Single biggest drenching of rain since February forecast for Canberra
Canberra could be hit with up to 30 millimetres of rainfall on Wednesday - the territory's biggest single day drenching since February.
A low pressure system is expected to bring showers across NSW and the ACT on Wednesday, with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting between 10 and 30 millimetres of rain in the capital over the next 24 hours.
The bureau's duty forecast for NSW/ACT, Anita Pyne, said parts of Canberra could receive falls at the higher end of the forecast range if they were hit with localised thunderstorms.
"We predict there will be widespread falls of 10 millimetres - the [30 millimetres] might happen if a quite small cell dumped a lot of precipitation in a particular area," Ms Pyne said.
Ms Pyne said there was chance of light showers on Tuesday night, before the storm rolls through the region on Wednesday.
If the ACT receives the forecast 30 millimetres on Wednesday, it would mark the capital's single biggest day of rainfall since a 64.4-millimetre drenching on February 26.
It would follow a large downpour last Thursday, when 22 millimetres of rain helped wash away the threat of a dust storm which was poised to sweep through Canberra.
November has brought welcome rain to drought-affected parts of the region, with 70.8 millimetres recorded in the capital this month.
It breaks a run of seven consecutive months of below average rainfall in the ACT, which included total falls of just 7.2 and 7.8 millimetres in March and July.
Wollongong could also cop as much as 150 millimetres. Nowra, for instance, may receive 70-100 millimetres, the bureau said. Blue Mountains towns such as Katoomba are likely to collect 60-90 millimetres.
The bureau has already issued an initial flood watch for rivers between the Illawarra and the Central Coast.
In contrast, regions to the north of NSW face elevated fire risks on Wednesday, with a total fire ban declared for the North Coast region, the NSW Rural Fire Service said.
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