For Lucy Thorsby, there's a fine line between a busy day for her business in Mullumbimby and not being able to get home because of flooding.
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The north-eastern NSW town copped almost 300 millimetres in the past three days as the region received another bucketing.
That's prompted the Bureau of Meteorology to post a post a warning on Tuesday for minor to moderate flooding for the local Brunswick River and a broader severe weather warning for heavy rainfall.
"We have a captive audience on a day like this," Ms Thorsby said on Tuesday from her Kiva Spa and Bathhouse. "We actually get very busy."
On leaving her Wilson's Creek home, the local creek was already lapping the road, so she did what locals get used to doing. "You learn to pack a bag," she said.
To the relief of locals, though, this event is "nowhere near as bad" as the aftermath of Cyclone Debbie, which triggered widespread flooding from northern Queensland well into NSW for towns such as Lismore and Mullumbimby.
No break from the floods (but a day off from work ????) #flood #weather #MainArm #Mullumbimby pic.twitter.com/QsXwnaODGR??? soundslikenoise (@listening_field) June 12, 2017
Jordan Notara, a forecaster with the Bureau of Meteorology, said rain conditions are expected to ease over the next 24 hours as a low pressure system embedded in a trough moves further offshore.
Even so, coastal areas such as Byron Bay may still collect as much as 60-80 millimetres of rain on Wednesday. Flood watch warnings will be elevated if needed, he said.
Sydney soaking?
For Sydney, the break in the rain should mostly hold until Friday when another low is expected to develop near the coast. In updated forecasts, the bureau trimmed its forecast to 2-6 millimetres, after earlier forecasting as much as 35 millimetres of rain.
Showers will continue to be a feature of most days over the coming week, the bureu said.
The city has already exceeded the typical average June rainfall of 133 millimetres. For now the bureau is not expecting an east coast low - which typically brings heavy falls and strong winds - to develop this week.
Minor flooding current at Lismore, Coraki and Bungawalbyn. Check the latest rainfall and river conditions at https://t.co/6OySq42fmo pic.twitter.com/fy2e3yJnjh??? BOM New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) June 12, 2017
The current set-up of a big high pressure system dominating the Great Australian Bight and a low-pressure trough off the east coast of the continent is pretty typical for winter, Mr Notara said.
Front systems try to break up the pattern but none of them are proving up to the task right now.
That also means little in the way of snow for the alpine areas, along there is some potential for light snow falls from Friday and into the weekend "but only on the very high peaks", Mr Notara said.
