South-east Australia is bracing for more than a quarter of a metre of rain in a single weekend, a tropical downpour part of the same extraordinary weather system that has brought heatwaves from Melbourne to Hobart and cool, wet weather in Queensland.
Three weeks ago a high-pressure system settled between Australia and New Zealand.
Normally high-pressure systems clear within the week, but forecasters such as the Bureau of Meteorology's Dr Blair Trewin watched in amazement as the system refused to budge.
"It is very unusual to have such a blocked situation, particularly in spring. It is something you see more often in late summer or early autumn," Dr Trewin said.
"But even then it would be unusual to have something last this long.”
Meteorologists call these slow-moving systems 'blocking highs' because they block fresh weather coming through.
Read the ABC News story by Kate Doyle and Ben Deacon - “Victoria weather: Why south-east Australia is expecting a tropical deluge.”
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