A weather system stretching across much of Australia’s east coast is continuing to drench millions of Aussies with the heaviest August rain in a decade as emergency crews make preparations for flood rescues.
Queensland and north-east NSW are being hit with the brunt of the weather, recording widespread falls of more than 100mm and sparking flood watches from the Bureau of Meteorology stretching from Mackay down to Byron Bay.
Possible severe thunderstorms with heavy rain that may cause flash flooding areforecast for K’gari, Stradbroke and Moreton islands. Further south, about 100mm is expected between the NSW Tweed Coast and Coffs Harbour in a 24-hour period, with isolated higher falls possible.
NSW SES spokesman Andrew Edmunds said an incident management team had been set up in Lismore to co-ordinate flood rescues. and crews have already responded to 163 incidents and three flood rescues across the state over the past 48 hours.
Flood watches are in place for parts of the Northern Rivers and NSW mid north coast with localised river level rises and flash flooding likely along the Tweed, Brunswick, Richmond and Bellinger rivers.
Minor flood warnings are in place for the Wilsons and Orara rivers.
Many of the areas are still recovering from record flooding that hit the region in early 2022.
In the 24 hours to Wednesday Samuel Hill north of Rockhampton was soaked with 176mm while in the first half of this week, some regions near the Queensland-NSW border received more than 240mm.
‘The rainfall and flooding will continue to be a risk across parts of south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales,’ said Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Miriam Bradbury.
An upper level trough is combining with moist on-shore air flows to produce the wet weather which should ease as it moves offshore from Thursday.
Large swells could also cause dangerous surf and erosion close to beachside properties, the Bureau said.
‘For many parts of the northern rivers, including Ballina and Lismore, it’s been the heaviest August rain in a decade,’ Sky News weather meteorologist Rob Sharpe said.
A separate weather system is also producing rain in the Perth area, with the rest of the country mostly fine with some showers in Adelaide and Hobart.
The weather system is bringing heavy rain to south-east Queensland and northern NSW
Sydney and Canberra are also caught up in the wet weather while a separate system is producing rain over the Perth area
Sydney
Wednesday: Max 18, rain. Possible rainfall: 2 to 20 mm. Chance of any rain: 90 per cent. Sydney area: Cloudy. Very high chance of rain, becoming less likely late this evening. Light winds.
Thursday: Min 12 Max 20, shower or two. Possible rainfall: 0 to 2 mm. Chance of any rain: 50 per cent. Sydney area: Partly cloudy. The chance of morning fog in the west. Medium chance of showers. Light winds becoming south to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the early afternoon then becoming light in the late afternoon.
Friday: Min 12 Max 21, shower or two. Possible rainfall: 0 to 2 mm. Chance of any rain: 50 per cent. Sydney area: Partly cloudy. The chance of morning fog in the outer west. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Light winds.
Brisbane
Wednesday: Max 20, rain easing to showers. Possible rainfall: 15 to 45 mm. Chance of any rain: 95 per cent. Brisbane area: Cloudy. Very high chance of rain, easing to showers in the middle of the day and becoming less likely from early evening. Winds east to northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h becoming light in the evening.
Thursday: Min 16 Max 25, shower or two. Possible rainfall: 0 to 3 mm. Chance of any rain: 60 per cent. Brisbane area: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the early morning. Light winds.
Friday: Min 15 Max 26, possible shower. Possible rainfall: 0 to 1 mm. Chance of any rain: 40 per cent. Brisbane area Partly cloudy. The chance of morning fog. Medium chance of showers. Light winds.
Melbourne
Wednesday: Max 21, partly cloudy. Chance of any rain: 10 per cent. Melbourne area: Partly cloudy. Winds northerly 15 to 25 km/h.
Thursday: Min 13 Max 21, partly cloudy. Chance of any rain: 10 per cent. Melbourne area: Partly cloudy. Winds northerly 15 to 25 km/h.
Friday: Min 12 Max 19, showers. Possible rainfall: 1 to 9 mm. Chance of any rain: 90 per cent. Melbourne area: Cloudy. Very high chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm. Winds north to northeasterly 20 to 30 km/h increasing to 35 km/h before tending north to northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h during the day.
The rain will ease by Thursday though flood watches could remain for parts of the east coast
Canberra
Wednesday: Max 15, shower or two. Possible rainfall: 0 to 5 mm. Chance of any rain: 70 per cent. Canberra area: Cloudy. High chance of showers, becoming less likely late this afternoon and evening. Light winds.
Thursday: Min 4 Max 20, partly cloudy. Chance of any rain: 20 per cent. Canberra area: Partly cloudy. The chance of morning fog. Slight chance of a shower. Light winds.
Friday: Min 2 Max 18, shower or two. Possible rainfall: 0 to 4 mm. Chance of any rain: 60 per cent. Canberra area: Partly cloudy. The chance of morning fog. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the afternoon then becoming light during the evening.
Adelaide
Wednesday: Max 21, sunny. Chance of any rain: 20 per cent. Adelaide area: Sunny day. Slight chance of a shower later tonight. Winds north to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h becoming light in the early afternoon then becoming northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the late evening.
Thursday: Min 14 Max 23, late rain. Possible rainfall: 1 to 8 mm. Chance of any rain: 90 per cent. Adelaide area: Partly cloudy day. Slight chance of a shower during the early morning then a very high chance of rain developing during the evening. Winds north to northeasterly 20 to 30 km/h turning west to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h in the evening.
Friday: Min 11 Max 16, showers. Possible rainfall: 5 to 15 mm. Chance of any rain: 95 per cent. Adelaide area: Cloudy. Very high chance of rain, clearing before dawn then a high chance of showers redeveloping during the late morning and afternoon. Winds north to northwesterly 20 to 30 km/h turning westerly 25 to 35 km/h during the day.
Perth
Wednesday: Max 20, showers increasing. Possible rainfall: 3 to 10 mm. Chance of any rain: 90 per cent. Perth area: Partly cloudy. Very high chance of showers, most likely during this afternoon and early evening. Winds westerly 25 to 40 km/h.
Thursday: Min 12 Max 19, shower or two. Possible rainfall: 0 to 1 mm. Chance of any rain: 50 per cent. Perth area: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning. Winds southwesterly 20 to 30 km/h becoming light in the early afternoon.
Friday: Min 9 Max 21, showers increasing. Possible rainfall: 4 to 15 mm. Chance of any rain: 90 per cent. Perth area: Cloudy. The chance of morning fog in the northeast. Very high chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming northerly 20 to 30 km/h during the morning then tending northwesterly during the day.
Some meteorologists have said it is the wettest August in more than a decade for large parts of Australia’s east
Darwin
Wednesday: Max 31, sunny. Chance of any rain: 5 per cent. Darwin City and Outer Darwin area: Sunny. Light winds becoming north to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h in the early afternoon then becoming light in the evening.
Thursday: Min 19 Max 32, sunny. Chance of any rain: 5 per cent. Darwin City and Outer Darwin area: Sunny. Light winds becoming northwest to northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h in the early afternoon then becoming light in the evening.
Friday: Min 20 Max 32, sunny. Chance of any rain: 5 per cent. Darwin City and Outer Darwin area: Sunny. Light winds becoming northwest to northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h during the afternoon then becoming light during the evening.
Hobart
Wednesday: Max 18, shower or two. Possible rainfall: 0 to 4 mm. Chance of any rain: 60 per cent. Hobart area: Cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the late morning and afternoon. Winds northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h becoming light in the early afternoon.
Thursday: Min 9 Max 15, shower or two. Possible rainfall: 0 to 2 mm. Chance of any rain: 60 per cent. Hobart area: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely at night. Light winds becoming easterly 15 to 20 km/h in the early afternoon then becoming light in the late afternoon.
Friday: Min 10 Max 17, showers. Possible rainfall: 0 to 6 mm. Chance of any rain: 80 per cent. Hobart area: Cloudy. High chance of showers. Light winds.
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