The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather update with rain and possible flooding through central and western Australia.
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00:00Heavy rain and potential flooding continue across central parts of the continent today,
00:04with the focus for rainfall shifting towards the east coast from Thursday.
00:09Now today's satellite imagery shows a lot of cloud sitting over western and central parts
00:14of the continent, associated with this rain event that's already been unfolding over the
00:18past couple of days. Today we're going to see further wet weather through much of inland
00:24Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia. Generally showers but
00:29tending to rain areas through parts of the Northern Territory. Thunderstorms are also
00:34going to play a part. Today's thunderstorm forecast shows these green areas of possible
00:40thunderstorms across much of inland Western Australia, the Northern Territory and northern
00:45parts of South Australia too. In these areas storms are possible today. We do have severe
00:52storms possible today as well. This yellow area you see here across southwestern parts of the
00:57Northern Territory and the northern inland of Western Australia. Now in that yellow area we
01:02could see, we're more likely to see rather, heavy falls which could lead to flash flooding. That is
01:08really the hot spot area for today and if we look at today's rainfall totals that we're expecting,
01:14it tells the same story. We've got fairly patchy falls through inland Western Australia,
01:19South Australia and parts of the Northern Territory but in that area of severe storms we
01:24might see more widespread 20 to 50 millimetres but where storms move overhead those rainfall
01:30totals may reach as much as 70 or 80 millimetres. In addition to the thunderstorm risk today we do
01:37also have that continued risk of flooding. Our flood watches cover the Tanami and Western Desert
01:43catchments as well as the Sturt Creek, all straddling the border between the Northern
01:46Territory and northern Western Australia. Now in those flood watch areas we're most likely to see
01:52the impacts from the rainfall. That includes water moving over the roads making them muddy or
01:57impassable, potentially leading to lengthy detours. We may also see the rivers and creeks responding
02:02to that rainfall with possible inundation of low-lying areas near those waterways. So how
02:09will this situation play out after today? Looking at tomorrow we're going to start seeing that rain
02:14push towards southeastern Australia. A cold front will start to approach the southeast too
02:20and that will help to drag the moisture eastwards. Tomorrow's rainfall totals are generally going to
02:24be on the low to moderate side but thunderstorms may push up the totals in some isolated areas
02:30through the east here. However the story becomes a little bit more interesting as we go
02:36into Thursday. We're going to see rainfall pushing up the east coast of New South Wales, tapping into
02:42this moisture coming in from the north, leading to potentially moderate to heavy falls about parts
02:48of the central east coast of New South Wales. Now that includes pretty much anywhere from the
02:52Illawarra northwards including the Greater Sydney area and the Greater Hunter. As we go towards the
02:58end of Thursday into early Friday we're going to see low pressure deepening across northeast New
03:03South Wales and southeast Queensland, possibly leading to further enhanced rainfall at the end
03:09of the week going into the early part of the weekend. Now this is just one possible forecast
03:14option, we may see this low pressure system developing slightly differently in a slightly
03:19different location or slightly faster or slower and that will impact the outcome of rainfall for
03:24these eastern parts of New South Wales. However one way or the other we are expecting a wet end
03:30to the week for eastern New South Wales and southeastern Queensland. You can find all of the
03:36forecast updates over the next couple of days via the Bureau's website or the BOM social media.
03:41Stay on top of this situation and we'll catch you in the next update.