Sydney downpour expected to intensify over coming days
Today Weather alert in Sydney this morning where emergency services are on flood watch with rain forecast to intensify. Today correspondent Lara Vella is in Colorado on Sydney’s northern beaches. Lara, good morning, How long is this rain going to continue? A very good morning to you Brookwell for Sydneysiders. Unfortunately these soggy conditions are going to hang around for at least the next few days. Hasn’t it been a wet start to May? We’re only in the second week of May and already broke. The Bureau is predicting that we would have received by the end of today, a month’s worth of rain. Over the weekend this system really smashed areas along the Illawarra of NSW and pockets of the South Coast. But as that system now tracks N it is the Central Coast that has been the focus overnight. Emergency services. I’ve touched base with the SES this morning Brooke, and they say in that area they’ve received more than 40 calls in relation to storm damage, things like leaky roofs and trees being brought down as a result of these strong winds, and they’ve also responded to around six flood rescues. So what is causing all this rain here in May? Well the Bureau says it’s a combination of a stubborn high pressure system lingering along the Tasman in combination with a coastal through and that means for Sydneysiders in particular. It is going to be a very, very wet start to the working week. And those rainy conditions will hang around until the middle of the week before they start to ease and then the rain will settle in for the weekend. The Bureau predicts that in Sydney over the next week, Brooke, we could see around 150 millimetres of rainfall. I do have some good news this morning. There those severe weather warnings that were issued by the Bureau. They have now been cancelled. But there is a strong wind warning in place this morning, pretty much for the entire NSW coast. And we can certainly feel it down here at Collaroy Beach this morning. Brooke. All right, Laura, stay dry. Thank you.