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Sydney ends record dry spell

Ben Domensino, Friday October 20, 2017 - 15:41 AEDT

Sydney's record-breaking dry spell has come to an end as the heaviest rain in at least 2-3 months soaks parched parks and gardens across the city.

A band of rain associated with a low pressure trough crossing eastern NSW today has brought welcome rainfall to Sydney. Unlike most rain-bearing systems in recent months, this one has failed to avoid the state's capital city.

The city picked up 7.6mm of rain before nine o'clock this morning, which is its heaviest daily total in 11 weeks. Falls were a bit heavier further west, with 15mm registered at Ingleburn and 13mm at Penrith up to 9am.

Today's wet weather comes at the end of an exceptionally long dry spell in Sydney, regardless of how you look at the figures.

Here are some of the standout statistics from Sydney's Observatory Hill rain gauge during the past four months, as of 9am on Thursday:
- 43.2mm between June 20th and October 19th - driest four month period (122 days) in 110 years and the second driest on record (37.1mm in 1907 is the current record). Impressively, the average rainfall during this four month period is around 350mm.
- 76 consecutive days with less than 2mm of rain - longest such spell on record (previous record was 64 days in 1989)
- 0.4mm since the start of September - driest spring to date on record (previous record was 2.8mm in 1989)
- 0.2mm of rain during September - driest September and 2nd driest calendar month on record

Rain will ease in Sydney from this afternoon as the trough moves further north, allowing drier weather to return for the weekend.

- Weatherzone

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