Sunny reprieve ahead for south-east Queensland as windy Ekka week looms

South-east Queensland to get sunny reprieve as windy Ekka week looms Mon 3 Aug 2026 at 5:39am In short: Forecasters say showery conditions are expected to ease across much of Queensland's east coast midway through this week. The north tropical coast saw falls of more than 70 millimetres over the weekend. What's next? Forecasters say south-east Queensland may see windy conditions during Ekka week. Queensland's east coast can expect a "brief reprieve" from showery conditions later this week before a potentially windy Ekka week. Much of the state's east coast was peppered with showers over the weekend, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. The most frequent falls were around the north tropical coast, particularly around the Cassowary Coast, where more than 70 millimetres of rain was recorded in the 24 hours to 9am Sunday. The south-east also experienced showers over the weekend, with the Sunshine Coast seeing the highest totals of 10 to 20 millimetres. In comparison, inland parts were "relatively settled", according to senior forecaster Felim Hanniffy. This included dry conditions and some cool mornings with temperatures as low as minus 1.5 degrees Celsius on Saturday around parts of the Granite Belt. Showers expected to ease Mr Hanniffy said showers were expected to ease in the coming days along central and southern coasts due to a "surge of south-westerly airflow". Dry and mostly sunny conditions were forecast for these areas by the middle of the week, but the forecaster warned the reprieve would be brief. "Later in the week, we'll see some of those coastal showers return to part of the east coast again for Friday and into the weekend," he said. He said the area would include much of the south-east including the Gold Coast, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, all the way up to the Wide Bay Burnett and possibly the Capricornia. "But we're talking at this stage, only light falls,"he said. Mr Hanniffy said showers would also be on a "slow-easing trend" along the north tropical coast in the days ahead. "But they're not going to completely clear and by the middle of the week will be a bit more isolated," he said. The forecaster said overnight minimum temperatures were expected to remain "a bit on the cool side" throughout the state's interior this week. Patchy frost was possible for the southern interior over the coming days, with a chance of more "extensive areas of frost" across the region by the middle of the week. Potentially windy Ekka week Mr Hanniffy said "quite fresh" south-easterlies were currently in play along the east coast, particularly the north-east tropical coast. A strong wind warning was in place today for the Torres Strait, Peninsula Coast and Cooktown Coast. "We'll see those winds gradually easing back during Tuesday and Wednesday," Mr Hanniffy said. He warned "more significant weather systems" could move across southern parts of the state next week. "This could bring some quite windy conditions during in the lead up to the Ekka,"he said. "So while this week looks pretty benign, certainly the week after we could see some gusty windy changes moving through at times."