SEVERE tropical cyclone Narelle made its third landfall south of Coral Bay in Western Australia on 27 March bringing rainfall to much of the Western Australia’s north and west and to parts of the Top End of the Northern Territory as it tracked across northern Australia and turned to the south-west.

Weekly rainfall totals of 50 to 200 mm, and locally higher, were recorded across northern and western parts of Western Australia and isolated areas across the Cape York Peninsula and the north-eastern coast of Queensland and the Top End of the Northern Territory.

A trough and cold front that moved across south-east Australia combined with a humid, unstable airmass to produce thunderstorms, some severe, leading to heavy rain over parts of the region.

Weekly rainfall totals of 25 to 100 mm, and locally higher, were recorded across large parts of eastern Victoria, western and southern parts of Tasmania, south-eastern New South Wales and isolated western areas of South Australia.

The highest daily total (at a Bureau gauge) was 328.0 mm in the 24 hours to 9 am on 28 March at Winning in Western Australia during the passage of Severe tropical cyclone Narelle; this was also the highest weekly total at a Bureau gauge for the week ending 9 am on 30 March.