Severe Weather: Strong Winds, Snow Hit Southeast Aus

As you can see for this afternoon, we've got winds flaring in the lee of the New South Wales ranges, so we could see some very gusty conditions there through the rest of today. We're then going to see a slight easing in the winds through the rest of this afternoon and evening, before the next weather system approaches from the south-west. A very strong cold front driving very wide reaching strong winds both ahead of, with and behind the system. It is going to produce the risk of damaging winds across parts of south-eastern South Australia from early tomorrow morning, pushing across parts of Victoria and eventually New South Wales through tomorrow morning and afternoon.

We are likely to see those very windy conditions gradually easing in South Australia by late Friday into early Saturday, but windy conditions will continue on the east coast until late Saturday into Sunday as that cold front moves off across the Tasman Sea. Because of that risk of damaging winds over the next few days, we have a Severe Weather Warning for damaging winds current covering parts of South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. For South Australia, there is also the risk of locally destructive wind gusts from early tomorrow morning, as the front moves through, particularly about the south-east coast, the Adelaide metro area, the Yorke Peninsula and Kangaroo Island.

Now those very strong winds, the destructive wind gusts up to 130 km/hr, and most likely with any showers and thunderstorms that do develop. For other parts of our warning area, it's the risk of damaging winds through the day as the front moves through with showers and thunderstorms, and our warning areas do include parts of the northern and north-western Melbourne suburbs, as well as our usual elevated parts of the south-east. We've also got the Brindabella Range included in our warning area and parts of the Central Ranges of New South Wales.

Now, as I mentioned, winds are broadly expected to ease below warning thresholds between early Saturday and the end of the weekend. But that risk of damaging winds is going to be most acute with the front early tomorrow in South Australia. It could also bring the risk of blizzards about elevated alpine areas of the south-east later Friday into early Saturday, as the strong winds combine with snow. Anywhere we see that damaging wind gust risk, we could see trees and tree branches brought down. That could cause damage to property and vegetation or move around loose items in your yard. We could also see very dangerous driving conditions developing as strong crosswinds emerge, or as those blizzard conditions bring whiteout visibility.

Onto the cold now, because we're certainly expecting a very cold blast with this strong cold front. It's already been fairly cool across the south-east, but this cold front is going to knock the snow level right down, with the coldest air moving through late Friday into Saturday. Taking a look at our snow forecast now, we can see snow flaring across parts of Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales, but the snow level is also going to drop down across South Australia as well.

Now here I've picked the lowest snow level in that Friday Saturday period. And you can see possibly as low as 700 m across parts of south-east South Australia. So snow is possible about the Flinders Ranges with flurries, a small risk about the Mount Lofty Ranges. For Victoria, down to 600 m or 700 m. So we could see snow about the Macedon Ranges and Dandenong Ranges as well as our higher elevations. For Tasmania, the snow level down to 300 m to 500 m, with that difference between the north and south there in New South Wales generally 700 m in southern and central parts of the state, but that 900 m snow level across the Northern Tablelands could see a sprinkling of snow at the Barrington Tops as well. Again, that coldest period will be later on Friday, going into Saturday.

Rainfall with this next frontal system is expected to be fairly moderate for the most part, but we may see some locally higher accumulations about Adelaide and the Mount Lofty Ranges, eastern Victoria, south-east New South Wales and also western Tasmania. For the most part, this won't have too much of an impact, but it is worth noting that we do still have some Minor Flood Warnings in place for northern parts of Tasmania.

Finally, taking a look at the large waves that this system will generate. Firstly across South Australian coastline in the wake of it, but also as we go into Saturday and Sunday in a strong, southerly swell moving up behind the system. This could produce hazardous surf along the coast. So keep an eye out for that one over the next couple of days as well.

As these windy and cold conditions start to develop from tomorrow, it is essential to stay on top of the latest forecasts and warnings via the website, the BOM Weather app and via our social media. Stay safe and we'll catch you next time.