Weekend storms and showers forecast for parts of Queensland

Strong winds and storms in central Queensland set to roll into weekend In short: Storms that have lashed parts of central Queensland could continue through the weekend and reach parts of the Gulf. Isolated showers in the state's south-east could last well into next week. Severe storm activity that has lashed parts of outback and central Queensland this week is set to continue into the weekend as the state's storm season begins. A high-pressure system in the Tasman Sea will also cause isolated showers in the state's south-east to linger well into next week. Bureau of Meteorology community information officer Daniel Hayes said an upper-level trough had moved east from Alice Springs, bringing storm activity into western Queensland. He said the system delivered 30-50 millimetres to the Highlands and Central Coalfields on Thursday, before dumping 120 millimetres in three hours in Middlemount. SES central region director Andrew Wyatt said that while there were no call-outs, it was a good reminder for the community to be prepared heading into the summer months. "That rain is very welcome; it's been very dry here for months, as we know," Mr Wyatt said. "We just need to be mindful that some of these storms that come through might have some very heavy localised rain in them." The trough also broke an October wind-speed record in Longreach, where gusts of 111 kilometres per hour were recorded on Wednesday night. Mr Hayes expected the pattern would continue today and into the weekend, with further storms predicted for the central and southern Queensland interior and potentially extending up into the Gulf Country. "It's likely we'll have showers being more widespread, more likely to see thunderstorms through those areas and hence we'll have probably more widespread falls of rainfall in that 5, 10, 15, 20mm range," Mr Hayes said. Isolated showers forecast for south-east The south-east looks set to escape most of the storm activity, with smaller isolated coastal showers expected for the weekend in parts of Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Mr Hayes said a high-pressure system in the Tasman Sea may see the south-east's isolated showers continue into next week. "That high does linger in the Tasman Sea for quite a lengthy period into next week and it's not really until the end of next week that it starts to move away, and we see that influence along the coast start to weaken," he said. He said the cloudy conditions would cause temperatures to cool across much of the state. "Persistent cloud and shower activity and storms across large parts of the state will keep temperatures from warming up too much over the next few days." He said further severe thunderstorm warnings could be issued for the Central Highlands if conditions persisted into this afternoon.