A major rain event will engulf most of eastern Australia during the next 48 hours, prompting the Bureau of Meteorology to issue flood watches from southern Queensland to the NSW South Coast.
Greater Sydney could be soaked by up to 200mm from late Thursday to early Saturday, potentially leading to major flooding along the Hawkesbury-Nepean River, while Brisbane and Canberra also face the prospect of heavy rain.
The sudden shift after recent warm and dry weather is due to polar air moving north meeting a humid tropical airstream off the Tasman and Coral seas, a pattern seen numerous times during 2022 — Sydney's wettest year on record.
The clash of tropical and polar air is already leading to a thickening cloudband today over southern Queensland and northern NSW.
By midnight, falls of 100mm are possible south of a line from about Blackall to Roma to Brisbane, including the NSW Northern Rivers and far northern slopes and ranges.
The rainband will then broaden across NSW on Friday as an inland trough of low pressure deepens, however a s...
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