The Illawarra received more rainfall than it's seen in more than three months at the end of last week, causing some minor flooding problems due to the runoff across dry ground.
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On Friday, Wollongong City Council was on standby at two beachside lagoons, where the water levels rose quickly and could not flow out to sea due to raised sandbanks.
At Puckey's Estate, in North Wollongong, it appeared as though the sand had been dug out to allow the water to escape, however a council spokesperson said the lagoon opened naturally.
"Council staff and equipment were on standby at Puckey's Estate - or Fairy Meadow Lagoon - should we need to open the lagoon to the beach to prevent flooding," a spokesperson said.
"The lagoon opened naturally to the sea, and we were not required to use the equipment. We are also monitoring the water levels at Towradgi Lagoon and have equipment on standby should we need to manually assist the reopening of the sand berm.''
A council spokesman also said "Wollongong's location between the escarpment and the sea means we are a flood-prone city".
"Flooding can happen quickly and be difficult to predict as rainfall intensity can vary greatly over short distances and times, even within the same storm," he said.
"In addition the steep land in our upper catchments means rainfall can turn into runoff - or rain that doesn't soak in and runs downhill quickly."
In the 24 hours to 9am on Saturday, 9.6mm of rain was recorded at the Bellambi weather station. For the previous 24 hours, to 9am Friday, 13mm fell, according to the BOM. This was the highest daily total since October 5, and takes takes January's monthly total so far to 24mm - still well below the monthly average of 80mm.
Further south, the Shellharbour airport station recorded 17.8mm to 9am Friday, and 6.6mm to 9am Saturday.
This is the highest rainfall recorded at the southern station since October 12, and takes January's monthly total to 45.6mm.
Other automatic rainfall collection sites across the Illawarra recorded varying amounts in the 24 hours to 9am on Saturday - including Rixon's Pass (16mm), Russell Vale Colliery (17mm), Cringila (17mm) and Darkes Road in Dapto (10mm).
While it may seem counter-intuitive, the Bureau of Meteorology says coastal flooding can be more likely during dry periods.
"We move from very hot dry conditions, with heat waves and bushfires, but then we can very rapidly turn into periods where a bit of moisture comes in and we get thunderstorms, rainfall and flooding," state manager Ann Farrell said, at the launch of NSW storm season in Wollongong last October.
While rain is set to continue through Monday, the remainder of this week is forecast to be warm and sunny. By Thursday, the region will see a return to temperatures in the mid-30s, with hot northerly winds and a southerly change in the afternoon.