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Rain set to drench east coast bringing relief to fire-ravaged regions

A heavy drenching of rain is set to bring much-needed relief to communities in NSW and Queensland ravaged by both drought and bushfires.

Up to 60mm of rain will be dumped on the country’s eastern seaboard onwards from late Friday, with some of that reaching inland to douse remaining fires in northeast NSW and southeast QLD, according to Weatherzone meteorologist Tom Hough.

“Friday will see general falls of around 5 to 15mm in eastern parts of NSW, and the same level for Queensland as well,” Mr Hough told Yahoo News Australia.

He added there would be localised falls of between 10-20mm in northeastern areas of NSW for the rest of Friday, and between 15-30mm in southeastern districts of Queensland with rainfall stretching north to Mackay.

Map showing wet weather hitting coast of Queensland as downpour expected to dampen bushfire zones.
Rain is set to drench parts of Queensland and NSW affected by bushfires. Source: Bureau of Meteorology/AAP

The biggest rainfall however was expected for Saturday, with localised falls of up 40mm set to drop on the top end of NSW and between 10-20mm set for coastal areas further south, including Sydney.

Queensland’s southeast will be hit with the biggest dump of rain, with a localised downpour of 60mm expected over the weekend, according to Mr Hough.

While heavy rain is not considered common for this time of year, it is the product of a low pressure trough moving across the eastern seaboard.

“With the current set-up, this kind of rain is not a rare occurrence,” Mr Hough said.

The rainfall will likely help extinguish fires still burning in areas surrounding Port Macquarie, Kempsey, and further north in the Clarence Valley council area, and Buckendoon near Evans Head.

There are also still fires in Carneys Creek and Swanfels, just north of the Queensland border, as well as in Lefthand Branch, Thornton, Townson and Mulgowie further inland.

An elderly couple were killed and at least 29 homes destroyed in bushfires that tore across northern NSW.

Wet conditions along the east coast should clear by Sunday.

Melbourne will avoid the rain completely this weekend, with the city set for fine conditions and a max temperature of 22 degrees, and Adelaide will be much the same although slightly warmer.

In Hobart there could be a few drops of rain on Friday, but it is expected to be otherwise fine and hover between 14 and 18 degrees.

Showers are expected to last through until Sunday in Western Australia’s southwest region, and up to 25mm could fall on Perth on Saturday.

Canberra could have some showers on Friday and a slight drizzle on Saturday, but will otherwise be fine and remain in the mid to high teen temperatures.

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