Eastern Australia is enduring yet another multi-day outbreak of rain and thunderstorms this week, with close to 3.5 million lightning strikes detected over Australia during the past three days.

The animation below shows continuous thunderstorm activity spreading over the eastern half of Australia between Wednesday and Friday this week. This prolific lightning was caused by an upper-level cut-off low interacting with moisture-laden air as it gradually moved over southeastern Australia.

Video: Composite enhanced water vapour satellite imagery and lightning strike observations between Wednesday and Friday this week.

Weatherzone’s total lightning network detected roughly 3.5 million lightning strikes over Australia between Wednesday morning and Friday morning.

This is the latest in a series of rain and storm-bearing weather systems that have soaked Australian soil during the last few months.

The map below shows that rainfall over the last three months ranked in the top 10 percent of historical records for large areas of NSW, Qld and the NT, along with pockets of every other state and territory.

Image: Rainfall deciles during the last three months (July to September). Source: Bureau of Meteorology.

Unfortunately, the compounding effect of these unusually wet months has left catchments saturated across large areas of eastern and southeastern Australia. This saturated ground has resulted in widespread flooding in recent weeks.

As of midday on Friday, October 21, moderate to major flooding was occurring in rivers between southern Qld and northern Vic. Severe thunderstorms warnings are also in place for large areas of Qld and NSW today.