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There’s more than a week left of August, but Australia has now experienced its wettest end to winter since 1998. The month has seen record-breaking rainfall, but Sydney in particular has experienced its worst rain since the weather station opened… in 1858!
Given we’ve already had one bomb cyclone this season, it’s no surprise Sydney surpassed its yearly average rainfall this week—and there’s still four months to go.
In your typical year, August is Sydney’s fourth driest month. This late in the season, we’re usually skipping off to the beach singing “spring has sprung”. Alas, not in 2025. This month has reportedly seen triple its average rainfall in Sydney.
So, yeah. We’re over it.
While the BOM has stopped short of labelling the rains a La Niña event, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has declared a La Niña watch for the coming months, per ABC News. Australians will be familiar with La Niña, given we’ve had one every year of the 2020s. For context, La Niña events are thought to occur every two to seven years.
La Niña or not, we aren’t fans of this prolonged winter drudgery, even if it is an excuse to bust out a cute raincoat. This begs the question, when will it end?
The good news is there will be a reprieve in wet weather by the week’s end. Here’s what we know.
When Is Sydney Rain Ending?
The good news is that the end of the rainfall is in sight! Weatherzone has announced that heavy rain is here to stay for the rest of the working week, but the weekend will see a “drying trend”. At present, the Bureau of Meteorology is still predicting showers over the weekend in Sydney and into next week. However, the sun will come out and by Wednesday, Sydney could even see temps up to 24 degrees.
Until then, however, batten down the hatches because Sydney is expected to see its total average August rainfall in just two days before the weekend.
How Much Rain Has Sydney Had in the Last 24 hours?
Per the BOM, some areas of Sydney have had rains exceeding 70mm over the past 24 hours. The hardest hit areas appear to mostly be in northern Sydney, with Allambie recording over 76mm at the time of publishing. Meanwhile, Rose Bay golf course, close to Sydney CBD, 54mm at the time of publishing. Rainfall was slightly lower in western and southern parts of Sydney.
The city-wide deluge was greatest on Thursday morning, so this 24-hour rainfall figure is likely to rise.
Is There Risk Of Flooding In Sydney?
According to the ABC, parts of NSW have been put on flood watch. The Bureau couldn’t pinpoint exactly where, but has said minor to moderate flooding is possible in areas along the mid-north coast, Northern Rivers and Northern Tablelands, and Hunter Regions, as well as parts of Greater Sydney.
This doesn’t speak to local conditions, where drainage or other issues could result in minor flooding.
