Take cover: Wild wet weather ahead
With Australia suffering the worst drought it has ever faced in years, there is some good news on the horizon, as parts of the country can expect a downpour of rain over the weekend.
Labelled as Australia’s most significant rain event of 2018, the stormy conditions are working their way through NSW, with many coastal areas expecting 50-100mm of rain between now and next Tuesday.
Those residing in Sydney have already experienced a preview of the wet weather as heavy rainfall was recorded in most of the city yesterday.
Three suburbs across the city experienced the heaviest amount of rainfall – Peakhurst, Prospect and North Rocks, which all received 74mm of rain between 9 am Thursday and 7 am Friday.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the downpour of rain will continue throughout today but will ease this afternoon. The NSW coast will experience heavy winds and authorities have issued a warning to surfers as the conditions will be dangerous today and tomorrow in Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle.
Sydney will face the rainy conditions all throughout the weekend and into next week.
While many may find the weather miserable, it is a blessing in disguise for Australian farmers who have been struggling under the dry conditions. The western town of Broken Hill in NSW got more rain in one night than the whole year combined. Many farmers considered themselves lucky as they received between 40mm and 100mm of rain on Wednesday night, according to the ABC.
But while there are plenty of farmers celebrating, some didn’t get much rain at all, such as Lachlan Fall who owns a property east of Broken Hill.
“It seemed to turn into a bit of a rain band and that provided a bit of relief for some lucky people,” Mr Gall told AAP.
“I’m not confident that there’s going to be widespread heavy rain this year.”
Across Australia, the Northern Territory, Tasmania and South Australia may experience a light shower while ACT and Victoria are expected to remain dry.