A rain gauge located just outside Rockhampton has registered 550mm in 24 hours, setting a new record for the site.

Persistent and heavy rain targeted a stretch of rainforest to the north of Rockhampton and Yeppoon on Tuesday into Wednesday morning. Amid this relentless rainfall, a gauge located at Byfield collected half a metre of rain. 

According to automatic observations on the Bureau of Meteorology's website, Byfield was drenched with 550mm in the 24 hours to 9am on Wednesday. Almost half of this (250mm) fell during the six hours ending at 3am Wednesday. 

If verified, this will be Byfield’s highest daily rainfall total in records dating back to 1928, beating 486mm in early March 1983. 

This rainfall alone is impressive, but the fact that it follows the driest start to a year on record in nearby Rockhampton makes it phenomenal. 

Elsewhere in Queensland, heavy rain has caused rapid river rises in some areas during the last couple of days. 

The water level in the Retreat Creek at Sapphire, located to the west of Emerald, rose by nine metres in under four hours on Tuesday morning.