Support pours in as rain drenches region

While this week's falls were hit-and-miss in terms of the amount received in particular locations, rainfall was recorded in basically every town across the region.

The unpredictable nature of the weather means not everyone would have been happy to see the wet stuff tumbling from the sky, particularly such significant volumes in such a short period of time.

Wagga was drenched by significant rainfall in the seven days to 9am on Saturday, with a total of 70 millimetres recorded at the airport and 108mm in the city itself. Lake Albert was overflowing - a remarkable sight after years of low levels and water woes.

Nearby Kapooka copped a soaking of about 135mm in the same period.

Elsewhere, Culcairn had 117mm, Narrandera recorded 108mm and The Rock copped 105mm.

Flash flooding did threaten homes at The Rock, where the community rallied at short notice on Friday to fill sandbags and work to protect homes from the rising water.

A huge thank you to our emergency service personnel, and other community-minded individuals, who sprung into action this week, braving the elements and responding to calls for assistance while many of us remained in the comfort of our homes or businesses.

While many in the community might have welcomed the rain with open arms, others may have been less than impressed with the timing of the deluge, and we can only hope the downpours didn't cause too much damage to crops or the harvest efforts across the region.

Earlier in the week, we revealed the long-awaited opening of Wagga's cherry farm, Grovelands Cherries, had been delayed about a week due to the constant wet weather.

However, it was pleasing to report that the orchard's owners are optimistic of a good crop of cherries for Christmas.

Three of its 16 cherry variants have been weather damaged, with a fourth at potential risk, but owner Kristy Barton says the staggered nature of its operations means not all the fruit is ready to be harvested.

"The ones that come up near Christmas are still quite green, so we're hopeful they will be good," she told our reporter Taylor Dodge.

I'm sure that'll be music to the ears of those who love cherries and have them as a Christmas menu staple.

Speaking of December 25, it is rapidly approaching and - given the recent weather pattern - it has the potential to be a wet one this year.

The rain is something we're all going to have to get used to over the coming months, after the Bureau of Meteorology officially declared a La Nina this week.

Historically, La Nina events mean wetter than average conditions in many parts of the country, especially eastern and central Australia.

Many of us will no doubt be asking where has our summer gone?

Have a great week, and stay dry!

Andrew Pearson - deputy editor