Communities back on flood alert as weekend thunderstorms descend on east coast

Already-sodden communities in regional NSW are unlikely to cop a break with widespread weekend thunderstorms putting several regions back on flood watch.

The Bureau of Meteorology on Saturday said severe thunderstorms developing near the northeastern parts of the state could produce damaging winds and heavy rainfall this weekend that may lead to flash flooding.

The Central West town of Forbes could also see the return of floodwaters, while the Gwydir and Namoi Rivers in the state’s northwest are also tipped to rise.

This has put residents of Moree, Tamworth and Narrabri on alert.

Forbes, meanwhile is expected to be declared a natural disaster zone after major flooding caused extensive damage to farms, flooded streets, and triggered a series of rescues throughout the week.

The Lachlan River peaked at 10.53m on the eastern side of Forbes on Thursday – slightly below what had been expected – and not quite at the level of the floods that smashed the town five years ago.

Meteorologist Jonathan How said more rain over the coming days “could see continued impacts”.

Elsewhere, scattered severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging wind gusts in parts of southern inland Queensland on Saturday evening.

Mr How said a trough across Central Australia was acting as a divider with hot and dry conditions to the north and cool to the south, though this would give way to storms across NSW and southern Queensland.

Meanwhile the tiny South Australian town of Nullabor is currently in its wettest November in more than 130 years with 85mm falling in the 19 days to Friday.