Big highs.  They are great for most of us.  But boy these big ones can be hard to find new angles to talk about.

We we had a colder southerly change arrive yesterday in Cantebury bringing drizzle and showers – that wetter change is shifting up the North Island’s east coast today.

Murky clouds will linger in some coastal areas too – as is the 2012 theme thus far.

But from a news point of view – well I’ll be honest, it’s a little trickier until we see some change coming.  We’ve actually had a couple of very interesting years of weather.  It’s been constantly changing and most weeks have a fresh system moving on in.

However the droughts we had in 2009 were something else.  Week after week of dry weather is very hard to write about.  No rainmakers close enough to even get the attention of farmers desperate to hear about rain.  Meanwhile, those who love the sun, aren’t caring too much about indepth news coverage.

So we have to shake it up a bit. 

Providing relevant weather news from our neighbours in Australia – and over in the US through our friends at CNN and Weather.com. 

Later this morning we’ll run a story that we ran back in November – which explains why we cover earthquakes and other non-weather related news stories as well.

But our first point of call on a quiet week like this is to simply look over the ditch.

So below is the latest news rom Queensland, where heavy rain may well linger for some time.

I said in one of my Country99TV updates last week that eastern Australia would this week start to make the weather headlines again.  This is because the Coral Sea and western Tasman Sea are currently the perfect breeding ground for rain – while a big high in the south Tasman will stop that rain from drifting south – or east towards New Zealand.

Coastal Queensland and NSW are likely to see plenty of rain or showers over the coming week, while New Zealand sees more sun – and at the very least, light winds and mostly dry weather.

So check out what our neighbours are facing – see the press release below from our partners at Weatherzone in Australia.

And for other Australian weather news – go to www.weatherzone.com.au

– Philip Duncan, WeatherWatch.co.nz

---

Heavy rain soaks southeast QLD

– story by Weatherzone.com.au

Areas of southeast Queensland were soaked with more than 100mm of rain Monday night and more rain is on the way.

Heavy downpours were triggered on Monday night along a trough of low pressure near the coast, which was intensified by an incursion of cool air in the mid-levels of the atmopshere.

The heaviest rain swept over North Stradbroke Island during the night, saturating the exposed Point Lookout with 193mm of rain. This was the heaviest April rain since the site opened in 1997.

Areas around Maroochydore were also impacted, with Eudlo Flats registering 104mm. These falls prompted a Flood Warning for coastal rivers and adjacent inland catchments between Rainbow Beach and the NSW border.

Despite these triple-figure totals, much of the state’s southeast was lucky to escape with much less rain. The Gold Coast recorded 25mm in the 24 hours to 9am Tuesday nd Brisbane Airport saw 19mm, including a 6mm burst in just 10 minutes.

Isolated areas of rain will continue today as the trough lingers near the coast, with another 20-30mm possible before Wednesday morning.

Conditions are expected to have eased significantly today (Wednesday) as the trough moves further south and east, away from the Queensland coast. However, showery conditions are likely to remain a feature throughout the rest of the week.

– Weatherzone