Victoria, South Australia fire areas to get drenching from Western Australia

AREAS suffering drought and bushfires in south-eastern Australia will cop a drenching.

The dams are full and water is everywhere at the Tommerup family farm at Kerry, 21 km south of Beaudesert. Dave Tommerup has fun in the slush while Kay Tommerup tries to avoid the water. (Contact numbers are 0755449269 or 0400076556 ) Picture Glenn Hampson

AREAS suffering drought and bushfires in south-eastern Australia will get a drenching thanks to a tropical low pressure system in northern Western Australia.

The relatively rare interaction of the low, centred over the Kimberley, and a low pressure trough running southeast across the continent will channel tropical moisture south.

This will cause cloud and rain to develop in central and south-eastern Australia from tomorrow.

“No doubt that is going to have a pretty significant impact in south-eastern Australia in the coming days,” said Bureau of Meteorology national operations centre senior forecaster Craig Burke.

“We are going to see a broad area of rain across South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania.”

Between 10mm and 30mm of rain is expected to fall across the southeast of the country tomorrow and forecasts are less certain beyond Friday.

“Certainly the humidity has increased and we are seeing a build-up of that weather across South Australia,” he said.

“The good news is that there will be some relief in terms of rainfall and I guess a lot of communities will be grateful to get that rainfall after what’s been a pretty dry few months.” Flood warnings are in force for central Australian river systems and in the Kimberley and interior of Western Australia, which may get up to 400mm.

“It’s a very unique weather pattern that’s unfolding in terms of this tropical system interacting with a weather system down south,” Mr Burke said.

“It doesn’t happen that often.”