NSW weather LIVE updates: Torrential rain hits nation’s east coast; NSW SES issues flood warnings for city, regions

The weather system may be slowly moving south, but the Northern Rivers region continues to cop heavy rain while catchments around Lismore, Ballina and Byron Bay rise.

In some good news for Lismore residents, the Wilsons River at Lismore is currently sitting steady at 3.61 metres – which is below the minor flood level – despite the Bureau of Meteorology warning minor flooding was possible last night.

There are still plenty of spots in the area where there is water on the road, and the local NSW State Emergency Service is urging residents not to drive through floodwater.

Yesterday’s storms took out perimeter fences at Byron Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, damaged enclosures and buildings and forced the relocation of the animal hospital to higher ground.

“The threat of more rain hangs over us,” the sanctuary said in a social media.

Minor flood warnings are also in place for the Richmond River at Casino and Coraki, and the Gwydir River in the Northern Tablelands.

Rain has caused damage to train equipment at Redfern Station, a crucial stop on Sydney’s rail network.

Transport authorities say passengers should expect some delays while heading through the station.

“Trains are running frequently but, trips may take longer than normal, and stops may change at short notice,” Transport for NSW wrote on social media.

As of 9am AEDT, there are 10 schools closed across NSW.

Joining the premier is Water NSW chief executive Andrew George, who says Warragamba Dam – which supplies much of Sydney’s drinking water – is expected to spill on Monday, once the rain moves on.

George said the dam was currently at 96.3 per cent of capacity, meaning it requires about 90 millimetres of rain to fill and then spill.

The Bureau of Meteorology is expecting 100 to 150 millimetres of rainfall over the dam’s catchment during the rain event.

“That means the Warragamba will move into a spill, likely Monday morning,” George said. “What’s important about that is that the spill will occur likely when the rainfall event has moved on, so it is very important that the community remain vigilant.”

Premier Chris Minns said the government and SES was remaining vigilant, and there were processes in place for a controlled spillage of Warragamba “if it hits a certain amount of rainfall”.

He said he didn’t want “to tread over old history” with the now-abandoned plan to raise the dam.

“Any local in the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment will tell you is that you’ve got [rivers and creeks] … that flood independent to what happens at Warragamba Dam,” he said. “I’ve got to make decisions about what’s in the best interests of those communities. And it’s important to note that those tributaries and rivers will flood in any event when you’ve got moderate to severe weather events like we’re seeing.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns is speaking at the State Emergency Service headquarters in Rhodes this morning.

He said the seven rescues performed by the NSW SES since Monday is expected to increase, and encouraged those in flood-prone areas to download the “Hazards Near Me” phone app and keep up to date with emergency updates.

“It’s crucially important that people in NSW understand the risks – that they don’t take unnecessary risks,” he said. “It is a volatile event, and we need to make sure that we’ve got the latest information.”

Premier Chris Minns addressed the media from the NSW State Emergency Service headquarters in Rhodes alongside SES Commissioner Carlene York and the Bureau of Meteorology’s Steve Bernasconi.

Water NSW chief executive Andrew George also spoke.

In case you missed it, watch the full press conference below:

In tragic news from Queensland, a 71-year-old grandfather died when his ute was washed away in floodwaters in Brisbane’s south yesterday.

Nine News identified the man as local Peter Wells, whose car was found submerged in waters at Greenbank, near Logan southwest of Brisbane, where more than 100 millimetres of rain fell in an hour on Wednesday night.

His body was found near the vehicle early yesterday morning.

Queensland’s acting police commissioner Steve Gollschewski said police were investigating the man’s death.

“[It is] early days on that … but clearly an absolutely tragic circumstance,” he told reporters yesterday.

With AAP

As we highlighted in the previous post, emergency services will be focusing their efforts on the Sydney metropolitan area as the weather system moves from the Central Coast towards the state’s south today.

The severe weather warning, issued by the Bureau of Meteorology this morning, spans the area from Morisset, south of Newcastle, all the way to Bega in the South. The area also includes a fair chunk of the Central Tablelands just east of Bathurst, and takes in the area around Goulburn along the Hume Highway.

Marine wind and hazardous surf warnings are current for the entire NSW coast.

There are gale warnings for Sydney enclosed waters, Macquarie Coast, Hunter Coast, Sydney Coast and Illawarra Coast, and a strong wind warning for the Coffs Coast and Batemans Coast.

Drivers are being urged not to go near floodwaters and stay home if they can, after emergency services rescued seven people and received more than 550 calls in the last 24 hours.

NSW State Emergency Services Commissioner Carlene York, who announced her retirement yesterday, said the Sydney metropolitan area would be a priority for first responders today as the weather system moves from the Central Coast through to the South Coast.

Speaking to 2GB’s Ben Fordham, York said the conditions were worsening and drivers should “really not getting on the road unless they really have to”.

“Put it off for a day,” York said.

York – the first woman to lead the NSW SES – said she will “see this weather event through” before retiring in a few weeks.

She will provide further updates alongside Premier Chris Minns at the SES headquarters in Rhodes from 8am AEDT, which we will bring to you live.

The wild weather we’re seeing is due to the convergence of two weather systems, in a phenomenon described as the “Black Nor’easter”.

Meteorologists have used this name since the 1800s to describe the dark, moisture-laden clouds that travel in from the north-east and can turn the middle of the day dark.

It occurs when a cool pool of air (coming from across the Great Australian Bight, for example) converges with a moisture-rich coastal trough supercharged by warmer ocean temperatures.

The convergence of the two weather systems is a recipe for wild weather as warmer ocean temperatures this time of year cause more evaporation, increasing the amount of water in the atmosphere.

When this moisture is carried south by humid north-easterly winds and cooled by the colder air in the upper-level low-pressure system above, it condenses and falls as rain.

Weatherzone meteorologist Yoska Hernandez told me yesterday the phenomenon would bring very dark skies and anywhere from 100 to 300 millimetres of rain to Sydney between Thursday and Saturday afternoon.

“The amount of moisture in the atmosphere is going to be very elevated, so the clouds are going to look black because of the amount of moisture available,” she said. “Most of the rain is going to fall on Friday and into Saturday morning.”

Those humid northeasterly winds would also bring gusts up to 80km/h along the NSW coast from late afternoon on Friday to Saturday morning, Hernandez said.