After stalling over far north Queensland, ex-tropical cyclone Jasper is expected to reach the waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria as a tropical low.

The system dumped as much as a metre of rain on parts of the state over a four-day period and left warnings in place including a major flood watch for the Herbert River.

The category 2 system hit the coast north of Cairns on Wednesday night before weakening to a tropical low.

It hovered over far north Queensland including the Cape York Peninsula on Saturday, and led to more rain falling on already sodden regions.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the system is slowly moving west.

“Ex-tropical Cyclone Jasper to set to enter the southern Gulf of Carpentaria on Sunday, progressing westward early in the week,” the bureau said.

Meteorologist Angus Hines said the chance of Jasper redeveloping into a cyclone increases from Wednesday as it moves north.

“It’s likely to meander around the Gulf as a tropical low pressure system,” he said.

“We have a moderate chance that Jasper will turn back into a cyclone through Wednesday until Friday.”

Jasper could then impact the top end of the Northern Territory, or double back and hit far north Queensland again.

Severe thunderstorms lashed the north, east, and southeastern parts of Queensland on Saturday, with 4cm-sized hail recorded at Beaudesert and a child injured by lightning at Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast.

Emergency services are pleading with people to take care in the wet weather and to prepare their properties, with the SES reporting it has responded to hundreds of requests for help.

—AAP