IT'S BEEN a year for flooding rains in Tamworth, with seven floods sweeping through the city in 2022, most of them in the last few months alone.
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The Peel River at the main bridge in town reached the minor flood level of 3m once in August and then twice each in September, October and November, according to data from Water NSW.
It happened six times last year but only once in 2020 and not at all in 2019.
Tamworth was just a drop off reaching last year's rain record, with the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) gauge at Tamworth airport notching 923.6mm in 2022, compared to 930mm in 2021 and 893mm in 2020.
The city was soaked by the wettest spring season in 14 years, with 389.9mm of rain falling across the three months.
It marked a level not seen since the spring of 2008 when 454.4mm fell.
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The wettest month of 2022 in Tamworth was October, followed closely by September and then March.
The grey skies have helped keep dams full though, with both Lake Keepit and Chaffey Dam lapping at their edges.
The huge Split Rock Dam also surged to near capacity.
Copeton Dam near Inverell broke records this year, with about 306,960 Olympic swimming pools worth of water gushing into the dam in September and October alone, marking the highest inflow in the history of the dam, according to Water NSW.
The dam has spilled over three times in the past 46 years, but spilled 13 times in 2022 alone.
Gunnedah was ravaged by flooding in 2022, particularly in spring, with more than a dozen major floods.
Residents in places like Carroll and North Gunnedah faced evacuation orders at times and houses and businesses were inundated with water.
The State Emergency Service, Rural Fire Service and Lifesaving NSW, were on hand in the town helping during the flood emergencies and the clean-up afterwards. Moree also faced major flooding in 2022.
Tamworth's hottest day of 2022 was 36.7 degrees on January 17, while the coldest was -3.4 degrees on June 14, according to the BOM.
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Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald. Email: afalkenmire@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald. Email: afalkenmire@austcommunitymedia.com.au
