Further rain is on its way this weekend after record rainfall caused major flooding, leaving large parts of NSW and Victoria underwater.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
This year's winter was the second-wettest on record, and the conditions have continued into spring with significant rain falling inland over the Murray-Darling basin and bringing a major dam near to capacity.
Neale Fraser, a meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, said the rain had been caused by warmer than average sea surface temperatures in the eastern Indian Ocean, which brought moisture over Australia.
"With the warmer water you're getting more moisture into the atmosphere, then it's coming across the tropics, down into our part of the world," Mr Fraser said.
"Hence we're getting all these series of rain bands coming down across from the north-west right across south-east Australia."
Parts of the state such as Wagga Wagga, where residents fear a repeat of the 2012 floods that saw a peak of almost nine metres, will get a "burst" of rain on Sunday and another on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"We'll get two bursts of rain this week," Mr Fraser said. "On average, most of the state on Sunday will get probably 20 to 30mm, especially inland areas on the ranges and the west."
About 10 to 20mm of rain could be expected from the second burst of rain, which will move in on late Tuesday with heavy falls on Wednesday.
Bureau forecasters expect the Murrumbidgee river to peak at 7.5 metres in nearby Narrandera on Saturday, bringing "moderate" flooding. Another 7.5 metre peak further inland, a week and a half later, is also expected to bring flooding.
Water authorities are releasing 18,500 megalitres of water per day from the Burrinjuck Dam, which was 97.6 per cent full on Friday afternoon ahead of the expected storms.
The Newell Highway, a main road connecting towns in the state's west, is expected to remain closed for days after it was swamped by water at Gillenbah.
Bands of rain have also had an impact in Victoria, where one man has died as emergency services battle the worst September deluge in a century.
A body, believed to be that of a missing 84-year-old farmer, was recovered from a dam in the state's south-west on Friday after his ute was swept away by floodwaters on Wednesday.
In the state's north and west, homes are under immediate threat and rivers are surging. Roads and schools have been closed, with rescue workers plucking at least 17 people out of floodwaters.
Charlton and Horsham are some of the towns most at risk with more rain to come over the next week.
with Stephen Mudd
