Leslie Dam nearing 40 per cent capacity as Warwick records month’s rain in just days

‘It looked nothing like this’: Heavy rain pushes Leslie Dam to its highest levels since 2014, with even more big falls expected for the Rose City this week.

Savannah Horner, Bennett Horner, Ewan Mortimer and Addyson Mortimer getting ready for a day on the water at Leslie Dam (Photo: Zilla Gordon).

Warwick is on track for bumper winter rainfall totals after a weather system brought a month’s worth of rain to the Rose City over the weekend, boosting Leslie Dam’s capacity to just under 40 per cent, a level not seen August 2014.

It is a stark comparison to the start of the year when it was sitting at under eight per cent, an full-time water carting to Stanthorpe was underway.

Falls have seen Leslie Dam reach nearly 40 per cent capacity (Photo: Zilla Gordon).

With levels now sitting at 38 per cent, visitors and locals are rekindling their love affair with the getaway spot.

Nadia Burton had travelled from Toowoomba with her family for the school holidays and said the change since her last visit was almost unbelievable.

“We were here in January, and it looked nothing like this,” she said.

Mrs Burton, who was a keen kayaker, said at the start of the year it was a hike across the dry banks to launch the kayaks.

“It was almost like there was a beach last time, this is much better for kayaking.”

Eight-year-old Addyson Mortimer said it was a perfect day to hit the water.

Savannah Horner, Bennett Horner, Ewan Mortimer and Addyson Mortimer getting ready for a day on the water at Leslie Dam (Photo: Zilla Gordon).

“It’s nice and smooth, because it’s winter there aren’t as many boats and they make the water really rough,” she said.

Leslie Dam is expected to rise again this week with wet weather predicted across the Southern Downs, however, it is unlikely to match last weekend’s totals.

The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted between 15 to 30mm of rain on Friday, with showers most likely in the afternoon.

Meteorologist Rosa Hoff said more falls could be expected if the region saw an increase of storm activity.

Just five days into July, Warwick recorded 40.2 mms of rain, with about half the total recorded between Thursday and Saturday morning.

Flooding after heavy rain in Warwick (Photo: Zilla Gordon).

“Going back to July 2020, we recorded 32.2mm of the course of the whole month,” Ms Hoff said.

“We’re tracking fairly well, and some (Southern Downs) locations have already achieved their monthly averages.”

Ms Hoff said while rain in winter was less common, it was not completely unexpected to see heavy falls in July.

“Of the 32.2 millimetres that fell in July last year, 17.6 millimetres of that fell in just one day,” she said.

“Our rainfall is really variable in winter, and we go from huge extremes from a lot, to not a lot.”