Cyclone Debbie Downgraded To Tropical Low System, But Still Poses A Danger
[Brisbane, Queensland] Cyclone Debbie was downgraded to a tropical low system and is heading towards the city of Brisbane, set to hit Thursday.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), rivers from central Queensland to the NSW border will flood, but there will not be enough rain to match the 2011 Brisbane River Disaster.
Early this morning (local time), the low pressure system was situated about 100 km south-west of Collinsville, resulting in torrential rain pounding central Queensland's coast.
641mm of rain fell on the Clark Ranges, which is located north-west of Mackay. This is in addition to 340mm of rain which was experienced on Monday.
David Crock, a forecaster from the BOM, reported the cyclone was continuing to weaken and would quickly move south-east by tomorrow. Once the storm reaches Brisbane, it is expected to dump up to 150mm of rain in 24 hours. On average, March normally receives 138mm throughout the whole month.
"We have had quite a dry summer, so there isn't a build-up of moisture in the catchments to allow that [regarding a comparison to the 2011 Brisbane River Flood]," he said. "It is a quite a different set up. We don't have an upper trough which sat above us [in 2010-2011] for a couple of days which provided a lot of rain."
Cyclone Debbie originated as a category 4 cyclone but has since been downgraded to a category 2 and eventually a tropical low system as it has moved inland.
Plan ahead for an emergency such as cyclones. Click here to learn more.
