Clean-up effort begins as ex-Tropical Cyclone Mitchell downgraded, more cyclones loom

The mammoth clean-up has begun as ex-Tropical Cyclone Mitchell crosses the coast and moves inland, while another tropical cyclone threatens to smash the Queensland coast.

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Mitchell is 160km south-southeast of Carnarvon and about 100km east-southeast of Denham, moving slowly at about 20km/h.

Overnight, the intense weather system continued to weaken as it tracked over the West Australian coast and across inland, with the Bureau of Meteorology downgrading it to an ex-tropical cyclone about 1am on Tuesday.

”It has now weakened below tropical cyclone strength,” the bureau website read.

The system is expected to continue weakening as it moves southeast through the southern Gascoyne on Tuesday.

Overnight, rain smashed the state’s Gascoyne region, with 132mm recorded at the Gascoyne Junction and 104mm at Shark Bay.

“Also worth noting is that heavy rainfall was observed across the Kimberley over the last 24 hours, including 122mm at Mount Winifred,” senior meteorologist Sarah Scully said.

“That resulted in a minor flood warning to be issued for the Fitzroy Crossing.”

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA (DFES) responded to 20 call-outs in three days as a result of the tropical cyclone.

“Most of the calls were for fallen tree branches and water ingress,” a DFES spokesman told NewsWire.

“Importantly, there were no reports of injuries and that is a credit to the impacted communities who took heed of the advice DFES provided during the cyclone.”

Despite the ex-tropical cyclone being downgraded overnight, there is still major risk of flash flooding across southern parts of WA.

“Today there is a continued risk of heavy rainfall across the region,” Ms Scully said.

”A severe weather warning has been issued for both heavy rainfall and damaging winds across parts of the southern Gascoyne, the Central West and the Central Wheatbelt.”

The bureau warned the heavy rainfall could affect Merredin, Dalwallinu, Paynes Find, Southern Cross, Yalgoo, Morawa, Mullewa, Beacon and Koolyanobbing.

“This type of weather is unseasonable for people in the Central West and Central Wheat Belt at this time of year,” it said.

Aside from heavy rainfall, destructive and blistering winds are also forecast to smash parts of the state, with speeds up to 90km/h expected in the morning before winds ease in the afternoon.

Winds in the tropical low are expected to reach 65km/h near the centre.

As the dregs of the ex-tropical cyclone continue to climb over WA, a trough is forecast to “brush past” southeastern Australia.

Ms Scully said the weather system would “drag some of that heat and moisture across southeastern Australia” on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Tropical low looms near Qld coast

While residents in WA are picking up the pieces following the intense weather system, a tropical low is forming off the coast of northern Queensland, marking the start of another possible tropical cyclone.

Despite the threat, the bureau said the “weak” tropical low 23U, which is in the Coral Sea, will “linger well offshore for several days”.

Meanwhile, a weak trough has extended over North Cape York Peninsula and is expected to begin drifting south from Wednesday before moving offshore completely by Friday.

Widespread showers and thunderstorm are forecast for much of western and northern Queensland this week, ramping up on Thursday and into the weekend.

From Wednesday, the rain is forecast to move to the east cost of Ayr to Yeppoon before shifting to southeastern Queensland by Friday.

As rain smashes the east coast, temperatures in central and southern Queensland will skyrocket as part of a “marginal” heatwave.

“We are looking at temperatures gradually ticking up about the southern interior,” meteorologist Baden Gilbert told ABC.

“The warmest days (are) looking like Wednesday for the southern interior, into Thursday for the southeast and parts of central Queensland.”

Conditions are set to cool down on Friday and Saturday.