Showers and blustery winds are set to greet much of Queensland this week, temporarily abandoning the recent cool autumn mornings. 

Parts of the state recorded their coldest mornings so far this year last Friday, with temperatures dipping below freezing on the Granite Belt, but the cool change won’t stick around for long, with unsettled conditions ahead.

Senior forecaster from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) Felim Hanniffy said frequent, nuisance showers were to be expected for much of eastern Queensland from today.

“It’s not huge totals, but there will be daily frequent showers with localised moderate falls possible,” he said.

“Particularly for the north tropical coast, even exposed coastal areas like the Wide Bay and Sunshine Coast.”

‘Unseasonable’ rain likely for north-west

But the rain wasn’t expected to filter from the east coast to the area most in need, the southern Darling Downs.

Further inland, a cloud band developing near Mount Isa could deliver unseasonable rain for the region on Monday, Mr Hanniffy said.

Falls between 10 and 20 millimetres are likely, more than double the monthly average for May in parts of western Queensland. 

“We’ll see the focus of that activity contract further south across into the Channel Country through the week, certainly around Birdsville,” he said.

“Further falls could be multiple times that region’s monthly average.”

Overnight minimums are expected to peak between 2 and 5 degrees above average, bringing warmer sleeping conditions for much of the state.

Strong wind warning offshore

A strong wind warning is in place across the north and tropical Queensland coast.

Mr Hanniffy said a dominant high pressure system in the Great Australian Bight was moving east, pushing onshore wind and showers along the east coast.

“There are wind warnings for much of the far north, those will become more extensive about the east coast as we head through the week,” the forecaster said.

Mr Hanniffy said the combination of weather systems could deliver big swell, but it wasn’t likely to reach the warning level. 

“There’s a risk the offshore southerly swell could filter in closer to the coast Monday, and bring deceptively powerful swells along the south-east coast,” he said.