The Bureau of Meteorology has upgraded its flood watch for Western Australia's Moore and Hill river catchments, warning on Friday that flooding is possible from late in the day as a second burst of rain crosses the state's southwest.
The third flood watch for the catchments, issued at 11.31am local time, says "river and creek level rises, localised flooding, and overland inundation are possible" and that "some communities and homesteads may become isolated", naming the town of Moora. The catchments are relatively dry, the Bureau notes, but "can respond quickly to rainfall", and it expects further moderate to possibly heavy falls through Friday and into Saturday across parts of the Central West and Lower West.
Thursday's rain arrived largely as forecast. Mandurah recorded 44 millimetres in the 24 hours to 9am Friday, above the forecast range of 15 to 40, with 36 at Bunbury and Dwellingup, 29 at Bickley in the Perth Hills and 24 at Perth Airport. The Perth Metro gauge took 14.8 millimetres, most of it before 9.30pm.
The damaging winds did not follow the rain in. The strongest gust the Bureau's coastal stations recorded on Thursday was 78 kilometres per hour at Rottnest Island at 4.51pm, with 59 at Garden Island, while the Perth Metro station peaked at just 33. No severe thunderstorm warning was current on Friday afternoon, and the Bureau cancelled its road weather alert for Perth at 8.24am.
The wind risk now shifts offshore and south. The Bureau's marine summary, issued at 1.01pm Friday, carries strong wind warnings for the Perth, Bunbury Geographe and Leeuwin coasts for the rest of Friday, escalating to gale warnings for the Leeuwin and Albany coasts on Saturday. Perth's forecast for Saturday, issued at 1.20pm, is 13 to 18 degrees with morning showers of 1 to 5 millimetres, drying to patchy falls on Sunday and Monday as the system moves through.
On the east coast, the rain stayed steady rather than dangerous. Lismore recorded 36 millimetres in the 24 hours to 9am and Sydney 31, and no flood watch is current for any New South Wales North Coast river. The Bureau's live warning there is surf: a hazardous surf warning issued at 2.19pm Friday covers the Byron coast on Saturday and the Byron and Coffs coasts on Sunday, telling rock fishers to avoid exposed platforms, with conditions hazardous for boating and swimming until midnight Sunday.
Behind the fronts, the national map has turned to frost. Warnings are current for South Australia's Mid North and for Victoria's North East and Gippsland districts, with a minor flood warning on Victoria's Kiewa River the only river warning active in the country's east.
The Bureau's next flood watch for the Moore and Hill catchments is due by midday Saturday, western time, and its WA warnings page carries the current gale and strong wind status through the weekend.
