Weather Update: Rainband For Central And Eastern Aus

For today, showers are likely to remain fairly patchy across parts of northern Western Australia, southern parts of the Northern Territory, clipping parts of Queensland and South Australia and pushing into New South Wales. Rainfall totals are likely to be a little bit hit and miss and on the lower side of things. Thunderstorms may play a part however, they are possible across a broad swathe of the country, reflecting where that moisture is flowing. Thunderstorms could tend severe in these yellow areas on the map. Around the tri state border area of the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia. In that area thunderstorms today could produce damaging wind gusts, so be aware of that risk through the course of today.

As we move into tomorrow we're likely to see the rain filling out, particularly across southern Queensland and northern inland New South Wales. A low pressure system will sweep across south-eastern South Australia and move into western parts of New South Wales. Now, behind that low pressure system, we're likely to see cold, showery southerly winds pulling up across South Australia. Ahead of that system though we're likely to see a further pull on that moisture feeding into that rainfall for tomorrow. That means the numbers we're looking at in terms of rainfall totals tomorrow are likely to be higher than what we're expecting today.

Thunderstorms are once again going to be a risk tomorrow across a broad swathe of the country, but severe thunderstorms will be likely across larger areas of north-east South Australia and western New South Wales, in these yellow areas you see on this map. We've also got a red area on our map which shows us where severe thunderstorms are not just possible, but in fact likely. In those areas we are most likely to see the severe weather tomorrow. But any severe thunderstorms could bring the risk of damaging wind gusts, heavy rainfall, and large hail for our Tuesday.

As we move into Wednesday, the low pressure system and cold front will push towards the east coast. Strong winds will pull around this system, which may produce some locally damaging gusts across parts of New South Wales. We'll also see the rain continuing across southern inland Queensland, much of New South Wales, but pushing into parts of northern Victoria as well. This system will push towards the east coast of the country through the later part of Wednesday, eventually moving offshore. Now this is just one of several forecast possibilities for this weather system, but it is looking fairly likely that by the end of Wednesday will see much drier conditions across inland parts of the east and central Australia. With the wetter weather really confined to those eastern parts close to the coast.

As we move into Thursday, the low pressure system is expected to continue moving off the east coast. Strong winds will pull up around that low pressure system, which means damaging winds will continue to be a risk across parts of eastern New South Wales. Large and powerful waves and potentially hazardous surf may also impact the east coast at this time. Otherwise though, we are in for a much cooler burst of air coming up in these southerly winds impacting the eastern states of Australia. Through the remainder of Thursday, pushing towards the end of the week, the system will continue to move off into the Tasman Sea, leaving us with much drier and more settled conditions for the end of the week.

Now, our rainfall totals out to the end of Thursday are likely to be fairly modest across many areas, certainly through southern parts of the Northern Territory, south-west Queensland and eastern parts of South Australia. We're really looking at less than 30mm for most of those areas. Thunderstorms may put slightly higher falls in the rainfall gauges, but broadly speaking, fairly low to moderate falls are expected. We may see some higher accumulations through parts of New South Wales however, mostly on and to the west of the ranges, but possibly reaching the coast as well. It's worth noting that some of these areas have seen a lot of rain over the past few months, and the rivers may respond quickly to this further rainfall, so we could see some returned flood warnings by the end of the week. Keep an eye on that one over the Thursday, Friday period in particular.

Now, as this system develops and continues to evolve over the next few days, it is essential to stay on top of the forecasts and warnings via the Bureau's website, the BOM Weather app and via our social media. Have a great week and we'll catch you next time.