NSW weather 2020: Downpours offer state some sweet salvation
The heaviest rain in three decades has killed off one of the state’s most devastating fires, is on the way to filling major dams and has offered little Archie Pursehouse (pictured) one of his first encounters with puddles on his Liverpool Plains station.
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Devastating bushfires which have razed the state for more than two months straight are finally out, Sydney’s dams are rapidly filling and drought-stricken farmers are finally cracking a smile as the long-delayed deluges have finally descended on NSW.
Warragamba Dam is tipped to reach 50 per cent capacity in coming days as a whopping 40 gigalitres of water a day rushes into the dam in the wake of the storms.
And just two months after Sydney was put on level 2 water restrictions, a NSW Water spokesman said dam storage was likely to receive its best inflows since April 2017. “If the Warragamba storage level reaches 55 per cent as predicted, it will have effectively recouped nine months of water supply in less than a week,” the spokesman said.
WaterNSW modelling suggests it is possible that the Nepean dam could spill if rainfall continues as expected.
While the rest of the state received a healthy downpour, they are still a long way off from breaking the worst drought the country’s ever seen, Bureau of Meteorology state manager Jane Golding said. “In the central west parts of the Dubbo-Forbes area were hit with 37mm of rain and Coonabarabran recorded 44mm,” she said.
“To break the drought they need more rain, but for those relying on dams and sowing seeds this rainfall would be quite useful.”
For two-year-old Archie Pursehouse, the stunning sight of rain and mud made for a wet and wild weekend on his family’s crop farm on the Liverpool Plains.
His parents’ farm Breeza Station received a solid 40mm of rain on Saturday, making for plenty of puddles and mud for young Archie to play in with his Tonka truck, mum Julie said. “He is only two years old … he doesn’t know what to do because he hasn’t grown up with it,” she said.
She said while the family farm’s drenching was welcome, it was nowhere near breaking the drought. “The rain lifts our spirits regardless, it is nice to see a green tinge.”
For residents on the south coast, the heavy precipitation yesterday finally killed the Currowan fire, which burned for more than two months and destroyed 312 homes.
“The fire, which spanned for 74 days, burnt out 499,621 hectares and spans from each end of the Shoalhaven Local Government Area, as well as spreading in to neighbouring areas including Eurobodalla, Wingecarribee and Queanbeyan Palerang has been extinguished,” the RFS said on social media.