Late summer season rain is inflicting havoc throughout Australia, with South Australia on flood watch, Victoria cleansing up after a downpour, and Sydney issuing a shark warning after heavy falls.
Nearly all of South Australia, a lot of western Victoria and elements of western NSW have been on flood watch as a slow-moving strain system from central Australia moved east. Queensland had additionally seen extreme rainfall.
Elements of Victoria acquired greater than double their common February rainfall in a single day on Friday.
In the meantime, sustained rain in Sydney over the previous couple of days led to official warnings that murky water situations can improve bull shark exercise.
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, warned residents to arrange as heavy falls of 50-100mm have been forecast for a lot of the state, with flash flooding potential in Adelaide when the system arrived within the capital on Saturday.
“It’s not uncommon in South Australia or metropolitan Adelaide to see a 10-millimetre rain occasion,” he stated.
“However after we begin to see rain occasions north of fifty, 60, 80mm, that begins to symbolize the kind of situations the place we’ll see flash flooding.
“If we see that quantity of rain in a brief time frame, then we must always anticipate flash-flooding occasions all through the state.”
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The Eyre Peninsula has had extreme falls since Friday morning, with 71mm falling in Ceduna, 68mm at Wudinna and 98mm at Minnipa, the Bureau of Meteorology stated.
Moomba within the state’s north-east had near 100mm this week and has had 189mm in February – exceeding its annual common rainfall of 176mm.
The senior meteorologist Dean Narramore stated the rain was badly wanted for big elements of the state, which have been battling long-term rainfall shortages.
“South Australia has been so dry for therefore lengthy, this might principally be welcome,” he stated.
“I believe typically it’s a excellent news story other than the flash flooding.”
In Victoria, 96mm was recorded at Horsham airport in a single day on Friday, about 5 occasions the regional metropolis’s common rainfall for February of 19mm. Warracknabeal acquired 49mm, greater than double its common February rainfall, whereas areas round Mount Macedon and Gisborne had hail storms.
Melbourne was anticipating advantageous climate on Saturday however showers may start on Sunday earlier than heavier falls on Sunday evening and Monday.
In Queensland, extreme falls continued in inland areas. The outback city of Birdsville, the place the annual common rainfall is 162mm, had acquired 178mm thus far in 2026 and 128mm of that fell over three days this week.
Narramore stated the rainfall battering South Australia was anticipated to proceed via the weekend earlier than shifting into western NSW and western Victoria earlier than the system weakens mid-week.
Narramore stated a monsoon trough over northern Australia would strengthen all through the weekend “bringing widespread rain, falls and potential flooding”.
“We may see a tropical low probably develop throughout northern Australia subsequent week as effectively,” he stated.
Within the east of NSW, the Minns authorities was urging seashore and waterway swimmers and surfers to train warning as a result of latest heavy rainfall may create murky situations that improve bull shark exercise in Sydney Harbour, different estuaries and alongside the NSW coast.
“In case your native seashore is closed because of the climate, shark sightings, or poor water high quality, we ask seashore goers, swimmers and surfers, to not enter the water for their very own security,” the regional NSW minister, Tara Moriarty, stated.
“For those who’re on the shoreline, by the harbour or on waterways, it’s necessary to grasp how the setting can affect shark behaviour and to then take the mandatory steps to scale back your threat of a shark interplay.”
4 assaults occurred within the state at first of the 12 months, together with one inside Sydney Harbour that took the lifetime of a 12-year-old boy.
The local weather disaster is making Australia extra weak to excessive climate and pure disasters, together with intense rainfall. In 2025, the third-hottest 12 months on report, world floor air temperatures averaged 1.48C above preindustrial ranges. For every 1C of heating, the ambiance can maintain 7% extra moisture.
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