Qld's mostly sunny long weekend could descend into severe storms

Queensland's southern flank may be hit by severe storms through the long weekend as the north of the state is peppered by coastal showers.The King's Birthday public holiday on Monday, which marks the last day of Queensland school holidays, will bring a drop off in winds, leading to better boating conditions in the tropics and some reprieve for areas with a higher fire danger.Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Felim Hanniffy said the weekend watch-point for Queensland would be storms beginning today."October historically is the start of the higher risk weather season," he explained."[There] will be the chance of some thunderstorm activity in the far south-west and southern interior, more particularly near the New South Wales border as we go into Saturday."As we head into the early part of next week there will be the potential for increased shower and thunderstorm activity around the south-east."That is going to herald a more unsettled and stormy period of weather around the south-east and parts of central Queensland."Sunrise at Kurrimine Beach in north Queensland on Thursday. (ABC News: Supplied: Suzette Reid)Mr Hanniffy said a trough moving eastward across southern Queensland and another system in central Queensland was driving the storm activity."That is going to increase instability as well, and we are looking at a number of days of showers and storms in the south-east," he said."[We] could not rule out that some of that activity could be severe during this period as well."Breeze to easePersistent and fresh south-easterlies will drop off along the North Tropical Coast on the public holiday, improving boating conditions."We have seen over the seven days to Friday morning, particularly on the Cassowary Coast, daily showers," Mr Hanniffy said."That was driven by a firm ridge along the east coast and those brisk south-easterlies in play."At the weekend that high pressure system that was driving in those showers and brisk winds does weaken."By Monday the wind should be a lot lighter about the North Tropical Coast; so certainly better weather for boaties to come."A boatie braves choppy waters off Townsville. (ABC News: Chloe Chomicki)Winds are also expected to ease within Queensland's interior, which could temporarily reduce the fire danger.Parts of northern and central Queensland were subject to fire bans earlier this week.Mr Hannify said areas outside of the storm-affected regions would be dry, but coastal regions could be "peppered" by showers.Cool north, warm southPushing further into spring, Queensland temperatures are trending warmer than average in the south and cooler than average in the north.Average temperatures are expected to return after the long weekend."Across parts of the southern interiors and inland south-east [temperatures will be] ranging 2 to 5 degrees above average," Mr Hanniffy said."Most other areas, particularly in the north, we're looking at temperatures being on the cooler side for this time of year."Particularly across those areas of the north-east where we have got a little bit of cloud and the chance of those showers around."Strong winds have persisted in Townsville all week. (ABC News: Chloe Chomicki)Across Queensland, fresh conditions are expected in the early mornings as overnight minimum temperatures remain below average."If you're out and about in the early mornings, you'll still feel a mostly fresher side to the weather in the south-east," he said."We do see the temperatures recover for most areas as we head into next week."