With rain predicted every day for the next week, it’s understandable that Lismore residents might be feeling a little anxious.

So, the Lismore App contacted the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) to get the lowdown on what we might expect over the coming days.

BOM forecaster Jake Phillips said that while rain is predicted, at this stage there are no signs of severe thunderstorms or large rainfall totals for Lismore in the next few days. 

Jake said it’s more likely that thunderstorms will develop further to the west in the tablelands.

“The potential rain and weather instability is being caused by a low pressure system hanging around the region,” he said.

“If we do get a storm here, we might get 20-30 mm of rainfall, but it’s more likely it will be less than 10mm of rain.

“Tomorrow will be similar – most likely rain of 10-15mm unless a storm comes.”

Thankfully, Jake said the storms we could get here in the next week are not like the storms we saw earlier in the summer.

By the weekend, cooler conditions will arrive – with less rain likely on Sunday.

Jake said there’s no need for people to get alarmed at the weather predictions for this week, but that we should keep an eye on the weather next week. 

“Our computer weather modeling suggests Northern NSW may get more rain next week,” he said.

“We are keeping an eye on it. Parts of Queensland are likely to see significant rain as the week progresses – we are not sure but will get a better idea as the week goes on.”

With change and unpredictability being the only constant in life, the predictions of a weather forecaster have become exceptionally important to people living in fire-prone - or flood-prone towns like Lismore.

“We always give a lot of attention to weather predictions – but with such unpredictable weather patterns, you will never get perfect forecast -there are so many variables in weather systems,” Jake said.

With the world currently in a La Nina weather pattern, Jake said this means storms have more humidity in the atmosphere, leading to an overall increase in the likelihood of storms with rain.

“But this is not the sole reason we are getting them,” Jake said.

“The number of significant weather events in the region are consistent with what climatologists are seeing on a wider scale – more severe weather and shifting climate patterns overall.”