Weatherzone Forecast

[Gad]

Flooding rain from Noosa to Taree

Douglas Fenton, Tuesday January 24, 2012 - 10:19 EDT

Widespread rainfall totals of 50-150mm have caused major flooding in parts of NSW and minor flooding in southeast QLD.

Bellingen in NSW has had a bucket-full, with 167mm in the 24 hours to 9am on Tuesday, while Upper Darkwood to the west gained 178mm. Dorrigo was inundated with as much as 100mm in just one hour and 209mm during the past 24 hours, their heaviest rain since May of 2009. These very high rain totals have led to major flooding on the Bellinger River at Thora, with river levels continuing to rise on Tuesday morning.

In Queensland, Bribie Island received some of the heaviest falls with a daily total of 130mm to 9am Tuesday. Hotham Creek to the north of Coomera was drenched with 125mm in the 24 hour period. The scattered persistent rain led to minor flooding on the Paynter River at Diddlibah, inland of Maroochydore.

The torrential rain has been the result of a slow-moving Tasman High, which is sending a peristant flow of moisture-laden air over eastern Australia. This is also being supported by an upper level trough, drawing moisture deep into the atmosphere and setting the scene for the heavy rainfall.

There have been several severe weather alerts and storm warnings issued for NSW and Queensland due to the flash flooding. The recent rainfall has saturated the land along the coast and nearby inland and so the bulk of the water has nowhere to go but along the surface.

The outlook is for the wet weather to continue for the eastern seaboard over the next several days, particularly along the coast and adjacent ranges. The large high pressure system parked over the Tasman Sea will maintain the moisture flow, while the upper trough remains slow moving. The rain will be focused from the QLD Capricornia district down to the NSW Mid North Coast. Rain totals from Tuesday to Friday are likely to range from 300-400mm in parts.

[adambris]

i wonder what the boys that control wivenhoe are thinking about at the moment?

[pancakes_and_haggis]

There may be a few stained undies if it doesn't stop like it is now

[billp]

I'm thinking the catty and ray fishing is going to go off in the next two weeks with all this fresh.

Country people will be laughing to, with their tanks filling up and not having to buy water.

At this stage it just looks like the summer rain of old, we used to get is becoming more regular.

[Gad]

i wonder what the boys that control wivenhoe are thinking about at the moment?

I don`t think there are any worries there,this is a seasonal wet event, people will be jittery because of 2010/2011, but realisticly nothing like the events of 2010/2012.

The 120% flood mitigation hold of Wivenhoe won`t be needed for this event...

the predicted heavier rainfalls so far are coastal and (at present)there isn't a concerning amount falling in the catchment area

Now if this event was followed or backed on by a larger event/s over the next few weeks.... ???

[ChrisC]

pretty persistent here

[woody1]

She is filling up! This is the Jindalee boat ramp

[Gad]

the Jindalee boat ramp and others may see a lot more water,this rain event seems to be getting more complexed and intense with each forecast run.It seems to be, being feed moisture from all directions,with hints of a monsoonal low hopping on the back of this by the week end.

The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it.

[JarrydA]

Certainly feels like it did last year, persistent, heavy, wet rain!

[Baptism]

there goes the fishing for awhile again