Emergency services have warned that a major dam in Sydney’s far south-west is likely to overflow on Saturday evening as heavy rain batters the state.
At about 1.30pm, Water NSW said the Warragamba Dam – which has a capacity of 2,065 gigalitres – had reached ‘nearly full capacity’ and was likely to overflow within hours.
The latest models show that the dam could achieve a leakage of around 40GL per day, if the catch receives the forecast amount of 35mm of rain over the weekend.
WaterNSW said this would be less than April’s peak leakage, which was more than 200GL per day.
A number of other dams in Greater Sydney are also likely to overflow, including Cataract, Nepean, Woronora, Tallowa, Greaves Creek, Medlow Bath and Middle Cascades.
At about 1.30pm, Water NSW said Warragamba Dam – which has a capacity of 2,065 gigalitres – was at “nearly full capacity” and was likely to overflow within hours on Saturday.
The Bureau of Meteorology has also warned of the possibility of severe thunderstorms in several parts of NSW, including parts of Sydney, the Hunter and the Illawarra, with the possibility of localized flash flooding as a result of the heavy rainfall.
Severe weather warnings have been issued for parts of the NSW south coast as 70 to 200mm of rain could fall.
Surfing conditions will also be tough, the agency predicts. Dangerous surf warnings are in effect for the coasts of Macquarie, Hunter, Sydney and Illawarra on Saturday, and for Hunter and Sydney on Sunday.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of the possibility of severe thunderstorms in several parts of NSW
Parts of the NSW south coast have been warned of severe weather as 70 to 200mm of rain could fall
Parts of the state’s south, including the Illawarra, the South Coast, the Southern Tablelands and the Snowy Mountains, have been under severe weather warnings, with heavy rain and flash flooding.
Rainfall of up to 90mm is expected in southern parts of the state in just six hours on Saturday, with isolated rainfall of up to 120mm possible in some areas.
Earlier, an agency meteorologist said there was the potential for severe thunderstorms around the Sydney and Illawarra metropolitan area, bringing heavy rain that could lead to flash flooding.
Somewhere between 20 and 45mm of rain is expected around Sydney on Saturday, while three to 20mm of rain is expected on Sunday.
Rainfall of up to 90mm is expected in southern parts of the state in just six hours on Saturday, with isolated rainfall of up to 120mm possible in some areas
There was a chance of 200mm of rain in 24 hours in some southern parts of the state and a flood warning would be issued, the meteorologist said.
The agency has warned that heavy rainfall from Saturday morning to Sunday could lead to flash flooding in northern parts of the South Coast, southern parts of the Illawarra, eastern parts of the Southern Tablelands and far north-eastern parts of the Snowy Mountains districts.
Somewhere between 20 and 45mm of rain is expected around Sydney on Saturday, with three to 20mm forecast for Sunday
‘Rainfall per six hours totals between 70 and 90mm, with isolated cases of 100 to 120mm possible. 24 hourly totals of between 80 and 120mm are likely and isolated falls of up to 200mm are possible across areas,” the forecast reads.
NSW Police are urging residents to ‘consider staying out of the water and avoid walking near areas exposed to surf’.
Sydney has broken its record rainfall from early May, with almost 150mm recorded in the Observatory Hill gauge since the start of the month.
The agency estimates up to four millimeters could fall on Monday, with a 20 percent chance of some rain on Tuesday.
If the rain clouds stay away, Sydney’s 13-day wet streak will be snapped.
The weekend storms are also expected to bring rain to other parts of the country, from Queensland to Western Australia
OTHER STATES
Meanwhile, this weekend’s storm is also expected to bring rain to other parts of the country, with Queensland expected to experience rain and thunderstorms.
South-east Queensland will bear the brunt of the state’s deluge, while Brisbane will remain wet on both Saturday and Sunday.
Canberra, as well as northern and eastern parts of Victoria, will also experience rain for an entire weekend.
In WA, thunderstorms were forecast for the Margaret River and Busselton areas on Friday evening.
But residents were shocked at 4pm local time when a tornado ripped through the town of Bunbury, causing extensive damage and losing power to thousands of homes.
A PCYC building with dozens of young people inside was completely destroyed and many people were injured