Wagga City Council has advised that the Murrumbidgee River's water level will fall over the next few days, but the Bureau of Meteorology has warned that the region likely still has a lot of rain ahead of it.
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If the rain does fall, Wagga could experience its wettest November since the city's main weather station started taking observations in 1941. The total rainfall for the month is sitting at 90.2 millimetres and if the rain continues it could overtake the record for November rainfall of 152.4 millimetres, which was set in 2011.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Neale Fraser said more rain was due during the week, with most likely to fall tomorrow, Thursday and Friday.
"On Wednesday there's rain and possibly thunderstorms, and possibly severe thunderstorms as well, and rainfall probably averaging across the area 15 to 30 millimetres and that increases on Thursday to the 30 to 50 millimetre range," he said.
"All-in-all, it could be up to the 100-millimetre rainfall mark over those three days in some places but after that it will taper off a bit an we'll start to see drier conditions with a high pressure system moving in."
Mr Fraser said Wagga had already doubled the average November rainfall and that figure could quadruple by the end of the month. "It could be up to the 200-millimetre mark," he said.
The council said on Monday that the Murrumbidgee River at Wagga had fallen to a height of approximately six metres and would continue to fall over the next few days as the outflow from Burrinjuck Dam has decreased.
"Burrinjuck Dam is currently sitting at 90 per cent with airspace being created ahead of the potentially extensive rain event predicted for later this week around Wagga and across the catchment upstream of the dam," a council statement said.
"Mundowy Lane is still inundated with water and under traffic control, and River Road is closed with approximately 400mm of water flowing across the Houlaghans Creek causeway.
"Council is monitoring the river and the road network and will make changes as necessary."
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