Parts of South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales have received a year's worth of rain in a week, as remnants of a tropical low moved east, bringing record-breaking falls to desert towns and causing crop losses in agricultural areas.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued severe weather warnings for south-west NSW and north-west Victoria on Monday, with six-hourly falls of 40 to 70mm forecast and isolated falls of up to 100mm. Senior meteorologist Dean Narramore described it as a 'very impressive and in some areas record-breaking rainfall event'.
Nearly 150mm of rain fell in Mildura within a week, compared with 159mm throughout 2025. In South Australia, 136mm fell in Marree, which recorded only 37mm in total last year. Several places experienced their wettest day ever, including Ouyen in Victoria and Ceduna and Yunta in SA.
Narramore said the atmosphere in desert towns had been 'unbelievably moist', more akin to places like Darwin or Cairns, and described the event as 'weather whiplash' given that only a few weeks ago many of those same areas sweltered through temperatures in the high 40s, and in some cases 50°C.
While rain in agricultural areas might seem beneficial, it came at the wrong time for grape growers. Paul Derrico, chief executive of Murray Valley Winegrowers, said most growers had received between 100 to 180mm of rain in the last five days, causing concerns about berry splitting and bunch rot, as well as bogged machinery. Crop losses are expected, adding to the industry's existing struggles with low prices.
The rain is expected to clear southern and central Australia by Wednesday, just as multiple tropical lows develop across the north. The climate crisis is making Australia more vulnerable to extreme weather, and Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is expected to fill for the second consecutive year after the basin's third-wettest February on record.
