Water across the road at the intersection of Trower and Rapid Creek Rd, February 12, 2024.
© Pema Pakhrin TamangWater across the road at the intersection of Trower and Rapid Creek Rd, February 12, 2024.
A monsoonal trough has brought heavy rainfall to Darwin at levels not experienced since 2017, causing flooding in some suburbs.

As the weather system moves east, the Bureau of Meteorology has predicted there is a 30 per cent chance it could develop into a cyclone over the Gulf of Carpentaria at the end of the week.

BOM senior meteorologist Rebecca Patrick said the monsoon had redeveloped over the Northern Territory's north on Monday, with some areas in Darwin receiving more than 150 millimetres of rainfall over the past 24 hours.

"Rainfall in the Darwin area is the highest that we've seen in terms of those daily rainfall amounts since about 2017," she said.

She said Darwin Airport had received 165mm over 24 hours.


Ms Patrick said the monsoon would likely continue for the next few days across the Top End, with the Darwin area likely to see continued rainfall between 40mm and 80mm each day as well as possible storms.

She said there was also increasing potential for a low pressure system to develop within the monsoonal trough.

"This system is expected to move eastwards during the week," she said.

"There is a chance of [it] developing into a tropical cyclone later in the week or on the weekend as it moves into the Gulf of Carpentaria."

There is a moderate chance a cyclone could form later this week as a monsoon trough looks likely to bring rain and flooding to already-saturated catchments after ex-Tropical Cyclone Kirrily.

The bureau has also issued a flood watch for Waterhouse River and north-western Top End rivers, including the Mary River and Upper Adelaide River.

"As well as the monsoonal conditions, slow-moving thunderstorms could also produce isolated heavy rainfall through those areas," Ms Patrick said.

NT Emergency Service (NTES) director Fleur O'Connor said the Darwin suburb of Rapid Creek had experienced flooding on Monday due to the heavy rainfall coinciding with a high tide.

She urged Darwin residents to drive carefully in any areas affected by flash flooding.

"We had a number of road closures because of the flooding at Rapid Creek," she said.

"I just want to remind residents to drive to conditions, use your headlights and if it's flooded, forget it."

Ms O'Connor said emergency services had received two requests for help from residents battling water inundation in Nightcliff and Alawa.

She encouraged any residents who needed assistance to call NTES.