Wangaratta-based forecaster John Moore said there were strong indications of 100 millimetres of rain falling in both September and October after winter rainfall this year totalled 193.8 millimetres.

The figure was the highest winter total in Albury-Wodonga for five years but was still below the average of 232.3 millimetres and kept the region in drought.

Rainfall steadily increased throughout winter, with 29 millimetres falling in June, 64.4 millimetres in July and 100.4 millimetres last month.

“With the amount of snow around we should see some severe flooding, more down around the Ovens and King river areas,” Mr Moore said.

“Dartmouth and Hume dams will soak up a lot of water, which will mean downstream of the Hume won’t be quite as bad.

“Inflows have been higher than anticipated, so Hume is filling pretty fast but if it filled by the end of September it could mean some problems in October.

“We could end up getting 50 millimetres or more this weekend alone.”

In Wangaratta 201 millimetres fell during winter, the wettest in five years, despite only just exceeding the long-term norm of 198 millimetres.

August was the only month in winter when Albury-Wodonga had above-average rainfall of 80.2 millimetres.

The storages are filling strongly, with Lake Hume presently at 53.2 per cent of capacity compared to 22.3 per cent at the same time last year.

Dartmouth is also going up, at 38.4 per cent compared to 24.2 per cent 12 months ago.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a minor flood warning for the Kiewa River, with predictions of rain last night and today.

Forecast rain will clear tomorrow before returning with a vengeance on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to play havoc with football finals.

“This low pressure system looks like producing a strong burst of rain and wind from Friday night into Saturday, with the potential for moderate to heavy rainfall across Albury-Wodonga,” weather forecaster Alex Zadnik said.

“We are predicting widespread falls of 25 to 50 millimetres between Friday and Sunday.

“It looks like being quite a wild weekend, so you’ll want to keep up to date with the latest weather warnings.

“It’s also going to be a wet and muddy slog for the local football finals.”