Central Coast sits on Australia’s subtropical east coast, where La Nina years can bring extended, severe rainfall and flooding, most dramatically during the catastrophic 2022 floods that devastated this stretch of coast.
Between Sydney and Newcastle, the region’s rivers and lakes are exposed to the same East Coast Low systems that affect the wider NSW coast. Ex-tropical cyclones and slow-moving coastal low-pressure systems (sometimes called east coast lows) can both stall over the region and produce rainfall totals well beyond what typical storms bring, making radar tracking of these systems especially important for anticipating fast-rising rivers. Learn more: Flash Flood Warning Signs on Radar · Open the full Rain Map