News

Biggest floods in decades hit NT after relentless rain – more on the way

Source Weatherzone Tue 10 Mar 2026

Unrelenting rain has caused major flooding in parts of the Northern Territory over the last few days, with Darwin’s main water supply interrupted due to “unprecedented” flooding at the Darwin River Dam. Active wet season in the NT This wet season has been unusually active for much of the NT. During the 6-month period from September 2025 to February 2026, large areas of the territory received rainfall that ranked in the top 10% of historical records for this period. Image: Observed rainfall deciles in the NT during the last six months. The darker blue shading shows areas that had rainfall in the top 10 percent of historical records over this period. Source: Bureau of Meteorology. March has continued this abnormally wet phase, with parts of the western Top End receiving more than 400mm during the first 10 days of the month. This included 449 mm at the Douglas River Research Farm during the 10 days ending at 9am on Tuesday, March 10, which is more than double this site’s entire monthly average for this time of year. Darwin Airport has received 247 mm of rain during the first 10 days of this month, which is about 80% of its March monthly average. However just outside the city at Noonamah, this month has already seen 394 mm of rain hitting the gauge, including a whopping 147 mm during the 24 hours to 9am on Tuesday, March 10. Dams reaching “unprecedented” levels Somewhat paradoxically, the recent heavy rain has caused problems for Darwin's water supply. The water level at the Darwin River Dam has been overflowing since the start of this year, with the dam level sitting around 100 to 105% of its capacity between January 1 and March 8. The dam level rose rapidly in response to the heavy rain and flash flooding on March 9, reaching 110.22% of its capacity. Monday’s flooding forced the NT’s Power and Water Corporation (PWC) to take the dam offline due to “substantial flooding of the pump station and associated equipment.” While the Darwin River Dam wall has not been impacted by this event, Darwin’s water supply will be restricted while the pump station and associated equipment is offline. According to the PWC, “this is an unprecedented situation and we have never seen this volume of water in the dam before.” The PWC is asking Darwin residents to reduce their water use while they work on fixing the dam. Rivers levels not seen for decades Swollen rivers have been causing major flooding in parts of the NT over the past week. On Saturday, March 7, The Katherine River level at Katherine Bridge peaked at 19.21 metres at 10:46 pm. This was well above the major flood height of 17.5 metres and the highest flood level since 1998. Image: Flooding at Katherine, NT on Saturday, March 7, 2026. Source: Fletcher Harry / Instagram. While the Katherine River had dropped back to around the minor flood level of 16 metres by Tuesday morning, the Daly River further west is still experiencing major flooding. The water level at the Daly River Police Station reached about 15 metres on Monday evening – above the major flood level of 14 metres. The Bureau of Meteorology forecast the river to reach around 15.3 metres overnight Tuesday into Wednesday. This would be higher than the 1957 flood peak of 15.19 metres and the biggest flood since 1998, when the river reached 16.25 metres. More rain to come Unfortunately, more rain is on the way for flood-weary areas of the NT as moisture-laden air interacts with a stagnant low pressure trough and associated low pressure system. The map below shows how much rain is expected to fall over the NT during the next seven days. The heaviest rain is expected to fall over northern areas of the territory, although wet weather will also spread south from the weekend into next week. Image: Forecast accumulated rain during the 7 days ending at 9:30pm ACST on Monday, March 16, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. The impending rain will be falling into already saturated catchments and flooded rivers, which will make further flooding a heightened risk. Visit the NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services (PFES) website for advice on how to be prepared and what to do in the event of a flood. - Weatherzone © Weatherzone 2026