As the new year dawned, record-breaking heatwaves rolled across the state's west and north and thunderstorms released lightning and flash flooding to the south east - in short, it's business as usual for Queensland's erratic weather.
At Winton, shire council mayor Gavin Baskett said everyone was getting as much work done as they could during the relative cool of the morning, that is, before it hits 40 degrees Celsius around 9am.
"Today it's a beautiful cool change for Winton," he said. "We had 47.2 degrees on Saturday, which was officially the hottest day since records began in 1845."
Mr Baskett said this surpassed the previous record of 46.9C in December 2006.
"While we are used to hot days, 47C was a bit out of the ordinary," he said.
"Last summer, you could count on two hands the days it reached over 40C here, but since November (2023) there's hardly been a day under 40C."
Mr Baskett said locals coped by hibernating during the heat of the day, and by staying out of the sun as much as possible.
"It can be 40C by 9am and stay this hot until 9pm," he said.
"And producers have been on alert for bushfires caused by lightning strikes, as there's a reasonable amount of feed around.
"When the storms come by you hope they follow with a bit of rain.
"The Corfield area had a few fires and in the north west, we have 23 rural fire brigades in our area and they do a great job."
According to the Bureau of Meteorology community information officer Daniel Hayes, rain is likely to move slowly westward but not in time to extinguish the heatwaves.
"We do have the the probability of possible storms away from the south east," he said.
"The trough lies through the inland parts of Queensland and there's a likelihood of storms around the north, we have seen them around the Lower Burdekin and up around Mackay."
Mr Hayes said extreme heatwave conditions will persist in the west and up to the north of the state.
"We still have severe to extreme heatwaves for the northern parts of Gulf and further north into the (Cape York) Peninsula, where there has been a severe to extreme heat for the past three days," Mr Hayes said.
"It's been very hot in places like Mount Isa and further south west.
"Up around in the Kowanyama, Peninsula and Northern Goldfields there have been dew points of 25 to 27.
"At this stage the fire danger levels are not terrible, they are sitting on high through the Gulf and northern Gulf country and are still moderate around central west and Channel Country."
Meanwhile, the BoM reported on January 1, Winton will be mostly sunny, with daytime maximum temperatures ranging from 35 to 43 degrees.
There will be a medium chance of showers east of Longreach during the afternoon and evening.
While the BoM indicated there was a near zero chance of rain elsewhere, Winton has the chance of a thunderstorm from late this morning, possibly severe.
Winds east to northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h tending north to northeasterly 25 to 35 km/h early in the morning then tending east to northeasterly in the middle of the day.
BoM warnings
At 9.52am, BoM posted on its social media page to warn of severe thunderstorms and intense rainfall in Logan, Scenic Rim, Gold Coast and Redland City Council areas.
Heavy, locally intense rainfall that may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding was forecast to affect Canungra and Southport by 10:15 am and Tamborine by 10:45 am.
Earlier, the BoM issued emergency alerts for the Scenic Rim and Gold Coast areas.
For the Gold Coast, it warned of, "localised intense rainfall which has led to dangerous and life threatening flash flooding.
"Avoid all non-essential travel and do not drive through flood waters.
"Prepare your home, and inform others"
For the Scenic Rim, the BoM issued a severe weather warning.
"Heavy rainfall that will lead to flash flooding is forecast," it posted on social media.
"Three to six-hourly rainfall totals between 80-160mm are possible, with totals exceeding 200mm possible.
"You should prepare your home and warn others, avoid driving on damaged roads and beware of fallen trees."
Tell us what the weather like at your place. Send your images and rainfall tallies to Alison Paterson or via 0437 861 082.
