AT this time of year, one of the rarest weather phenomena ever seen happens in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland, when the morning glory clouds come rolling through.

Tourists come from all over the world to witness the rare phenomenon, as gliders surf the very edge of the cloud, which can stretch for several hundred kilometres.

The long, cigar-shaped formation known as the Morning Glory Cloud rolls elusively across the waters off far northwestern Queensland’s Bourketown for just a few weeks each year.

It creates perfect conditions that allow non-motorised gliders to surf the thermals in front of it for hundreds of kilometres.

The isolated Gulf Country township the only place in the world where the meteorological phenomenon can be reasonably predicted to arrive.

Meanwhile, after a scorching start to September in southeast Queensland, day time temperatures cooled, leaving us with slightly below average maximum temperatures for the month in Brisbane and surrounding suburbs.

Thunderstorms have been rare, with our first decent line of storms across the southeast on Thursday afternoon September 25.

There were reports of golf ball-size hail and heavy rain on the south side.

Archerfield recorded 32mm from the storms, which was the heaviest September rainfall in six years.

These thunderstorms also produced damaging winds through the Darling Downs, with Oakey recording a wind gust of 106km/h.

Up until Sunday, Brisbane has only recorded 518mm of rain so far this year, compared to 2013’s 953mm.

We are also more than 200mm behind the average rainfall up until the end of September.

Now it’s October and the threat of severe storms increases.

Hotter days, higher humidity and gusty southerly changes are just a few elements to help increase the severity of thunderstorms.

But what can we expect for the rest of 2014?

The Bureau’s long-term forecast is predicting a drier than normal October to December for most of Eastern Australia.

The Bureau also expects warmer temperatures for the rest of the year.

So 2014 is likely to rank as one of Australia’s top 10 hottest years on record.

For Queenslanders, data shows we can expect drier than average conditions to continue until the end of 2014.

There is a 70-75 per cent chance of below average rainfall into October, with a 60-65 per cent chance this will continue until the end of the year.

So no drought breaking rain on the horizon.

The outlook for the first week of October is storm free, though the next chance of rain will come on Wednesday and possibly Thursday.

Garry Youngberry is Channel 9’s weather presenter.