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 NSW: Second east coast low brings gales, floods from Central to South Coasts. The second east coast low in a week remained almost stationary off the Mid North Coast today, bringing strong to gale force SE winds and heavy rain onto the NSW coast from the Central Coast south to the Bega Valley. It finally moved away slowly to the NE on Sunday. Fortunately, the only substantial rainfall in the flood-devastated Hunter Valley was around 40mm in the upper Paterson River and around 60mm in the Wollombi River basin. Belrose in Sydney's north and Ulladulla on the South Coast recorded their heaviest June one-day totals on record (see records), and many locations recorded between 50 and 110mm in the 24 hours to 9am (see wettest). Wind gusted to 102km/h at North Head, 100 at Norah Head east of Gosford, and 87km/h at Sydney Airport and Bellambi.
The heaviest rain in the Sydney metropolitan area occurred overnight, with Sydney Observatory Hill registering 80mm between 9 last night and 6 this morning. Rain generally eased after 9am, though Turramurra and Frenchs Forest recorded 43 and 42mm to 9am Sunday, and heavy falls continued in the Georges River catchment in the south. In the 48 hours to 9am, Chatswood recorded 132mm and Observatory Hill 164mm. In the Warragamba Dam catchment, falls averaged 94mm in the 72 hours to 9am, with the dam expected to rise to about 45% capacity.
The SES received about 1000 calls for assistance around Sydney, mostly for downed trees, branches and powerlines, and local and house flooding. There were traffic disabilities because of flooding and debris on roads, and a major traffic snarl in Sydney when fallen scaffolding blocked Market Street for 3 hours. Domestic flights at Sydney Airport were running about 1 hour late during the morning, while harbour ferry services were disrupted. Wild seas pounded Sydney beaches, with waves averaging 6m and peaking at 11m. Blackouts affected over 1000 properties on the northern beaches, in the city's west and around Wollongong, and another 1000 around Wyong. Rosehill races were cancelled.
Rain was generally heavier in the Georges and Nepean River catchments and along the Illawarra coastal strip, where heavy falls continued today. Three-day totals to 9am Sunday were generally between 100 and 150mm, including Wedderburn 152 and Darkes Forest 165 in the Georges catchment, 139 at Menangle Bridge, 128 at Moss Vale and 130 at Oakdale (Nattai) in the Nepean catchment, and 216 at Balgownie and 184 at Wollongong City on the Illawarra Coast. Moderate flooding occurred in the Nepean around Menangle Bridge, with several bridges closed and some properties near Camden isolated. The Georges River at Milperra peaked around 1.56m late this evening, below minor flood level.
The South Coast has seen two days of heavy rain, with many locations in the Shoalhaven and along the South Coast reporting falls between 100 and 200mm for the 48 hours to 9am today. Among the heaviest 48 hour totals at official and flood warning stations in the Shoalhaven basin were Tomerong 177, Sassafras 172, Barrengarry 171, Fitzroy Falls 198, Wottamolla 194, and Robertson (Caalong St) 200 and Nowra 164. Farther south, the Moruya and Bega River basins recorded between 50 and 150mm in 3 days to 9am, including Majors Creek and Snowball 144, Majors Creek ERTS 172 and Brogo Dam 143.
The SES sandbagged low-lying areas around Shoalhaven Heads because of localised, non-river flooding.
The highest rainfall totals at official stations for the week to 9am Sunday, almost all of which fell between Thursday and early Sunday morning, were:
268.0 |
ROBERTSON (CAALONG STREET) |
223.0 |
FITZROY FALLS (RED HILLS) |
195.3 |
WOLLONGONG UNIVERSITY |
184.4 |
SYDNEY (OBSERVATORY HILL) |
184.2 |
MILTON POST OFFICE |
181.0 |
BELLAMBI AWS |
179.6 |
DARKES FOREST (KINTYRE) |
177.2 |
ABBOTSFORD (BLACKWALL POINT RD) |
175.0 |
ALBION PARK (WOLLONGONG AIRPORT) |
170.8 |
ULLADULLA AWS |
169.0 |
NOWRA RAN AIR STATION AWS |
161.8 |
SANCTUARY POINT (SALINAS STREET) |
159.3 |
RIVERVIEW OBSERVATORY |
156.7 |
NERRIGA COMPOSITE |
154.0 |
CASTLE COVE (ROSEBRIDGE AVE) |
Total rain for the month to 9am Sunday at Observatory Hill, Sydney, stands at 372.2mm, the highest for June since 1975.
 SA: Frosty mornings continue. Minimum temperatures were 6 to 10 below average again over much of southern SA this morning. At Clare High School, the thermometer dropped to -4.0, the lowest on record during the station's 13 years of operation. On the coast near Robe, Cape Jaffa recorded a low of 1.0, its lowest for June in 13 years. A number of locations fell below -4, including -4.4 at Renmark.
VIC, TAS: Fogs widespread. The col of high pressure resting over VIC and TAS overnight led to the formation of dense fog in many areas south of the divide in VIC and in the Derwent and South East in TAS. In many parts of Melbourne, fog formed early yesterday evening and did not clear until late this morning.
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