Saturday 6th April 9.43a.m. Post-deluge: Mostly blue sky. 11.1 / 16.7kph N, Hg 72%, 21.8C / 71.8F heading 25C / 77F. 146.2mm / 5.8inches. Rain and wind easing later (hardly a breeze at my location). Sheep graziers alert. Hazardous surf. Severe weather (wind and rain). Flash flooding. Marine wind warning.
Moon is 11.4%
Evacuation orders have been issued for residents in Sydney's north after an overnight deluge broke rainfall records across the city and the Illawarra.
A deluge overnight has dumped heavy rain across parts of Sydney and the Illawarra, prompting emergency evacuation warnings and rapid river rises.
The torrential falls are part of a broader rain event soaking eastern Australia, and has triggered more than 50 flood watches and warnings from southern Queensland to the NSW south coast.
Bellambi Point, north of
Wollongong, has received 190 millimetres / 7.5inches of rains since 9am yesterday — with 35mm falling in the half hour to 6:10am.
Multiple rainfall records have been broken by the deluge, including:
Penrith — 167mm — heaviest rainfall on record (weather station opened in 1995)
Bellambi — 195mm — heaviest rain in six years.
Chatswood — 189mm — heaviest in four years. Chatswood was also the wettest Sydney suburb.
Warragamba Dam has reached full capacity and began spilling at 5:45am, Water NSW said.
BOM meteorologist Helen Reid said there had been at least 100 millimetres of rainfall across every inch of Greater Sydney.
"We saw widespread, very heavy rain, locally intense rains, a lot of rain," she said.