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Canberra had a wet weather start to the weekend but forecasters said there were clear skies ahead of Skywhale’s launch on Sunday morning. The city was hit with heavy rain late on Friday evening and well into Saturday morning with Canberra Airport receiving 31 millimetres, while 33 millimetres fell on Thoroughbred Park. Over in the western reaches of the territory, Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve got 59 millimetres while Corin Dam, which was already at 100 per cent capacity, received a 76 millimetre dump. The rain finished up around lunch time with an extra five to 10 millimetres being recorded. Despite the generous drizzling, emergency services said only around 10 calls for assistance had been placed. The ACT SES duty officer said the calls were in response to leaking roofs and fallen trees and branches happening on Friday night and into Saturday. The storm’s slower winds, when compared to the storm that hit Monday evening, meant there were no reports of extensive damage to properties, according to the emergency service. A car accident involving two cars on Parkes Way on Saturday morning caused long delays as traffic was bottle-necked into one lane city bound. Police said they had conducted an investigation at the site but said there were no reported injuries. READ MORE: Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Hugh McDowell said the brunt of the wet weather was largely behind us with rain unlikely to fall on Sunday. It’s good news for the star event this weekend, with Skywhale and Skywhalepapa set to take flight Sunday morning. The two hot air balloons, created by Canberra artist Patricia Piccinini, were scheduled to be launched from John Dunmore Lang Place in Parkes early on Sunday morning ahead of a regional tour later this year. The event had already been postponed to Sunday due to Saturday’s predicted unstable weather conditions. Sunday’s weather was set to reach a top of 27 degrees, with light winds of up to 10km/h in the morning before a slight increase to 20km/h in the afternoon. Mr McDowell said there was an outside chance of showers in the afternoon but it would be otherwise pleasant weather. Canberra was expected to return to clear skies for the rest of the week from Monday, Mr McDowell forecasting clear weather days with a low chance of rain. “It’s mostly dry through the outlook. There’s a low chance of rain on most days but you’re looking at 20 to 30 per cent chances,” Mr McDowell said. “Any totals are likely going to be less than five millimetres.” It marked a stark change from the short but ferocious storm that hit Canberra on Monday evening, resulting in 112 calls for assistance to the SES. More than 21mm of rain fell at Canberra Airport in just half an hour as strong winds tore branches from trees and scattered debris.
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Canberra had a wet weather start to the weekend but forecasters said there were clear skies ahead of Skywhale’s launch on Sunday morning.
Over in the western reaches of the territory, Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve got 59 millimetres while Corin Dam, which was already at 100 per cent capacity, received a 76 millimetre dump. The rain finished up around lunch time with an extra five to 10 millimetres being recorded.
Despite the generous drizzling, emergency services said only around 10 calls for assistance had been placed.
The ACT SES duty officer said the calls were in response to leaking roofs and fallen trees and branches happening on Friday night and into Saturday.
A car accident involving two cars on Parkes Way on Saturday morning caused long delays as traffic was bottle-necked into one lane city bound.
Police said they had conducted an investigation at the site but said there were no reported injuries.
Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Hugh McDowell said the brunt of the wet weather was largely behind us with rain unlikely to fall on Sunday.
It’s good news for the star event this weekend, with Skywhale and Skywhalepapa set to take flight Sunday morning.
The two hot air balloons, created by Canberra artist Patricia Piccinini, were scheduled to be launched from John Dunmore Lang Place in Parkes early on Sunday morning ahead of a regional tour later this year.
Sunday’s weather was set to reach a top of 27 degrees, with light winds of up to 10km/h in the morning before a slight increase to 20km/h in the afternoon.
Mr McDowell said there was an outside chance of showers in the afternoon but it would be otherwise pleasant weather.
Canberra was expected to return to clear skies for the rest of the week from Monday, Mr McDowell forecasting clear weather days with a low chance of rain.
“It’s mostly dry through the outlook. There’s a low chance of rain on most days but you’re looking at 20 to 30 per cent chances,” Mr McDowell said.
“Any totals are likely going to be less than five millimetres.”
More than 21mm of rain fell at Canberra Airport in just half an hour as strong winds tore branches from trees and scattered debris.
