Rain forecast to hit east coast throughout weekend

Australian Community Media

A severe weather update with rain developing across central and eastern Australia. The accumulated rainfall from Thursday to Sunday is expected to reach 200mm in some locations.

Transcript

00:00 Hello, Sarah from the Bureau with a severe weather update on the rain developing through

00:04 central and eastern parts of the country.

00:06 But I'll start looking at the radar data from this morning through to now, and we can

00:12 just highlight those hit and miss showers continuing about the east coast.

00:16 Now we've had scattered rainfall totals of 10 to 30 mm in the last 24 hours, the heaviest

00:21 of which were about the Illawarra and the south coast where there were some isolated

00:25 totals of 50 to 60 mm.

00:27 But if we zoom out of the satellite image we can see this rain band, and it's really

00:32 starting to firm up, and that's due to when you're approaching upper level trough, and

00:37 we've had thunderstorms and lightning strikes, particularly about northeastern parts of South

00:41 Australia that's starting to move into the southwest of Queensland and northwestern New

00:46 South Wales.

00:47 So taking a look at what we're expecting to happen for the rest of the afternoon, that

00:51 rain band will be pushed eastwards, clearing from South Australia, and tomorrow the focus

00:57 of the heavier rainfall totals will move into the interior of New South Wales and potentially

01:02 even southern Queensland as well.

01:05 Now widespread rainfall totals of 10 to 40 mm are expected, but even high totals of 50

01:12 to 80 mm, more isolated, are possible.

01:16 And the Warrago River in New South Wales is already in moderate flooding, so we know that

01:20 any further rainfall over that catchment will respond really quickly, so residents within

01:25 that area should stay up to date with our forecasts and warnings.

01:30 Now Friday afternoon, shifting the focus to the east coast, we've got those hit and miss

01:35 showers that start to consolidate later on Friday into another rain band down here.

01:40 So rain developing about the southern half of New South Wales coast, and as we move into

01:44 Saturday that upper level trough will combine with this coastal trough and really ramp up

01:50 the weather over New South Wales, eastern half, for a wet weekend.

01:55 Now moderate to heavy rainfall is expected about the southern half of New South Wales,

02:00 and at the moment the focus will be on the Illawarra.

02:03 We're expecting to issue a severe weather warning tomorrow for that heavy rainfall,

02:08 and as we know, grounds are really wet through eastern parts of New South Wales due to recent

02:12 rainfall, so that increases the likelihood of both flash and riverine flooding.

02:18 But at the moment at this stage, it's too hard to pinpoint exactly where that flooding

02:22 will be or how severe it will be, but we're keeping a really close eye on it, and flood

02:27 watches are expected to be issued as we move closer to the weekend.

02:31 Now on Sunday, the upper level trough will continue to push eastwards, clearing the rain

02:38 band from northern parts, however heavy rainfall is still expected to continue about the southern

02:43 half, particularly the Illawarra and the south coast.

02:48 So how much rainfall are we expecting?

02:51 This is the accumulated rainfall from now all the way through until Sunday night, and

02:57 it really just highlights where we're expecting the heavier rainfall totals to be, about the

03:01 southern half, where we've got the potential between 100 and 150 mm, even reaching up to

03:08 200 mm in places.

03:10 But even inland, the rainfall totals look to be 50 plus mm, even reaching up to close

03:17 to 100.

03:19 So if you or anyone you know lives within these areas, it's really important to stay

03:24 up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings via the Bureau website, app and social media,

03:30 and listen to all advice from your local emergency services.

03:33 Bye for now.

03:34 [Music]

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