{"id":437212,"date":"2026-01-25T20:54:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T20:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/437212\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T20:54:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T20:54:17","slug":"brisbane-temperatures-to-reach-high-30s-as-cairns-and-townsville-face-soaking-rain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/437212\/","title":{"rendered":"Brisbane temperatures to reach high 30s as Cairns and Townsville face soaking rain"},"content":{"rendered":"

South-east Queensland is set to swelter through its hottest Australia Day this century, with Brisbane facing its highest maximum temperature since 1998.<\/p>\n

The city could hit a record-breaking 38 degrees Celsius as swathes of the state sweat under severe heatwave conditions.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Temperatures in Brisbane, Toowoomba and Mount Isa are set to reach 37 degrees Celsius. (ABC News: Curtis Rodda)<\/p>\n

Senior meteorologist Baden Gilbert said temperatures from the Channel Country to the south-east would be up to 8C above average for the public holiday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s looking like it’s going to be a pretty hot Australia Day for the south-east with temperatures sitting well above their January averages,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s probably going to be the hottest January 26th we’ve seen in Brisbane this century.<\/p>\n

“Going back to 1998 we did observe temperatures up to around 40C out near Ipswich and 35 plus at the airport.<\/p>\n

“So that’ll be a record that we’re looking to see if we get close to.”<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

There will be scorching weather across south-east Queensland on Australia Day. (ABC News: Curtis Rodda)<\/p>\n

Outside of Australia Day, the actual hottest day in Brisbane was in 1940 when the city centre hit 43C.<\/p>\n

Toowoomba is set for a maximum of 37C on the public holiday.<\/p>\n

The Gold and Sunshine coasts will be only slightly cooler, with maximum temperatures in the mid 30s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hot in the south, wet up north<\/p>\n

For the north Queensland coast, in place of searing temperatures, there will be soaking rain.<\/p>\n

The weather bureau has forecast up to 110 millimetres for Townsville on Monday, and up to 180mm for Cairns between now and Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"Castle<\/p>\n

Townsville could be soaked with up to 110 millimetres on Australia Day. (ABC North Qld: Georgia Loney)<\/p>\n

Mr Gilbert said there was a “broad risk of showers” stretching from the Whitsundays north.<\/p>\n

“We could see totals in excess of 50mm or 70mm [per day] in that area depending on exactly where the showers and storms form,” he said.<\/p>\n

“But we’re also expecting it to contract back away from Townsville and into Far North Queensland as we go into Tuesday and Wednesday.”<\/p>\n

Flood watches and warnings are still in place for parts of the state, with the Flinders River near the Gulf of Carpentaria the only one with a major warning.<\/p>\n

A moderate flood warning was issued at lunchtime on Sunday for Windorah, with minor flooding in areas including Longreach and Jundah.<\/p>\n

There are also minor warnings for the Norman, Suttor and Diamantina rivers, with all warnings now cancelled for the Fitzroy.<\/p>\n

Doctor’s orders: Stay cool<\/p>\n

With the promise of sweltering, humid days to come, Sunshine Coast public health physician Nicolas Smoll said there were simple steps to stay safe.<\/p>\n

\"Sun<\/p>\n

Doctors say people need to ensure they have enough water and designate cool spaces where they can relax. (ABC News: Curtis Rodda)<\/p>\n

They included thinking about “cool spaces” if the heat became too much, drinking water, and making there was sunscreen and shade available if heading outdoors.<\/p>\n

“Even Queenslanders aren’t immune to heat exhaustion,” Dr Smoll said.<\/p>\n

“While we are used to warm weather, extreme heatwaves, especially with the high Queensland humidity, it makes it harder for sweat to evaporate.<\/p>\n

“It’s really important that Queenslanders treat heatwaves seriously, regardless of your usual tolerance.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Australia Day in Brisbane will be a hot day, with much of the south-east enduring a severe heatwave. (ABC News: Curtis Rodda)<\/p>\n

It was also important, he said, to check on vulnerable people through the day, to ensure they were able to stay cool.<\/p>\n

Dr Smoll said if people did spot someone with symptoms of heat stroke, they needed to call Triple Zero (000).<\/p>\n

“The symptoms are like an altered mental state, so someone might appear a bit confused, having slurred speech or some unusual aggressive behaviour,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The skin will be dry and very hot.<\/p>\n

“You may even stop sweating entirely when you’re this hot.”<\/p>\n

\"Surf<\/p>\n

Crowds are likely to head to beaches across south-east Queensland as temperatures rise. (ABC News: Danielle Mahe)<\/p>\n

An increasing pulse and rapid, shallow breaths were also key symptoms.<\/p>\n

“It’s probably time to call Triple Zero if you’re noticing these signs and symptoms.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South-east Queensland is set to swelter through its hottest Australia Day this century, with Brisbane facing its highest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,227978,1678,3286,126136,44,128696,15157,61076,1192],"class_list":["post-437212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-brisbane-forecast","tag-heat","tag-heatwave","tag-humidity","tag-news","tag-queensland-forecast","tag-rain","tag-temperatures","tag-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}