Weather News

Get mum an umbrella this Mother's Day

Bob Neil, Tuesday May 3, 2016 - 16:18 AEST

Widespread rainfall is expected to impact NSW from Saturday as two systems interact with one another from the north and west. This of course means that Mother's Day on Sunday is set to be a rather damp affair, at least to the west of the ranges.

A strong cold front moving in from the southwest is likely to combine with a deepening trough over the north of the state and tropical moisture streaming in from the northwest. The scenario is set to lead to widespread rainfall and cooling, with the added risk of thunderstorms and very gusty winds over the state.

Most of the eastern half of New South Wales is forecast to receive 10-to-20mm on Sunday, with places in the northern and southern interior receiving upwards of 20mm.

Although there is considerable model disagreement on the exact distribution of potential heavy rainfall, many places could receive around 50mm, especially in a north-south line west of the ranges, between Weilmoringle in the north and Batlow in the south. Places in the Walgett, Dubbo and Wagga Wagga areas could very well see more rainfall from this one event than during the whole of April.

Given that only last weekend brought the most widespread rain seen in three months, to get similarly widespread follow-up so soon is very useful for those planting winter crops.

Even if weekend plans get rained out, few are likely to complain. The expected rainfall and cooling should be a welcome relief from a dry and unseasonably warm April for many locations west of the ranges. For New South Wales, last month was the fifth-warmest and ninth-driest April on record. Rainfall only amounted to about one third of the long-term state average.

Cooling will also be a relief in the north, where historical records were set when Bourke, amongst other locations breaking records in the northwest, reached a scorching 38.6 degrees on April 6th.

Looking further ahead, from next Tuesday it appears likely that conditions over the state will become more settled for a couple of days under a high pressure system, as skies clear up somewhat.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2016

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