North Queensland has received an early morning drenching with up to 61 millimetres of rain falling in just 30 minutes.
The Bureau of Meteorology recorded 61mm in the 30 minutes to 2:36am at the DAF station at Ayr, south of Townsville.
At Ayr, 97mm fell within one hour to 3:17am, while the Townsville suburb of Cluden received the rain early with 74mm within one hour to 12:40am.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning at 4am as lightning swept across the region.
However that was revoked, as were warnings for potential flash flooding, just after 6am.
Unusual rain
It has been a late start to the sugarcane planting season for many growers in the Burdekin region.
Home Hill farmer and chairman of Canegrowers Owen Menkens said it was unseasonal wet weather.
"We had about 62mm at one farm and 55mm at the other, there was well over 100mm in some places," he said.
"It's a lot of rain for this time of year.
"It was more like a midsummer storm [that] you get in January, but it is what it is."
Mr Menkens, who was halfway through planting, said the downpour would set many farmers back.
"We started [planting] a bit later than normal because of the wet weather in early March," he said.
"On my farm, we had finished but I had started irrigating it, so it is all a bit wet at the moment.
"It's certainly good for those who had finished, but those who haven't will have to wait for a couple of weeks to get back on it."
Mr Menkens said there were positives with the rain likely to bring a reprieve after hot and humid autumn conditions.
"It's been unseasonably warm for April, so the good thing is that the cane is growing and reacting to the irrigation," he said.
Senior forecaster with the Bureau of Meteorology Felim Hanniffy said the thunderstorms were brought on by a system that developed over western Queensland at the weekend with moisture from ex-tropical cyclone Ilsa.
"By the time it made it to the east, a lot of that moisture had dissipated but still it triggered some quite heavy shower activity across the Townsville area," he said.
"South of Townsville, the heaviest falls were around Ayr. We saw 167 millimetres, which for that region is the heaviest April rainfall for more than 73 years.
"That is a record for that particular site.
"It's unusual but not unprecedented. April is normally that transition month, so data totals, though significant, are not unprecedented for the time of year."
Mr Hanniffy also confirmed that temperatures in the region had been persistently well above average for several weeks.
"Up along parts of the north and the north-east coast caused by a ridge that just lingered over the area and that meant very light winds and the afternoon sea breeze that brings in the moisture," he said.
"The moisture just sits around and there is nothing to flush it out."
The bureau said south-easterly winds would drive down temperatures with lingering humidity expected to tumble as well.
