Severe Weather Update: Damaging wind gusts and severe thunderstorms for New South Wales and Victoria

Published: Aug 23, 2024 Duration: 00:03:52 Category: Science & Technology

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Severe thunderstorms are expected across Victoria and much of south-eastern Australia on Sunday, after a very windy period in the last couple of days. It's been so windy, in fact, that we still have severe weather warnings current for damaging winds through parts of New South Wales, mainly covering the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney and the Dividing Range to the south, as well as some of those south-east alpine areas of New South Wales. In these warning areas, we may see further damaging wind gusts through the course of Saturday, strong enough to bring down trees or branches across roads, potentially leading to dangerous driving conditions. So if you are traveling into those and more elevated parts of the state, be aware of this wind risk today. It should ease back below warning thresholds later this afternoon, with a much gentler night on the way where winds are concerned. However, as we move into tomorrow, a cold front and trough will sweep across the south-east, bringing widespread thunderstorms. Looking at our thunderstorm outlook map for Sunday, we can see just how widespread that risk is. We've got storms possible all the way up through western New South Wales, extending down to south-east South Australia and Victoria too. Tasmania is less likely to see the thunderstorms tomorrow, although we will still have some wet weather in the far south-east. What I really want to focus on with this map, though, are the yellow and red areas indicating where severe thunderstorms are likely or possible. They extend from southern parts of the Eyre Peninsula through south-east South Australia into Victoria and southern New South Wales, impacting some of our major population centres, including Adelaide and Melbourne. Now, severe thunderstorms through the course of tomorrow may bring damaging wind gusts or large hailstones as they move through. Heavy rainfall is also possible, but less likely. The main risk area for severe storms is through inland Victoria, pushing down into the northern suburbs of Melbourne and as far north as the southern Riverina of New South Wales. Now in that area, severe thunderstorms are likely through tomorrow afternoon and evening. We may even see destructive wind gusts as these storms move through, with the potential to bring down trees, branches, power lines potentially leading to power outages as well as road and access issues as debris falls on the roads. We may also see damage to properties as trees and hailstones move through with those storms. If you live in those warning, in those forecast areas, it's essential to keep an eye on the radar to see where the storms develop through the course of tomorrow and the Bureau's website to keep an eye on any warnings that are updated through the course of the day. So when will it reach your area? Well, we can see the driving feature in our front map here. It's likely to sweep through south-east South Australia during the morning, reaching Adelaide late morning or around midday. Now that's where we're going to see the strongest winds and the storms on that leading edge of the system. It will move into western Victoria through the afternoon, sweeping through Melbourne in the late afternoon or early evening. It's worth noting that we're seeing continued showers and storms in the wake of the system, but the most intense impacts are likely to be along the line of the trough itself. It'll move into eastern Victoria and south-east New South Wales through the evening and overnight period, with less storms on the way for Monday. Now this situation will develop through the day tomorrow, peaking through the afternoon and evening. Again, keep an eye on the radar and keep an eye on the Bureau's website and social media for forecast and warning updates through the course of the day. This weather is likely to be severe across large areas, so it's essential to keep yourself up to date. Stay safe and we'll catch you next time.

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