Great to see so many areas getting some today - has been frustrating so far up here (and much of the eastern burbs) with just 6.5mm for me for the event so far. Hoping for more tonight...
Raining solidly now here in Horsham, 25mm to date 15mm in the last half hour. Plenty more to come overnight, could end up with anything overnight if this keeps up. Outlook for the west of the state is ridiculous with 150mm+ in the next few days... Un-heard-of rainfall figures. East wimmera has already coped 50-100mm , will be sheets of water everywhere, expect flood warnings to increase overnight.
Took a long time to get back "home" to Vic on the internet tonight.... we had 0.75mm to give us an event total of 8.25mm. An overcast easterly day and light rain just starting. Hope to get "my" 35mm for this Vic event and now seems to all arrive in a big bang on Friday evening for us Gippslanders?
Cant get over the stuff I've read and viewed re Lockyer Valley W of Brissie. The technician in me has been absolutely fascinated (not a criticism) by the management of the Wivenhoe/Somerset flood mitigation dams!!!! Somerset currently has outflow SHUT withholding 175% (of available 200% emergency capacity) to prevent further spillage into the Wivenhoe dam downstream which is at 200% full ...aka >100% flood mitigation capacity - at 174.5M (full flood mitigation level is 174M). This level is approx 1M below the "fuse" (a breakable section) - which I understand will burst at 175.5M and provide uncontrolled outflow back to 167M (albiet very much mitigated presumably by re-closing of the main control gates). THIS DAM IS BUILT FOR A 1:10,000 year flood and is being "tested"!!! WOW. In flows are now matching outflow but get this... 630,000ML/day expected flow rate at the peak which I guess is now.
A major flood on our McAllister is 80,000 and we had catastrophic damage in record floods only 2 years ago at a 4 hr peak flow of circa 300,000.
But for Brisbane, this amazing flow is only a "contributer" to the devastating Toowoomba/Grantam/Gattam flood coming down the Lockyer V (to hook up below Wivenhoe Dam at poor old Ferndale) AND the record breaking Bremer R flood just arriving in Ipswitch (bigger than the '74 event) - I'm no expert but looks like the "perfect storm" for Brissie during the (luckily normal) high tide on Thursday.
Wivenhoe/Sommerset have to get back to 100% level again - this will take a week imo. A week is a long time in this season for QLD.
Last edited by Petros on Tue Jan 11, 2011 10:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Scored 40+mm here including yesterday evening's storm. It seems the rain is quite localised. If you're lucky enough to get under a heavy patch, as we have been, the total shoots up fast. The radar is looking ominous with all that widespread light stuff. The humidity is awful, something's got to give surely the heavens are about to open up all over the place.
wobbie wrote:Scored 40+mm here including yesterday evening's storm. It seems the rain is quite localised. If you're lucky enough to get under a heavy patch, as we have been, the total shoots up fast. The radar is looking ominous with all that widespread light stuff. The humidity is awful, something's got to give surely the heavens are about to open up all over the place.
Kinda disagree, 35 mm since yesterday morning, its barely stopped but barely gotten heavy either. Seems like that over this side anyway.
Darkeye ... you guys in Portland should prepare for moderate to heavy rainfall overnight which could produce flash flooding. Stream rises possible, but keep up to date in the warning thread and BoM website for all the latest.
Still raining here, more heavier stuff on the way too.
Jake - Senior AWF Forecaster
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