Canberra weather: Capital wakes to Sunday downpour of rain, and storms forecast

Canberra woke on Sunday morning to a downpour and flooding in the city, including 60mm in an hour in parts of north Canberra.

The northern parts of the capital have copped the worst so far.

Authorities have closed several roads, including Macarthur Avenue in O'Connor, Brigalow Street in Lyneham and the Maura Parkway near Tambreet Street, to be closed.

The bureau recorded 60mm in the hour to 9am at Sullivan's Creek in north Canberra, and 16mm at Woolshed Creek in the 40 minutes from 9am, and 14mm on Lake Burley Griffin in the same time.

Police are pleading with Canberrans to drive to the conditions, and avoid flooded areas.

Overnight, Canberra Airport recorded 20mm of rainfall in the 24 hours to 9am, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Gabrielle Woodhouse said.

There was 25mm recorded at the airport between 9am and 10am.

Weatherzone: Canberra radar

Ms Woodhouse said there was a thunderstorm warning across the northern parts of Canberra on Sunday morning, but warned "it's always a dynamic and evolving situation".

The bureau's storm warning issued at 9.15am said, "Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding in the warning area over the next several hours. Locations which may be affected include Nowra, Braidwood, Canberra, Goulburn, Yass and Queanbeyan".

The average rainfall in Canberra city for February is 51.2mm.

The bureau is forecasting a 60 per cent chance of another shower on Monday, although it is only expecting up to 6mm. It's predicting some drier days after that, before there's a 50-50 chance the rain returns on Friday and Saturday.

The SES can be contacted on 132 500.

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