Severe Weather: Strong Winds, Storms Hit South

We actually did see around about 50 mm in the South Australian mountains, mostly falling yesterday and then overnight last night, about 20 mm through western parts of Victoria - so a healthy drop of rain there. It's been about 15 mm through central areas, and as we can see now, late Wednesday morning, a lot of the rain is actually starting to focus in on Tasmania, and that will pick up the bulk of the remaining wet weather. Although this little band here, which stretches through central Victoria and up into inland New South Wales, could certainly kick off a few thunderstorms, and we'll look at that thunderstorm risk shortly.

I also want to focus in on the wind across the south, because the wind will be one of the major players for the rest of the day today. Here's some of the wind gusts we've seen this morning: Robe, down here on the south-east Australian coastline, 94 km/h; Warrnambool on the Victorian coastline, 94 km/h; Casterton, a bit further inland, 80 km/h. These wind gusts have been ramping up through the course of the morning, and it really does look like the afternoon will bring the strongest winds across parts of Victoria.

This low-pressure area near the coastline is the main culprit for these winds. You can see how those arrows really race around the low-pressure area. So as that low slides eastwards in the coming hours, those strong winds will spread eastwards as well and impact other parts of Victoria. In fact, we can see exactly that if we add in the rain as well. Watch this low track through the Bass Strait. We'll see those strong winds impact other parts of Victoria, maybe parts of New South Wales as well. And then tonight, overnight, it's really pulling out into the Tasman Sea, and conditions are settling down quite significantly over the country. By sunrise tomorrow morning, it will feel like a different day out there compared to the windy one on Wednesday.

Just a real focus on the winds to show which areas could perhaps get the strongest gusts - and they are places close in the vicinity of this low-pressure area. So it's the south-western coast of Victoria and the southern coast of South Australia. As this low moves into the Bass Strait, we'll see the winds move through central parts and then ease off. And look, it's only 9:00 tonight, the last of those strong winds in the south-eastern corner. Early tomorrow morning, the last of those winds are easing.

Here's the warning that we've got in place across the south of the state: damaging winds expected through pretty large areas. Over the next few hours, the winds are still going in South Australia but they'll be easing off this afternoon. Victoria and southern parts of New South Wales - it's most of the day today - those strong winds will gradually ease back in western places this afternoon. This evening or overnight, the winds will clear out of these other areas. Right through this region, we could see gusts of 90 km/h to 100 km/h, but along this stretch of coast here, those winds could be even stronger, maybe 120 km/h to 125 km/h.

That is wind strong enough to bring down branches and trees, make it difficult to drive on the roads, cause power outages, and potentially even damage cars or property. Here's a look at the thunderstorm map for today - the thunderstorm risk at least - and we do see a risk of thunderstorms with those bands of wet weather sliding across the south, but also through much of eastern and northern New South Wales and even across into Queensland. Most of these storms won't bring much rainfall. Generally, quite low rainfall totals are expected, but what these storms could bring is enhanced wind gusts.

So it's already going to be a very windy day, particularly down in the south here. If you get storms overhead, expect a little bit of rain, but also expect those winds to pick up even further and bring a greater potential for damage. When it comes to overall rainfall, I said Tasmania is picking up the lion's share, and that's definitely true. We could see 30 mm to 50 mm across parts of Tasmania between now and early Thursday morning. Across mainland Australia, probably just another 10 mm to 15 mm to go before the rain clears up tomorrow.

Tasmania has had a lot of wet weather in recent months, so if we do see 30 mm to 50 mm, that could be enough to cause some of those river levels to rise. And there is a Flood Watch in place for the majority of Tasmania. As river catchment areas receive rain today, the levels could rise and some rivers may see flooding. So, if you live on or near riverways in Tasmania, do keep an eye on those Flood Warnings over the next 24 to 48 hours as we see how they respond to today's rainfall.

Stay up to date with all the latest severe weather information on the Bureau's website and app. Thanks for watching this video, and have a safe day!