‘Heaviest rain in years’ lashes Australia’s east coast with a wet weekend ahead
By Ben Graham, February 7, 2020 News.Com.Au
Australia’s east coast has woken up to its heaviest drenching in years as a major weather system causes flash flooding and strong winds. Roads are congested and train lines have closed.
A low pressure trough is dumping rain on a huge swath of the country with Byron Bay seeing its biggest downfall for almost half a century.
And there is to be absolutely no let up with an urgent weather warning now in place for an huge 1000km stretch of the coast from Sydney to Brisbane.
Sydney has had its wettest period since March last year with 70mm falling on the CBD overnight. More rain has fallen in six hours than has fallen in the last three months combined. The Harbour City could squelch its way through its wettest 24 hours stretch for years today.
‘Massive Relief’: Torrential Rain
Douses Bushfires Across Parts of Australia
By Lisa Cox, February 7, 2020, The Guardian
Torrential rain in New South Wales has reduced the number of active fires in the state by a third, from more than 60 down to 42, but parts of the east coast now face a new threat from flooding, with Sydney facing one of its wettest three-day periods in years.
The commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service, Shane Fitzsimmons, said on Friday there had been a “dramatic shift” in the hot, dry and windy conditions that have driven the unprecedented fire season for months.
“This has been an absolute welcome disruption to that weather pattern and a massive reprieve and relief to so many people right across New South Wales,” he said.
“Obviously we don’t want to see lots of widespread damage and destruction from flooding, but it is certainly a welcome change to the relentless campaign of hot, dry weather resulting in widespread damaging, destructive fires that we’ve experienced for too long now.”