The record floods in south east Queensland, January 1956

On 20 and 21 January 1956, rainfall of unprecedented intensity was received over parts of the Condamine and Macintyre catchment areas in south east Queensland. General flooding reached severe proportions in the middle reaches of the Condamine and in northern areas of the Macintyre basin. Macintyre Brook at Inglewood rose more than four feet above the level previously thought by river engineers to be the flood extreme. This report includes the study of the meteorological situation leading up to the flood rains and the storm mechanism involved. The areal and temporal distribution of the rainfall is described and details of the rainfall intensity outlined. Maximisation of the storm is undertaken using a method of storm trans-position in the evaluation of maximum possible rainfall over the Macintyre catchment. The three following floods in the series are briefly described and an as made of the relation of the January flood to the flood extreme.