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 Above: NSW
rainfall for the 24 hours to 9am. BoM  |
 Above: QLD
rainfall for the 24 hours to 9am. BoM |
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 Above: Flood
situation in northern NSW at 4pm. BoM |
 Above: Flood
situation in the QLD Gulf Country at 4pm.. BoM |
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 Above: Flood
situation in SW QLD at 4pm. BoM |
 Above: Flood
situation in QLD Maranoa/ Darling Downs at 4pm. BoM |
 Flooding
in NSW as monsoon low exits stage right
The monsoon low that has been a prolific rain producer for over a
week departed the continent a little before dawn this morning, delivering
flood rainfall to inland NE NSW as a parting gesture. Falls of 50
to 100mm were common, with readings as high as 160mm on the NW Slopes
and Northern Tablelands, adding flooding in the Peel and Gwydir Rivers to
that already occurring in the Macintyre and Severn systems on the QLD border.
The low crossed the border into NSW north of Lightning Ridge around 11pm EDT
last night moving swiftly southeastwards. Its well-defined circulation broke
down during the early hours of this morning as it traversed the rough country
of
the Great Divide and the coastline, with several centres in a broad trough
running from the Hunter Valley to the southern NW Slopes. By 5am EDT an ill-defined
centre was identified east of Sydney, and this resolved and deepened during
the day as it moved rapidly away to the SSE.
During the low's passage across NE NSW, 9 to 12 hours of torrential rain fell
on across the Northwest Slopes and Plains, Northern Tablelands, Mid North Coast
and the northern Hunter Valley.  shows
the distribution of the rain and the amount in the gauges for the 24 hours
to 9 this morning for NSW, by which time heavy rain had ceased except for a
small area west of Port Macquarie. The rain was heaviest where the rainband
was forced to ascend the northwestern slopes of the Great
Dividing Range to the west of Armidale. Upper Horton (30km NW of Barraba) recorded
166.0mm (88mm falling 9pm to 6am), Kingstown (50km ESE of Barraba) 159.2, and
Mt Kaputar (45km WNW of Barraba) 147.8 (95mm 9pm to midnight) were the highest
official
totals. However, the flood warning gauge at Bendemeer, 30km NE of Tamworth,
recorded a 24 hour total of 185mm, 60mm falling between 9pm and midnight and
a further 79mm from then to 9am.
As can be seen by comparing maps and  ,
the area of heaviest rainfall drains south into the Namoi and north into the
Gwydir catchments, and river rises were rapid.
Namoi/Peel: In the Peel River (Namoi catchment)
around and above Tamworth, flood warning gauge totals between 9pm and 9am
were Keeva 106, Weabonga 100, Mulla Crossing 79, Ogunbil 95, Goonoo Goonoo
88 and
Tamworth itself 94. The city is currently host to the annual Tamworth Country
Music Festival with an estimated additional 80,000 fans in town. An estimated
2,500 of them, camping on river flats, had to be moved around dawn, one unfortunate
camper losing his fully-packed 4WD with $70,000 of musical equipment inside.
About 150 Tamworth residents were also evacuated as the town was almost
cut in two, only the Bridge Street bridge remaining open. A man was rescued
from the roof of his 4WD overnight when he was spotted by a local SES volunteer
on patrol
in
a floodboat.
Later,
3
people
were rescued from a car which overturned after being driven into floodwaters
at Tamworth. The Peel at Tamworth peaked at about 5.7m at 4.30pm with moderate
flooding.
Gwydir: In the Gwydir Valley, the Horton at Rider peaked
near 6.9m about 11am, while the Gwydir at Gravesend peaked at 13.65m around
6.30pm
with major flooding.
Late this evening, flood levels farther downstream were moderate at Pallamallawa
and major at Yarraman Bridge. The estimated flood peak for Pallamallawa is
close to the height of the levee bank, and 300 people living in 120 affected
homes are on standby to evacuate. The main Gwydir Highway was closed between
Warialda and Moree as were all roads south of Bundarra and all black soil country
roads.
Macintyre/Severn: The Macintyre peaked near 6.5m around midday
with minor flooding, which also continues around Ashford on the Severn.
 Floods
continue in QLD
 shows
rainfall for the 24 hours to 9am for QLD, with widespread
falls above 50mm in central southern QLD mostly occurring before midnight this
morning. The flood situation as at 4pm is shown in  for
Gulf rivers,  for
southwestern streams and  for
the Maranoa/ Darling Downs area.
The flood peak on the Thomson at Longreach is now expected to be lower than
first forecast, bringing waters up to, but not into the town. However, heavier
rain
to the south of
the town
has produced higher river rises, and the town of Jundah, 200km downstream from
Longreach, is preparing defences with sandbags intended for Longreach diverted
to Jundah. Sheep around Isisford, on the Barcoo, which have been trapped for
days are dying in mud while some residents of Aramac and Blackall can still
only access their homes by boat.
Flood peaks reported today:
- Gregory: The peak at Gregory Downs of 13.9m at noon Friday
was a record. Doomadgee peaked at 3.2m yesterday morning.
- Leichhardt: Peak at Lorraine was 16.2m
this evening.
- Diamantina: Elderslie reached a peak of 3.5m
yesterday evening with
major flooding.
- Thomson: Muttaburra peaked at 5.4m yesterday afternoon.
A further peak is expected.
- Barcoo: Coolagh peaked at 6.8m yesterday morning.
- Bulloo: Blackwater
Creek at Adavale peaked last night at its highest level since 1971 and had
fallen to 3.8m this morning (peak not given).
- Paroo: Humeburn reached a river level peak of 5.3m early
this morning.
- Warrego: Nive River at Biddenham peaked at 2.8 metres
early Friday morning.
- Weir: O'Connor peaked yesterday evening
9.9m.
- Macintyre: Goondiwindi has reached an initial peak of
6.5m this morning, but a second higher peak is expected.
 Heavy
storm falls on QLD coast
Thunderstorms fired up the full length of the QLD east coast this
afternoon bringing strong wind gusts and heavy rain. Samuel Hill
Airport (70km NNE of Rockhampton) recorded 128mm between noon and 6pm, 77.8
falling in the first 2 hours. Town of 1770 recorded 68mm between noon and
6pm, and Sandy Cape Lighthouse 73 between 3 and 9pm. A thunderstorm gave
Gold Coast Seaway 12mm in 6 minutes to 12.26pm. Strong winds associated with
a Gold Coast storm blew tree branches onto a Dreamworld chairlift, trapping
about 60 riders for up to 3.5 hours. News sources: AAP, ABC, Courier-Mail
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