HEAVY rain is forecast for the Maranoa and Warrego and southern and east coast Friday and Saturday on the back of record breaking warm and dry autumn conditions across much of the state.
Rain in some parts has prompted events to be cancelled or postponed, including the 50th anniversary Landsborough Flock Ewe Show at Muttaburra, north of Longreach.
Weather Bureau forecasters expect falls to range from 20mm to 40mm in the interior but the east coast inland to the Great Dividing Range south of Bundaberg to the NSW border will be thumped with wild weather and falls to 200mm.
This is likely to produce welcome heavy rain from the coastal strip to the range, taking in prime vegetable growing places in the Lockyer and Fassifern valleys and grazing, dairying and crop growing areas through Beaduesert and south to border regions.
The bureau warns that although virtually all of the state will be covered in cloud, falls in the interior will be more scattered and mostly confined to southern parts.
Forecaster Gordon Banks said showers and scattered heavier falls would boost grazing areas in the southwest and grain growing areas further east which had been parched by above average autumn temperatures.
"Places like Thargomindah, Charleville, St George, Cunnamulla and Windorah should see useful falls on Friday,'' he said.
"It's been extremely dry in some of these cattle grazing areas. There should be light rain north of Longeach but it is unlikley to be significant.''
The heaviest falls on the east coast will be on Saturday, continuing into early Sunday but easing later.
Mr Banks said the wet weather would be produced by a combination of an upper trough coming across the state from the west which would combine with an east coast surface trough.
He warned boaties to stay out of the water, with Moreton Bay to see gusts of more than 100km/hr.
Rain and galeforce winds would coincide with a king tide which would produce localised flooding in low lying areas.
"This could see a bit of water on roads with a tide to equal the highest of the year,'' he said.
Meantime, bureau data shows that Queensland has recorded its warmest autumn on record, with below average rainfall across the southeast but above average in the west and north.
The central west, southern interior and southeast copped the worst of the warm temperatures, which helped dry out already stressed pastures.
The hottest autumn day for the state was at Birdsville, with 43.9C.
In the far north, Abingdon Downs Station had its highest record autumn daily rainfall, with 263mm, followed by Robin Hood station with 161mm, Plainby Station 91mm and Gladstone 120mm.
The southeast broke records for lowest autumn rainfall, with Manly 0mm, Logan City 107.3mm and Miva 59.7mm.
Rocky Point Sugar mill on the northern Gold Coast had its lowest autumn rainfall in 20 years, with 145.7mm.
A long list of places across the state had record highest autumn mean daily temperatures.
These included Brisbane 28.6C, Cunnamulla 30.5C, Bollon 31C, Cairns 30.5C, Charleville 31.2C, Taroom 31.8C, Lockhart River 30.7C, Longreach 33.8C, Mount Isa 33.8C, Injune 29.9C, Applethorpe 23.2C, Bundaberg 29.1C, Dalby 29.2C, Logan 28.1C and the Sunshine Coast 27.8C.
