A long rain "event"

 We are currently in a La Nina situation which in Australia means above average rainfall.  (In some other places it means below average rain.  It seems this is a zero-sum game.)  In mid February this seemed unlikely as we went 12 days with no rain.  It started raining on 24 February and at the time of starting this post we have gone 13 consecutive days with at least 0.4mm of rain with total fall over the period of 145.4mm. Looking at the big days its possible there have really been 2 events which sort-of ran into each other!

The radar image at 0500 hrs on 8 March suggests there is plenty more to come.

It appears that my Weather Station (WS) is right in the line of squalls as by 0600 on the 8th we have scored 52.6 mm (since 0900 on 7 March) compared with 40.2 mm at the airstrip and 33.0 mm on Gabo Island.  I shall confirm the WS reading by reference to my Nylex plastic gauge when daylight arrives. 

In a post yesterday I mentioned the width of the Genoa and Wallagaraugh Rivers.  There is an official gauge on the Genoa (a few km upstream from the highway) which shows it is beginning to nudge minor flood level.  

I suspect the cattle on the Genoa Flats will be breaking out the snorkels any time from now.  The official BoM flood warning is IMO very conservative about the likely rainfall in the lower part of the Genoa catchment, although it doesn't seem to be extending far inland.  By 1430 on the 8th the gauge was recording 2.15m: obviously very close to minor flood level of 2.20 m.  As it is still pouring at Mallacoota it isn't a giant leap of faith to say it is going to exceed the minor flood level.

At 0740 I looked at the Weatherzone 'Victorian' radar.  I have put in the apostrophes as this includes a fair amount of NSW, especially the coast. 

In animated form it shows the main movement at Mallacoota is from the North, but most of the heavier falls (yellow) are staying around Bateman's Bay.  I think there is still plenty to come for us.

Thank goodness the Mouth is open.  The official gauge at the Wharf has been showing a level around 0.44 m for the past few days but will I suspect be a good bit higher today.  To put it in context here are a couple of snaps of the Broome St Lagoon Boardwalk from our morning walk.

The area covered with Samphire is usually well clear of the water.

The pole furthest out in the water has a diagonal strut supporting it.  That is usually clearly visible: my guess is that the water is about 30cm higher than it was a week ago.  When the Mouth was last closed the level at the gauge got to 1.58 m on 20 July 2020 and the water was well over the entire boardwalk.  Then Parks opened the channel on the 21st.  

I have now checked the official gauge: it is at 0.68m so up about 24 cm in the last few days.

Sticking with the gauge I went back about 2 hours later and it was up to 0.72 m, which may combine rising tide and rainfall effects.

One of the lower jetties is close to going under.

As is the parking area along Lakeside Drive near Mullet Creek.  The red dashes are the usual water line.

By 1600 hrs we have received 71.4 mm today plus 10.8 mm yesterday for a total of 82.2 mm for this part of the event.  As we are less than a quarter of the way through the year my pro-rata estimate gets a fair amount of rata: the current estimate for the annual total is 1,827 mm.  Which isn't going to happen - but if it did would whup the previous Wet Year by some 380mm!

The rain has continued overnight with 16.4 mm since midnight.  Weatherzone radar shows the system as having moved out to sea ...

... but it is still raining at our house.  Total for the event is now 213mm and the pro-rata estimate for 2022 is now 2014 mm!  The flood gauge at Wangarabell has been on, or just over, minor flood level for some hours and a friend who drove in yesterday afternoon reported that all the paddocks at Genoa were under water before dark.  A post to the Mallacoota Community FB group reports water over Lakeside Drive in three places (presumably the usual ones between Broome St and Mirabooka St.

I was asked for an interview by ABC East Gippsland (great fun Mim Cook) and by the time it started I was down at Fisheries Jetty so they got live commentary of a car testing (successfully) the waters.

The boardwalk is covered ...

... as are jetties, small and ...

.. large.

As I was leaving the Police came along and put out cones.  They will be suggesting to the Shire that they close the road asap. 

Looking out of my window, Karbeethong Jetty is going under.

An alternative view of Karbeethong Jetty.

Run off across the path into the Narrows walking track.

The main wharf is well flooded.  Making a guess from earlier images of the depth gauge I suspect it is registering a depth of about 1.2m: this would be an increase of about 0.8 m in 4 days.  That is round about 20 million cubic metres of water.

Strange goings on at Captain Stevenson's Point.

Note the white rope going off the front of the truck!

In this image I have overlaid red on the white rope to show it going out to this boat that has been washed round from the wharf.

The mouth was wide open and very rough.

The view from the boat ramp area at Bastion Point.  For some reason the waves weren't breaking over the Fairly Big Wall.

Two views from the stairs down to the beach at Bastion.