Australia weather: Wettest November in 150 years as NSW is pummeled with rain

Parts of New South Wales have already recorded their wettest November in more than 100 years as most of Australia is lashed with severe thunderstorms and a huge soaking of rain.

Orange in NSW’s Central Tablelands has seen its highest monthly rainfall since records began in 1870 with a total of 243.2mm recorded as of Tuesday – and there’s still one week left of November.

Condobolin and Corwa, in the state’s central west have also seen their heaviest rainfall this month with 131.7mm and 173.2mm of rain falling respectively.

The widespread deluge also saw Brisbane cop its wettest day of November in 40 years on Wednesday with a huge 121mm of rain recorded overnight, which is just shy over the monthly record of 169mm.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned Australians that the miserable conditions will hang around for the rest of the week, with almost every state but Western Australia to be drenched in rain, before things brighten up from Monday.

Meteorologist Jackson Browne said the wild weather was a result of ‘two tropical air masses’ that are set to collide in the wake of cyclone Paddy which formed near Christmas Island.

He said Thursday would be the ‘peak’ day for heavy rainfall across the eastern parts of the country.

‘Widespread falls of 25mm to 100mm with higher amounts of thunderstorms are likely,’ he said.

‘Rainfall should extend along the east coast of Australia on Friday with conditions beginning to fine up for at least most of NSW and Victoria on Saturday.’

For NSW, major flood warnings have been given for the Lachlan River and Namoi River in the state’s central west over the next 24 hours.

Forbes and Gunnedah have already been inundated with floods due to the heavy deluge of rain this week.

More flood warnings have been issued around the state while severe thunderstorms are also forecast in the coming days with no sign of sunshine in Sydney over the next week.

Queensland will also be lashed with severe storms over Thursday with the central part of the state to cop the brunt of the wild weather.

The BoM has issued storm warnings for nearly the entire state with no end in sight.

Victoria was also hit with the heavy downpour as flood warnings are issued for parts in the state’s east while Canberra was also drenched with rain.

Western Australians and Tasmanians will be the only ones around the country to enjoy a warm and sunny rest of the week.

The wild weather comes after the BoM declared on Tuesday a La Nina event is underway in the Pacific.  

The BoM’s Head of Operational Climate Services, Dr Andrew Watkins, said that typically during La Niña events, rainfall becomes focused in the western tropical Pacific, leading to wetter than normal period for eastern, northern and central parts of Australia. 

‘La Niña also increases the chance of cooler than average daytime temperatures for large parts of Australia and can increase the number of tropical cyclones that form,’ Dr Watkins said. 

‘La Niña is also associated with earlier first rains of the northern wet season, as we’ve observed across much of tropical Australia this year.’

The last significant La Nina was back from 2010–12, which saw widespread flooding in some areas.

In some welcome news, BoM experts don’t expect the current La Nina to be as intense compared to previous years.