Pack the umbrella as cooler days and showers loom for Qld this weekend

Pack the umbrella just in case, as cooler days and showers loom for Queensland In short: Rainfall from 2–10 millimetres is expected in parts along the east Queensland coast this weekend. The weather bureau says the cloud cover will also mean slightly below-average temperatures. What's next? Wind surges off the coast are expected to continue to ease, with warnings remaining only for far north-eastern waters. After sweltering days across parts of the state, a cool change has begun for the weekend. Senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology Shane Kennedy said cloud cover would keep temperatures slightly down, particularly along the state's east coast, where scattered showers were likely. "It should be a little bit lighter over the north tropical coast compared to Friday, now that the wind surge has moved a bit further north and weakened," he said. "But there still is that expectation we'll see a few rounds of showers throughout the day." Up to 10mm in some areas Between 2 and 10 millimetres of rainfall was expected across the eastern regions, Mr Kennedy said, with more than 10mm expected in some isolated areas, most likely on the north tropical coast or south-east coast. Inland, he said there was also a chance of isolated showers and even a thunderstorm in the Channel Country, but the risk of rain would ease by the end of the weekend. While much of the state might enjoy the promise of cooler conditions, the weather would be much warmer inland. "[We're] expecting the south-west to get more up into the mid-30s by the end of the weekend, generally in the low to mid-30s elsewhere in western Queensland," Mr Kennedy said. "For the rest of the state, typically getting up to the low to mid-20s in the south-east and then into the mid to high 20s for central Queensland and the Far North." On Saturday afternoon though, temperatures will start climbing for the far south west. "That will be as the winds swing around more to the north-north-east ahead of a new trough system expected early next week," Mr Kennedy said. Winds to ease For those heading for the boat ramp, Mr Kennedy said wind conditions were now easing. He said coastal warnings have eased for waters in the far north, and were likely to be cancelled on Sunday. It was the trend for more coastal areas, with winds easing as the ridge of high pressure continues to weaken. Mr Kennedy did caution that there were hazardous surf warnings for northern New South Wales; however, they were not expected to affect beaches and surf north of the border. "The worst of the waves should stay offshore, but worth being aware of if anyone's planning to head well offshore this weekend." Fire risk remains Mr Kennedy said there were still some fire danger ratings in place for parts of the west and north-west of the state. He said this was due to winds combining with warm and dry conditions. "That may make fires a little bit more difficult to control in those parts of the state, but not expecting it to push up to extreme or give us any fire weather warnings at this stage," he said.