Ben Domensino, 21 Mar 2018, 6:39 AM UTC
Flooding rain hits NSW
Rain and thunderstorms have inundated parts of eastern NSW today, causing flash flooding in some areas.
A slow-moving low pressure being fed by copious moisture from the Tasman Sea has triggered the heavy falls.
Intense rain rates of around 70mm per hour were observed at Dungog on Wednesday morning, while Taree Airport collected 20mm in 10 minutes. This is more than enough rain to cause localised flooding.
Persistent and heavy falls saw a whopping 226mm of rain accumulate at Upper Chichester on the Barrington Tops during the six hours to 11am today. This was its heaviest rain in about two years.
Nobbys Head's 50mm between 9am and 5pm today is its heaviest rain since last June, with flash flooding reported around parts of Newcastle.
The heaviest rain will continue to target the Lower Hunter and Lower Mid North Coast overnight and into Thursday morning, with some areas possibly picking up another 100mm on top of what's already fallen.
The trough will continue to cause rain and storms on and east of the ranges north of about the Hunter on Thursday and Friday, producing further heavy falls and flooding.
This week's rain is falling into catchments that were unusually dry, following a lengthy period of below average rainfall in parts of central and eastern NSW.
As the rain clears and floodwaters recede, this week's soaking will have delivered some welcome moisture back into parched soil in the region.
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