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Wirraba
Flood - June, 2011
Flood - June, 2011
Rainfall in Bellingen averages 1517mm per year. The rain falls mainly in the summer and autumn in the form of showers and thunderstorms moving off the plateau to the west and south west. The heaviest rain however occurs when a low pressure area forms off the east coast or moves down from the north / northwest. This situation can bring periods of extremely heavy rain that can cause rapid flooding of the Bellinger Valley as water pours down the valleys from the mountains behind the town. Dorrigo, on the plateau behind Bellingen, holds the NSW record for the greatest fall in a 24 hour period - approximately 800mm.
As with most of Australia however Bellingen is a town of weather extremes and the difference between the maximum recorded in any month (up to 900mm+) and the lowest ever recorded for the same period (around 0mm for many months of the year) shows how variable the climate can be. In the wettest period daily rainfall has reached up to approx. 350mm - but at other times many weeks can pass without a drop being recorded.
[Source: http://www.bellingenweather.org/data/rain.html]
