Heavy rain from ex-tropical cyclone Esther has fallen across regional Australia overnight, and it's set to continue.
After making landfall in the Gulf of Carpentaria on February 24, ex-tropical cyclone Esther made its way across to the West Australian coast before doing a U-turn and moving back over the Northern Territory.
New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT, the Northern Territory and Tasmania all copped a drenching.
The worst hit areas were Wodonga in north-east Victoria, Kilmore north of Melbourne and the bayside suburb of Frankston.
In NSW a severe weather warning for heavy rainfall and damaging winds was this morning in place for much of the state's west and the ACT, but were mostly cancelled in the afternoon.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jiwon Park said widespread falls of between 40 and 70 millimetres were expected, but that falls of more than 100mm would be possible if there were thunderstorms.
In Sydney between 10 and 30 millimetres of rain was expected.
Mr Park said it would be the same in much of the state's east.
Roads closed in Central Australia
In Central Australia the heavy rain led to significant road closures.
An Emergency Operation Centre was set up in Alice Springs on Wednesday to coordinate the response to local flooding in the Tanami Desert in the NT's centre.
The BOM warned that despite easing conditions, it could take several days for the flooded roads to reopen.
"We're likely to see these flood watches continue for the next couple of days, however the severe weather associated — the heavy rainfall and damaging winds — is likely to start to ease," meteorologist Chris Kent said.
Heavy overnight falls in Queensland, Tasmania
In Queensland, the best overnight falls were in the state's south-west near the NT border, with 214mm recorded at Thargomindah in two days.
Earlier weather warnings for heavy rainfall and damaging winds had largely been cancelled by Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, in Tasmania the state's north east was bearing the brunt of the widespread rainfall.
The highest fall since in the state was 81 mm at Gray on the east coast since 9:00am on Wednesday.
There was heavy rain throughout the day in Hobart, making for a wet commute for CBD workers.
