Anyone in and around Sydney and eastern NSW may have noticed the weather has become significantly UK-like recently – cold, gloomy and rainy. As it turns out, this weather is here to stay for the next week, with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting prolonged rainfall and potential flooding.
Sydney weather update: Extreme rain event coming
Sydney’s weekly forecast over on the BOM has shown over an 80 per cent chance of rain occurring every day for the next week, with Saturday May 4th and Sunday May 5th expected to get the heaviest falls of between 7 and 40mm. Temperatures have also significantly cooled too, with no highs over 22°C predicted. Judging by this forecast, it’s entirely possible that parts of Sydney could exceed the monthly rainfall average of 117mm in the next seven days.
Other parts of NSW are also bracing for heavy falls. The BOM has issued a flood warning for the Warrego River, predicting it could peak at 2.5m by Wednesday afternoon.
ABC meteorologist Tom Saunders predicts the rain could continue for a further nine days and is a result of a “blocking high”, which is used to describe a high-pressure system that stalls for up to a few weeks and “blocks the typical eastward movement of weather.” According to Saunders, this movement means that we can expect identical weather for each day of the blocking high, so get used to this icy rain.
This weather event comes almost a month after Sydney was hit with its heaviest rainfall in four years. Back in early April, Sydney saw 160mm of rainfall in a 48-hour period, while parts of the mid-north coast were lashed with over 120mm in a day.
The upcoming rainfall doesn’t seem to be forecast to be as severe as the April event, however, the NSW State Emergency Service recommends those in flood prone areas to use the Watch Zones feature in the Hazards Near Me App as this weather event progresses.
Lead Image Credit: iStock/BBC
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