Daily rainfall in parts of New South Wales could hit triple figures this week, as Australia’s east and west coasts brace for more wet and cold weather.
Several places along the NSW coastline saw rainfall of more than 50mm overnight into Tuesday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, which warned that the wet weather would persist and intensify on Wednesday and Thursday.
In the 24 hours to 9am, the highest rainfall was 82.4mm at Point Perpendicular and 56mm at Currarong on the south coast, and 60.5mm at Toukley and 57.4mm at Norah Heads on the mid-north coast.
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Heavier falls were expected midweek across eastern NSW and south-east Queensland, where 24-hour totals could even “nudge triple figures”, meteorologist Helen Reid said.
“The key thing with this week’s rain is not about how much rain could fall in one night,” Reid said. “It’s the prolonged nature of the wet-weather event where places will get light or moderate rainfall for three or four days in a row, and by the weekend, the numbers [will] have really accumulated to some quite large amounts.”
That was concerning, she said, given rain was falling on to land already saturated due to a wetter-than-average winter. Flood watches were issued for the mid-north coast, the north-western slopes and the Hunter.
“Parts of the east coast, including Sydney, have already received three to four times the usual August rain, already recording 250 to 300mm of rain in the gauge since the first of the month,” Reid said.
“The land can’t absorb the rain as effectively as usual, meaning more of the rain runs off into the rivers, and the river levels can rise quickly.”
Anyone who lives on or near waterways between Sydney and Brisbane should keep an eye on forecasts and flood watches for the week ahead, she said.
Wet and windy weather was also pummelling the west coast on Tuesday, fuelled by a stream of moisture coming off the Indian Ocean.
A cold front was affecting south-western Western Australia and on its way towards Perth, bringing widespread rain, damaging winds and the risk of flash flooding.
BoM recorded a 111km/h wind gust at Cape Leeuwin.
The weather bureau issued a severe weather warning for heavy rain and damaging winds for people in the lower west, parts of the central west, the great southern and central wheat belt districts.
Locations expected to be affected include Perth, Moora, Gingin, Jurien Bay, Lancelin and Badgingarra.
The forecast for a week of heavy rain followed a frigid Sunday night – so far the coldest for the year – across every state and territory, according to Weatherzone.
The chilliest was Thredbo, which recorded an overnight minimum of -13.2C, the coldest temperature in NSW since 2018.
