Rain is set to stay for the next week, with Friday and Saturday likely to get a drenching. There should be an easing on Sunday before the heavens open again.
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But this year is not that different from the usual year in Canberra, according to forecaster Jordan Notara of the Bureau of Meteorology. "Canberra is on track to be typical," he said.
Sydney, on the other hand, has just received its usual allocation of rain in the 97 days of the year so far.
The summer, though, broke rainfall records. The country recorded its wettest November since records began in 1900. The Bureau said the national average rainfall that month was double the usual amount.
The cause of the blustery rain at the moment is unstable atmospheric conditions with showers and downpours heading in from the east.
"We have a trough which is deepening and it's combining with moist easterly airflow and that's what's bringing those showers," the Bureau's Morgan Pumpa said.
"In some areas that are already quite wet, that increases the chance of flash flooding."
Canberrans planning trips to the south coast of NSW should plan and take care, Ms Pumpa said.
"We also see the chance of some heavy rainfall across southern parts of the Southern Tablelands, South Coast and also Illawarra over the coming days, so it's important that people keep an eye on the forecast as they plan for the weekend," she said.
"There could be widespread 200 to 300 millimetres over the next two to three days on the south coast."
The council's coastal and flood planner Cameron Whiting said the impacts had reflected what the computer models predicted.
"The storm reinforced our understanding of the areas that are vulnerable, how they will behave under certain conditions and that our coastal hazard assessment mapping has been on the right track," he said.
Swell of up to seven metres hit the south coast at the weekend, causing significant erosion at Long Beach, Surfside, Tomakin Cove and South Broulee, the Eurobodalla Shire Council said.
Mr Whiting said that the council would present a range of mitigation options for the community to consider this year.
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Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
