A broad and unpredictable trough stretching across south-east Australia could inundate Canberra with a month's worth of rain this weekend, meteorologists warn.
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Another storm was on its way to Canberra on Saturday afternoon, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning of damaging winds expected to hit the city by 1.35pm.
![A severe storm warning is in place for the ACT on Friday.
Photo: Margaret McMahon A severe storm warning is in place for the ACT on Friday.
Photo: Margaret McMahon](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/1335cc45-3aa4-4d59-94a9-c1f7e387671c/r0_0_1280_958_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Many Canberra residents had only just finished cleaning up from Monday night's wild weather when a severe thunderstorm was issued on Friday morning.
Weatherzone meteorologist Sam Terry said the storm brough damaging winds and "thundery rain" to the territory, along with up to 20 millimetres of rain. Another 50 millimetres is likely to fall in coming days.
Mr Terry said the worst of the storm hit Canberra between 1pm and 3pm with few reports of flash flooding.
Powerlines fell in O'Connor as the storm rumbled over about 10.30am with unplanned power outages in Acton, Black Mountain, Lyneham, O'Connor and Turner.
Emergency services were called to a house in Nicholls which sustained damage to its ceiling through a leaking roof as another wave of storm activity rolled over about 12.30pm.
As of 9.30pm, there had been 37 callouts for minor damage, mostly in Canberra's south.
"There's so much moisture around, right down into the NSW south coast into the ACT area, the south west slopes even all of the way into Tasmania," Mr Terry said.
"On top of that, it's very unstable to a deep layer, which means it's perfectly ripe for storms. One of my colleagues has been saying all the ducks are in a row today."
Before Friday, the capital had already been lashed with than 70 millimetres of rain this month - the January monthly average about 57 millimetres.
A severe hail storm earlier in the week generated more than 500 calls for help to emergency services, thousands of insurance claims and put two Tuggeranong women in hospital.
And it's not over yet, Mr Terry warned.
"Canberra is also expecting more wet stuff on Saturday. There's a low pressure system that's associated with this trough that's going to make landfall over south-east South Australia and that will rotate and head across NSW and bring with it more rain and storms, so Friday is not the last day [of January rain] Canberra will see.
"Probably sometime on Saturday afternoon we'll see more patchy rain, maybe not quite so heavy as Friday because most of the moisture will have headed east over the NSW coast, but still a couple of days of wet really."
But despite the amount of water around, this month is not one for the record books.
"It's not a record, the record was set in 1995, 218 millimetres, so we probably won't break that given there's only a few days left in this month but still, pretty significant stuff," Mr Terry said.
Canberra will typically only get about seven rain days in January, he said, noting we have had nine so far, with more on the way.
The ACT State Emergency Service is warning Canberra residents to secure loose items around their house, move their cars under cover or away from trees, avoid using the phone during the storm and to unplug computers and electrical devices.
Its deputy chief officer, Tracey Allen cautioned people not to drive through floodwaters and pleaded with children to steer clear of drains.
She also said people should call on the SES to assist rather than attempting to fix damage during a storm themselves.
"That's what we're built for, that's what we're trained for and that's what we've got the resources for," she said.
People and pets should also stay indoors away from windows and keep clear of fallen power lines.
For emergency help in floods and storms, call the ACT SES on 132 500.
You can report damage to power lines 24 hours a day by calling 13 10 94.
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