Fourth-generation farmer Sophie Nichols would usually be enjoying a hard-earned holiday in late autumn.
Instead, she spent the usually temperate period on flood watch.
"I can't really leave the farm when there's that sort of risk," she told AAP.
She was particularly concerned as the heavy rainfall warnings followed a protracted dry stint for the Singleton property in NSW's Hunter Valley, leaving the landscape prone to flooding.
While the property, which has an organic orchard and runs beef cattle and sheep, escaped inundation, Ms Nichols is bracing for more extreme conditions.
A formal El Nino declaration, which could arrive from meteorological organisations in coming weeks, has the potential to pivot the region back into dry.
Australia's climate is driven by more than just the El Nino–Southern Oscillation patterns that cycles in the Pacific Ocean periodically, and its status for the latter part of the year is yet to have been confirmed.
