outback city had seen rain. The total rainfall over the eight-day streak was 125.2mm, with the 43.4mm recorded in the 24 hours to 9am Thursday being the heaviest single day of rain. There were reports of multiple rescues as flash flooding occurred in and around the normally dry Todd River. No additional rain was recorded on Thursday between 9am and 3pm, although some showers were still in the area, meaning the streak may extend to nine days.  How unusual are Alice Springs rainfall events lasting over a week? Alice Springs receives a relatively meagre 283.7mm of rainfall on average each year, spread out over an average of 42.9 rain days. That means the city can expect less than one rain day per week across the year, which makes eight-day wet spells (or longer) very much a rarity. But they are not unprecedented: The last time it rained on eight consecutive days in Alice Springs was in June/July 2023, when the streak actually lasted nine days, delivering 31mm in total. You have to go back 44 years to find an eight-day streak of wet days in February. What caused the last eight days of rainfall? The loop below shows the storms lashing the Alice Springs area overnight. Image: Six-hour combined satellite and radar loop to 3:30am ACST, showing storms over Central Australia and the Alice Springs area. "Slow-moving storms coalesced from the south along a trough line, harnessing intense tropical moisture brewed by weeks of tropical cyclone and monsoon activity,” Weatherzone meteorologist Jess Miskelly explains. The occasional influxes of tropical moisture like we’ve seen this week are why Alice Springs is more likely to see significant rainfall totals in summer than winter. Indeed, January and February are The Alice's wettest two months on average (42.4mm and 40.7mm respectively) while August is the driest month with an average of just 8mm. February’s running total of 125.2mm means that Alice Springs has already received three times its average monthly rainfall. But it’s worth noting that just 0.4mm fell in January (on the first day of the year). READ MORE: Queensland flood threat with heavy rain and severe thunderstorms later this week Meanwhile, several weather stations near Alice Springs recorded even heavier falls overnight, including Mt Lloyd with 121mm, 76mm of which fell in an intense downpour between 1am and 2am. Alice Springs and southern parts of the NT should see a return to relatively dry conditions from Friday through to the early part of next week.