As forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), the rain has returned, ruining not only our brief dry spell for July but potentially some significant upcoming sporting events.

Lismore's rainfall was only 8.2mm to 9 o'clock this morning, and a further 1.8mm since. Alstonville recorded 87mm to 9am, as did Ballina. You could argue that conditions could have been worse for Lismore.

As we all know, the water table is high, so even a little rain can cause enough damage to sporting fields, race courses and golf courses to question upcoming events.

The NSW Open Golf Qualifier will take place over two days, next Monday and Tuesday, with a Pro-Am on Sunday. The Lismore golf course has cancelled scheduled play for the next two days.

The Lismore Turf Club is hosting its first race meeting in a number of months this Friday. Scott Jones and Daniel Kedraika will need the weather's help if the races are to go ahead on race day.

The main concern is a strong cold front that is sweeping across the nation tomorrow. The majority of the impact will occur in the southeast of Australia; however, the impact could be felt on Wednesday when up to 7mm is expected before the sun returns on Thursday to dry the ground.

Saturday is another day of concern, with 4 to 20mm expected as the winds turn northerly.

The BoM has also released its long-range weather forecast, and it is looking normal to wet.

The three months from August to October have a 67% chance of experiencing above-median rainfall (greater than 184.3mm) and a 22% chance of an unusually wet period (greater than 319.2mm). Unusually dry sits at 5%.

If we focus on individual months, August has a 65% chance of above-median rainfall, 29% unusually wet, and 9% unusually dry.

September sits at a 62% chance of above-median rainfall, 30% unusually wet and 7% unusually dry.

If the BoM is correct, the ground may have trouble drying out before we start the storm season for 2025/2026.