Millions of Aussies brace for wet weekend

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Millions of Australians living along the east coast have been told to brace for a soaking, with up to 100mm of rain predicted to hit parts of New South Wales this weekend.

Senior meteorologist Angus Hines told Weekend Today it would be a “very wet weekend” ahead of most of the state.

It comes as parts of Western Australia experienced its highest May rainfall total in more than 82 years.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s seven-day forecast for NSW is showing a chance of showers until Thursday next week, with the biggest impact set for the next few days.

“At the moment, the heaviest rain is falling over western parts of the state, those inland areas, the spots like Hillston are having over 50mm of rain yesterday and overnight,” Hines said.

“As we get a little bit later on into the weekend, particularly Sunday, the heavier rain (will) move to that much more highly populated coastal part of the state.”

The Bureau forecasts the biggest rainfall totals will be seen in the Illawarra district and potentially parts of Sydney.

“(The rain is due) to a combination of things going on in the atmosphere, but we’ve got a big high-pressure area, south of Tasmania, which has just been feeding showers onto the east coast of the country all up that NSW coast all week,” Hines said.

“That’s why we’ve had that spotty off and on again rainfall all through the week so far.

“That’s going to get amplified and enhanced by a disturbance in the upper atmosphere, which (will) turn that spotty, showery weather into more widespread and persistent rainy weather (tonight) and Sunday.”

Next week drier weather will return to the rest of the state, though rain will likely continue along the coast.

Meanwhile, similar conditions were recorded in Western Australia yesterday, after the state recorded large rainfall totals.

Bunbury recorded a two-day total of 55 mm to 9am yesterday, the most rain the town has seen since August 2023.

Cowaramup also saw its largest rainfall totals in two and a half years, with 60 mm recorded during the 24 hours to 9am on Thursday.

Showers will clear in Perth and Adelaide today, both expected to reach a high of 22.

Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart will climb to a top of 17, while Brisbane will see a shower or two and a top of 24 degrees.

It will be sunny skies and warm weather in Darwin, with the city reaching a 35 degrees.