What has already been a big few weeks of rainfall looks set to get a fair bit worse before the month closes.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
If the predictions are even close to correct, many central Victorian towns are heading for their wettest September in history.
The Bureau of Meteorology might have been accused of “crying wolf” last week after some of the follow up rainfalls to the floods failed to eventuate, but it is not holding back on the predictions for later this week.
The bureau is predicting a complex low pressure system will cause heavy rain, severe thunderstorms and destructive winds.
On Wednesday, rain and thunderstorms will develop, spreading over western parts of Victoria during the afternoon and evening.
The strong westerly change will also bring damaging winds and surge east on Thursday, causing a broad band of rain and thunderstorms to sweep across Victoria but even behind this the rain will continue.
Weatherzone has gone so far as predicting the weather patterns coming up later this week to be one of the biggest weather systems we have seen so far this year.
Given this has been a year of some pretty extreme weather, all this talk does not bode well.
For Bendigo this amounts to as much as 60mm of rain over the three-day period from Wednesday to Friday.
Some 520mm of rain has fallen in Bendigo this year.
To put this figure in context, last year 294mm had been recorded to this point, while the long-term average is 384mm.
Even if the predictions don’t quite hit this total, sodden ground is unlikely to absorb any more water and low lying areas where water has pooled will possibly flood all over again.
All in all what this means is be ready for the worst.
Forewarned is to be forearmed and clearing a blocked drain or guttering may make a huge difference when the heavy falls come.
All the other warnings hold more than ever, including resisting the temptation to drive through flood waters.
Far too often during the last big rains we witnessed people taking a chance in floodwaters and getting stuck.
And if all these predictions amount to little, then there is no great loss in the caution.
It may even end with some good news; with the tail end of the school holidays promising a patch of sun and even a dry grand-final day.