The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a Flood Watch for desert areas on the NT-WA border due to unseasonal rainfalls in the Tanami Desert, Western Desert and Sturt Creek District catchments.
Severe Weather Update: Heavy rain and storms for northern WA & NT, with possible flooding - Video current: 10 am AWST 22 September 2024.
Severe Weather Update: Heavy rain and storms for northern WA & NT, with possible flooding - Video current: 10 am AWST 22 September 2024.
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00:00Rain and thunderstorms to bring flash and riverine flood concerns through
00:04parts of WA and NT and firstly we have flood watches current for large parts of
00:09WA and western parts of the Northern Territory. Now this means if you live in
00:14this highlighted area or know someone that does, we could see heavy rainfall
00:18lead to flash flooding and possible riverine flooding in these areas but of
00:22more concern is many of our roads in this area are dirt so this rainfall
00:27could lead to flooded and muddy roads making roads impassable leading to road
00:32closures and possible isolation of residents and communities in this area
00:36and travel problems as well if you are moving through these area. Now what's
00:40causing this we can see on the satellite image a big band of cloud streaming
00:45across WA and the Northern Territory and that's thanks to an upper trough
00:48combining with moist tropical air across the north to bring widespread cloud and
00:53rain activity and that's likely to continue as we move through today
00:56tonight and Monday and Tuesday. Now in the 24 hours to 9 o'clock this morning
01:01we've already seen quite a few falls in the 30 to 50 millimetre range. Adelaide
01:05River had around 70 millimetres this morning and a lot of our falls for the
01:09Pilbara area saw widespread 30 to 50 millimetres and we're likely to see more
01:14of that in the coming days and we can look at that in more detail as we move
01:18through the rest of today into tomorrow. Widespread rain and storm activity
01:22continuing across much of northern WA and starting to creep into western parts
01:27of the NT as we move into Monday morning. Now as we go through the day on Monday
01:31we're continuing to see widespread shower and thunderstorm activity. Now
01:35some of these storms could be severe on Monday with heavy rainfall and damaging
01:39winds and some of that rain also starting to extend into western parts of
01:43South Australia though falls will be much lighter there. Then as we move into
01:47Monday night and Tuesday we're continuing to see rain and storms
01:50spreading across WA and the Northern Territory but also down through parts of
01:54South Australia and then by the time we get into the midweek frame some of that
01:58moisture could start moving into southeastern parts of the country there
02:01but the focus really will be through central and northern parts of the
02:04country. Now let's see how much rainfall in total we're expecting. Widespread
02:09falls of 25 to 50 millimetres is likely through much of northern WA and western
02:14parts of the NT but of most concern is along the NT WA border where you can see
02:20these brighter numbers in a 50 to 150 millimetre range and that could lead to
02:24some possible major impacts there particularly for our dirt roads and we
02:27could have a fair bit of standing water as well. While these falls aren't unusual
02:31in the wet season they are pretty unusual for this time of year so please
02:36if you're out and about take note of weather conditions through northern
02:38parts of WA and western parts of NT in the coming days and remember to get the
02:43latest forecasts and warnings via our website, app and social media.