Queensland severe weather and official warning links

Official information first

Warning titles and issue times may appear above with links to the issuing service. Open BOM for the full warning, current affected area and issue time, and Get Ready Queensland for local information. Atmosphr does not issue warnings or provide the full official warning advice.

Cyclone QLD: track maps and preparation →

Queensland’s main weather hazards and when they occur

Risk in Queensland changes with latitude and distance from the coast. The table lists the hazards the state’s agencies highlight, with the official place to check first. Seasons are typical, not guaranteed: Get Ready Queensland notes that cyclones can occur outside the official season, and the Bureau notes that cool-season thunderstorms also happen.

Queensland events worth knowing

• Floods of 2010 to 2011. Rain began in late November 2010 and by January 2011 flooding had affected 75 per cent of the state. On 10 January 2011 a sudden flood swept through Toowoomba and then the Lockyer Valley, and floodwaters in the Bremer and Brisbane river systems reached Ipswich and suburbs of Brisbane. Thirty-three people died.
• Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi, February 2011. Yasi crossed the coast near Mission Beach as a Category 5 system at about 12:30 am AEST on 3 February 2011. About 10,000 people in low-lying areas went to evacuation centres, more than 200,000 properties lost power, and a 5 metre surge was observed at the Cardwell storm tide gauge.

Both events show why official products describe a cyclone’s wind category separately from its rain, flood and surge impacts. The Bureau states that a Category 1 cyclone can still cause significant flooding.

Official Queensland channels

• Who warns: the Bureau issues the weather warnings. Local governments, referable dam owners and Maritime Safety Queensland issue community warnings for severe weather, flood and cyclone; the Queensland Fire Department issues bushfire warnings; and Queensland Health issues extreme heat warnings.
• Warning levels: emergency services use the Australian Warning System. Queensland’s explanation sets out the three levels: Advice (yellow), meaning an incident has started with no immediate danger; Watch and Act (orange), a heightened threat where you should start taking action; and Emergency Warning (red), the highest level, where you may be in danger and need to act immediately.
• Phone: the SES on 132 500 for flood and storm emergency assistance. Call Triple Zero (000) in a life-threatening emergency.
• Alerts: Emergency Alert can send a voice message to landlines or a text to mobiles in an area facing an emergency. The Standard Emergency Warning Signal, a wailing siren, may play on radio and TV before an urgent message such as a cyclone warning.
• Fire danger: since 1 September 2022 Australia has used the Australian Fire Danger Rating System. Its four levels are Moderate (plan and prepare), High (prepare to act), Extreme (take action now to protect your life and property) and Catastrophic (for your survival, leave bush fire risk areas).

Using Atmosphr in Queensland

Queensland stays on UTC+10 all year because it does not observe daylight saving, so in summer its clocks are an hour behind New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT. Atmosphr requests each forecast in the selected place’s local time zone; read the times shown rather than converting from a southern screen.

The state is large, so check each stop on a coastal or inland trip, for example Brisbane and Cairns, or browse the Queensland forecast hub. During cyclone season, the cyclone guide explains the official track products. Atmosphr shows Open-Meteo model forecasts and RainViewer radar frames from the recent past. It does not issue warnings, and a quiet map is not an all-clear.

Choose the Queensland area you actually need

For the Brisbane–Gold Coast corridor, compare the Brisbane and Gold Coast views rather than treating one point forecast as a forecast for the entire coast. Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba have separate shortcuts below.

For a north Queensland trip, open each overnight stop as well as your destination. Use the cyclone guide for the official outlook and track-map links; the rotating wind layer on Atmosphr does not track cyclones.

For property preparation, use Get Ready Queensland and your council’s local information. A radar echo does not tell you whether a particular creek crossing, road or property is affected.

Local forecasts and rain radar

Today’s forecast for Queensland towns. Each forecast link opens that town’s 7-day forecast page. The radar link opens recent RainViewer composite imagery, including an old BOM-style layout. It is not a station-specific BOM product.

Search another town or suburb · Understand radar coverage and colour

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Sources and further reading

• BOM warnings and alerts
• Get Ready Queensland
• Get Ready Queensland: cyclone and storm surge
• BOM: tropical cyclone categories
• Queensland Disaster Management: watch for the warnings
• Get Ready Queensland: emergency services contacts
• BOM: severe thunderstorms
• Get Ready Queensland: flood risk
• Get Ready Queensland: bushfire warnings
• Australian Fire Danger Rating System
• AIDR Knowledge Hub: Queensland floods 2010 to 2011
• AIDR Knowledge Hub: Cyclone Yasi 2011
• Tourism Australia: Australian time zones