Parts Of 3 Australian States Bracing For A Year's Worth Of Rain In One Week From Lingering Monsoon Low

A lingering monsoon low could deliver a year’s worth of rain in a week to parts of inland South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales, just weeks after record-breaking heat, with a high risk of flash flooding.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued severe weather warnings for several regions on Tuesday – north-western NSW, central and northern parts of Victoria, north-east SA, and south-western Queensland – with heavy, locally intense rainfall predicted.

Places in north-eastern SA and north-western NSW were expected to receive between 200-300mm of rain over coming days, according to the BoM with widespread falls of 100-200mm across inland areas. Further thunderstorms with the potential for heavy rain and flash flooding had the potential to occur through central Victoria, including Melbourne, on Tuesday.

EDIT

Outback towns like Marree, about 600km north of Adelaide, could receive more than its average annual rainfall (142mm). The heavy falls came off the back of a “very dry year” with just 37mm recorded throughout 2025, and weeks after Marree’s residents sweltered through five consecutive days of at least 48C. Communities like Tibooburra and areas north of Broken Hill in NSW and Birdsville in Queensland could also see significant falls after the bureau issued a severe weather warning for heavy, locally intense rainfall.

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/23/monsoon-low-weather-forecast-heavy-rain-thunderstorm-flash-flooding-warning-bom-nsw-queensland-south-australia-victoria