A rain gauge to the north of Lismore just recorded the second highest daily rainfall total on record in NSW.

Dunoon, a small village located roughly 20km north of Lismore, registered a whopping 775 mm of rain during the 24 hours ending at 9am on Monday.

This deluge is the 2nd highest daily rainfall total ever officially observed in NSW, beaten only by 809.2 mm at Dorrigo in February 1954.

This observation will need to be quality controlled by the Bureau of Meteorology before it can be confirmed. However, several other rain gauges in the region registered similar totals, including 706 mm at Goonengerry, 698 mm at Doon Doon and 661 mm at Huonbrook. These three observations are the 4th, 5th and 6th highest daily totals ever officially recorded in NSW.

Unfortunately, this immense amount of rain has caused major flooding in northeast NSW, with the Wilsons River exceeding 14 metres at Lismore on Monday morning, breaking the town’s previous record by nearly two metres. This is a life-threatening flood situation and anyone in the region should closely monitor the evacuation advice from the SES. You can find those here and contact the SES on 132 500.

Rain will ease over northeast NSW from Tuesday, although flooding will linger as water continues to drain from the landscape.

You can check the latest weather and flood warnings in NSW here.