Lake George, 15 Feb 2010 ... there may not be enough to go for a dip, but heavy rain means the lake has some water in it for the first time in eight years. Photo: Andrew Meares

By ERIK JENSEN
February 16, 2010 LAKE GEORGE, north-east of Canberra, has water in it for the first time since 2002. Lake Woytchugga, near Wilcannia, is looking like a water body for the first time in a decade. And in Sydney last week’s rain gave the city’s catchment its highest inflow since 2007. ”The rain’s been great – it’s greened everything up,” said Brian Osborne, who has been running sheep on the east side of Lake George for 77 years. ”I don’t know if the drought’s broken – the Southern Oscillation Index they go off is still disastrously low – but I was celebrating the fact the forecasters were actually correct,” Mr Osborne said. ”Usually we just laugh when they say rain’s coming.” Yet the rain, the most in 21 years for some parts of NSW, also brought destruction. Last night the State Emergency Service had responded to at least 1700 calls for assistance since Friday, and more were expected overnight. The body of a woman, 60, who went missing in flood waters near Tuena, in the Southern Tablelands, on Sunday was found yesterday. She and her husband had been swept away while driving through water flowing across a road. … But the rain has already done what was hoped. Dam levels were 56.6 per cent at the latest reading, on Thursday, up 5.7 per cent. It is the highest they have been since October and the most water the dams have taken in since July 2007. Three months’ supply has fallen in a matter of days. … The 230 millimetres of rain that has fallen on the city in February make it the wettest month in three years and the wettest February since 2002. Forbes recorded its wettest three days in at least 15 years, a fall of 111 millimetres. At Parkes it was the wettest three days in 13 years, 132 millimetres; Canberra, eight years (98 millimetres) and Yass, 21 years (117 millimetres). …

Lake George almost lives up to its name

Much of western NSW has taken between 125 and 300 per cent of its February mean, only nine days into the month. Huge rainfall and storms have continued to rattle through the dusty, drought-affected west of NSW, Martin Palmer, meteorologist at The Weather Company, said. A lingering inland trough and very humid easterly winds have combined to bring on the heavy rain. Ex-Tropical Cyclone Lawrence drifted south at Christmas starting what has been a very good start to the year for the state, in terms of rainfall, he said. Ex-Tropical Cyclone Olga did something similar at the start of this month. And now, a deep trough has thrown a load more moisture at the inland, mainly benefiting Queensland. Areas of NSW, stretching from the Central West to the Upper Western, have all had their monthly totals rocket to the best in years:

  • Springwood in the Central Tablelands has amassed 322mm in the last nine days, its best “monthly” rainfall in 18 years.
  • Katoomba hit 397mm – also its best in 18 years.
  • Tibooburra scored 73mm – its best February total in 10 years. …

The Channel Country was the main beneficiary, with widespread 24-hour falls surpassing 50mm. The best recorded were:

  • Quilpie hit 44mm – the best in 10 years for February.
  • Navarra took 48mm – also the best in 10 years for February.
  • Gillespie’s 60mm and Tambo’s 55mm were their best February rain in six years. …

Monthly rain totals smashed in NSW