Severe Weather: Wet, Windy Hits Southern Australia

My name is Sarah and I'll be taking you through what to expect today, Saturday the 8th of August, and what to expect over the coming days as this strong system moves across the country.

So we'll start off by looking at the radar data across the south-west, because that's where our weather comes from.

And you can see these lines of showers and rain areas that give us a really good indication of where the cold front is sitting.

Now behind the cold front we've got these more sort of speckled hit-and-miss showers, which is really typical with a really cold air mass behind a strong front, and there's already been observations of large accumulations of small hail across the south-west this morning.

And there's the potential even for snow flurries about the Stirling Ranges today.

So there's also the potential for damaging wind gusts across the south coast, extending from Albany to Esperance and pushing inland towards Mount Barker, for wind gusts in excess of 90 km/h to develop this afternoon and continue into this evening.

Now these will be in the south-westerly winds behind the cold front.

There's also the potential for damaging winds through a really broad area in any storms that do form across south-eastern parts of WA for the remainder of today.

So if we step back and have a look at the weather systems.

Here we've got the cold front and the really cold southerly push, but shifting the focus to this developing cloud band.

Now this is tapping into moisture from all the way out in the Indian Ocean and drawing it down over south-eastern parts of the country.

And if we play out for the remainder of today, we see that cold front collide with that tropical moisture and that cloud band really starts to develop.

Also noticing that these isobars get really tight together, which indicates that those northerly winds really start to strengthen.

While this low pressure system clockwise winds around with really strong and gusty winds pushing onto the coast.

Now for that reason, we have issued a number of Severe Weather Warnings for damaging wind gusts. Just focusing on this one about the lower Eyre Peninsula up into the west coast.

These are for damaging winds to develop on Sunday morning and continue into the evening, and places that may be affected include Port Lincoln and Elliston.

This separate area for the Flinders Ranges are for the northerly winds to strengthen during Sunday evening and continue all the way through until Monday morning.

We also have warnings out for Victoria, for the Macedon Ranges, the Central Ranges and the north-east ranges, and even pushing over the border into the alpine areas of New South Wales.

Within this area wind gusts in excess of 90 km/h, even 100 km/h, are possible from Sunday morning, continuing all the way through until Monday morning.

So a really windy day across Victoria, including the Melbourne area. But it's not just winds that are a concern.

We've got widespread areas of rain that will develop across south-eastern parts of South Australia, southern New South Wales, Victoria and eventually northern parts of Tasmania as well.

Now the heaviest rainfall totals will be about the northern slopes of the Victorian ranges and the north-east ranges.

But as well as we head into the early hours of Monday morning, this wrapping around the low, there's the potential for localised heavy falls about the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

As we do move into Monday however, we can see the cold front and the low will gradually skirt out into the Tasman Sea, dragging with it the heavier rainfall and the winds gradually easing.

So how much rainfall are we expecting with this system?

Here we're looking at the accumulated rainfall between today, Saturday, all the way through until Monday. And there's the potential for widespread, widespread totals of 20 mm to 40 mm.

However, the heaviest falls will be about the windward slopes of the ranges, the Flinders Ranges, the Mount Lofty and the Victorian ranges.

And there's even the potential of up to 100 mm about the alpine areas of Victoria.

Now, for that reason, we have issued a number of Flood Watches across a broad area of central Victoria into the north-east ranges and flowing over into the Snowy River catchments of New South Wales.

Now this includes the Melbourne metro area in the south-eastern suburbs for Bunyip River, and as well Dandenong Creek, and as well the Yarra River upstream from Warrandyte.

Now anywhere within these areas, minor to moderate flooding may occur, developing on Sunday evening, with the risk continuing through until Monday.

Community impacts with this wet and windy weather include the potential for trees to come down with those really strong wind gusts.

As well power lines, causing power outages.

There may also be hazardous driving conditions, with wet roads or debris strewn across roads creating travel disruptions.

So if you live across southern parts of the country, now's a really good time to stay up to date with our latest warnings via the bureau website, app and social media.

And as always, listen to the advice from your local emergency services. Bye for now.