Farmers happy as NSW drenched in severe rainfall
Farmers have welcomed the rain that has battered NSW since the weekend, but not enough has fallen in the state's west to break the drought.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said while parts of Sydney soaked up more than 100mm of rainfall since Sunday, a mere 25mm reached drought ravaged areas.
"The precipitation will help relieve the dryer conditions in drought affected areas, but it is still not enough for the farmers," BOM meteorologist Shunag Wang said.
Areas in the state's Central West recorded around 24mm in 24 hours. The heaviest falls recorded included Tamworth (31mm) and Dubbo (20mm), although most areas fell well below.
According to the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), 86.9 per cent of the state was still in one of the three drought categories by the end of June. Rainfall over the next three months is crucial in these areas for recovery to continue.
Despite this, the rain still brought a groundswell of excitement for Amy Dawe and Mick Spring who couldn't help but smile at the sight of Cooper,4, and Archie,3, splashing in paddock puddles at Young in the state's south west.
"We have had around 35mm over the past three days. We live on 10 acres, so our greatest relief is full rainwater water tanks as we don't have access to the town water supply," Ms Dawe said.
"The spirits of those around the area are high and felt by all thanks to the much needed rain. The kids get so excited to see the rain and wait in anticipation to see if the rainbow will appear after.
"The boys will also take any opportunity they can find to get dirty and we are grateful for living in a place where they have the freedom to enjoy the simple pleasures of life like mud, dogs, horses and campfires."
Some of the 20 dams in regional NSW reached full capacity, including Burrinjuck Dam which increased by 44 per cent since last week, while Brogo Dam was overflowing at 117.8 per cent.
But not all received a much needed fill, with 15 of the dams storing well below the 50 per cent capacity including Wyangala dam which had 17 per cent of water last year and has only increased by 0.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, more than 100 millimetres of rain also fell at Bellambi (110mm), Rixons Pass (104mm), Russell Vale Colliery (103mm) and Dombarton (116mm).
The rainfall took the monthly total for the Bellambi weather station to 146mm - which is just 4mm shy of the rainfall total for the previous three months combined.
However, it's nowhere near the February total of 399mm, when the region copped its drought-breaking soaking for four consecutive days.
In the Sydney basin, Wahroonga received 114mm, while Prospect Reservoir, southwest of Blacktown, was its heaviest July rain since 1952, at 113mm.
Elsewhere, Nords Wharf experienced top falls since Sunday with 187.5mm falling in the Lake Macquarie suburb.
Jervis Bay experienced 178.6mm of rain, while Wyee on the Central Coast has received 167.5mm of rain.
Heavy surf conditions around the east coast reignited fears of coastal erosion, as at least 18 Wamberal homes remain damaged from last week's wild weather.
Residents watched on nervously yesterday as workers from the Central Coast council piled up about 150 rock-filled bags to stop the erosion from the wild seas.
The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) said they had already responded to more than 200 calls for help in the Sydney region on Monday, and almost 600 statewide.
The dangerous low-pressure system formed off the Illawarra coast is expected to bring more intense rainfall and damaging winds on Tuesday.
damaging winds strong enough to bring down trees and power lines are predicted along the NSW coast south of Taree.
A minor flood warning remains in place for the Deua River and low lying areas fronting Sussex Inlet on the south coast.
Originally published as Farmers happy as NSW drenched in severe rainfall
