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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Lucy Bladen

Another downpour set for Canberra on Thursday

Canberra is set for more wet weather this week. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos

Canberra is set for another rainy day on Thursday and it is likely to be heavier than Wednesday's showers.

The territory could get up to 70 millimetres of rain and there is a chance of storms.

On Wednesday, Canberra Airport recorded almost 20 millimetres of rain between 9am and 4.30pm.

A severe weather warning remained in place on Wednesday afternoon and there was a flood watch warning was in place for the Murrumbidgee and Queanbeyan Rivers.

It warned flash flooding was possible as was locally intense rainfall.

The same warning was in place for Wagga Wagga, Albury, Cobar and Bourke.

Rainfall was forecast to intensify on Wednesday evening, with heavy, constant rain overnight as ex-tropical cyclone Esther moves across NSW.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Olenka Duma said the rain would start to abate on Thursday evening.

"If we get any thunderstorms we could see locally higher storms but that risk is mainly on Thursday afternoon," she said.

"At this stage we are expecting conditions will start to ease on Thursday and then overnight into Friday."

Intermittent showers were possible over the weekend, Ms Duma said.

"There will be a few showers over the weekend but this rain band we have will clear by Friday morning," he said.

Crews from the ACT State Emergency Services, ACT Fire and Rescue and Transport Canberra and City Services responded to 156 requests for assistance as of 8am on Thursday.

"Be aware of the possibility of water levels rising in our rivers and storm water drains," an ACT Emergency Services spokesperson said.

"Request for help are prioritised based on the type of damage and the effect on the resident.

"Due to increased demand for help there may be a longer than usual wait time."

Most of the call outs had been to Canberra's northern suburbs, the spokesperson said.

Crews had revisited several homes that had been previously damaged by hail and required additional repairs.

An incident management team had been put in place on Wednesday to deal with the expected weather.

Hail was not forecast as of Wednesday evening, but ACT State Emergency Services acting chief officer Jeff Butler said he could not rule out a warning at late notice.

"The January 20 hail we got little warning about, the hail warning only came through at short notice," he said.

The rainfall is likely to be higher than the Canberra March average, which is 50.7 millimetres.

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