North Queensland Monsoon Trough Technical Flood Report January and February 2019 North Queensland Monsoon Flood Report Published by the Bureau of Meteorology GPO Box 1289 Melbourne VIC 3001 (03) 9669 4000 www.bom.gov.au Except logos and photography, this guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Australia Attribution License. The terms and conditions of the license are at www.creativecommons.org.au © Bureau of Meteorology February 2019 Cover image: Burdekin Falls Dam spillway taken by Orvon Gough (Charter Towers Regional Council) on 6 February 2019 The Queensland Government Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy supports and encourages the dissemination and exchange of its information. The copyright in this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0). This licence is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Under this licence you are free, without having to seek our permission, to use this publication in accordance with the licence terms. You must keep intact the copyright notice and attribute the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, the State of Queensland as the source of the publication. Note: Some content in this publication may have different licence terms as indicated. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The Queensland Government shall not be liable for technical or other errors or omissions contained herein. The reader/user accepts all risks and responsibility for losses, damages, costs and other consequences resulting directly or indirectly from using this information. North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report Table of Contents 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 1 2. TECHNICAL REPORT STRUCTURE ................................................................................................. 2 3. ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS .............................................................................................................. 4 4. METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS ................................................................................................... 6 5. FLOOD SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................ 10 6. CATCHMENT SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 15 6.1 DAINTREE RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ..................................................................................................... 15 6.1.1 Rainfall............................................................................................................................................... 16 6.1.2 River Levels ...................................................................................................................................... 20 6.2 BARRON RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ 21 6.2.1 Rainfall............................................................................................................................................... 22 6.2.2 River Levels ...................................................................................................................................... 24 6.3 MULGRAVE–RUSSELL CATCHMENT SUMMARY ............................................................................................. 28 6.3.1 Rainfall............................................................................................................................................... 28 6.3.2 River Levels ...................................................................................................................................... 31 6.4 JOHNSTONE RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY .................................................................................................. 34 6.4.1 Rainfall............................................................................................................................................... 34 6.4.2 River Levels ...................................................................................................................................... 37 6.5 TULLY–MURRAY CATCHMENT SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... 38 6.5.1 Rainfall............................................................................................................................................... 38 6.5.2 River Levels ...................................................................................................................................... 41 6.6 HERBERT CATCHMENT SUMMARY ................................................................................................................. 43 6.6.1 Rainfall............................................................................................................................................... 44 6.6.2 River Levels ...................................................................................................................................... 47 6.7 ROSS-BOHLE CATCHMENT SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 50 6.7.1 Rainfall............................................................................................................................................... 51 6.7.2 River Levels ...................................................................................................................................... 54 6.8 HAUGHTON RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ................................................................................................... 58 6.8.1 Rainfall............................................................................................................................................... 58 6.8.2 River Levels ...................................................................................................................................... 61 6.9 BURDEKIN RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ..................................................................................................... 63 6.9.1 Rainfall............................................................................................................................................... 64 6.9.2 River Levels ...................................................................................................................................... 68 6.10 DON RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 72 6.10.1 Rainfall ............................................................................................................................................ 73 6.10.2 River Levels .................................................................................................................................... 75 6.11 PIONEER RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ..................................................................................................... 76 6.11.1 Rainfall ............................................................................................................................................ 77 6.11.2 River Levels .................................................................................................................................... 80 6.12 CONNORS–ISAAC (FITZROY) CATCHMENT SUMMARY ................................................................................ 82 6.12.1 Rainfall ............................................................................................................................................ 83 6.12.2 River Levels .................................................................................................................................... 85 6.13 THOMSON–BARCOO–COOPER CATCHMENT SUMMARY ............................................................................. 88 6.13.1 Rainfall ............................................................................................................................................ 89 6.13.2 River Levels .................................................................................................................................... 92 6.14 DIAMANTINA CATCHMENT SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 96 6.14.1 Rainfall ............................................................................................................................................ 97 North Queensland Monsoon Technical Flood Report 6.14.2 River Levels .................................................................................................................................... 99 6.15 GEORGINA–EYRE ....................................................................................................................................... 104 6.15.1 Rainfall .......................................................................................................................................... 105 6.16 NICHOLSON RIVER CATCHMENT SUMMARY .............................................................................................. 112 6.16.1 Rainfall .......................................................................................................................................... 112 6.16.2