Golf ball sized hail falls as severe thunderstorms sweep nation

Australian Community Media

A wide band of wild weather continues to move over the entire nation.

Transcript

00:00The risk of severe thunderstorms with damaging winds, large hail and heavy rainfall continue

00:05for large parts of central and southern Australia today, shifting into eastern parts of the

00:10country tomorrow.

00:11Now yesterday did see a number of severe thunderstorms across multiple states, with a particularly

00:17nasty supercell that developed across western Victoria during the afternoon that resulted

00:22in these golf ball sized hail, as well as damaging winds and heavy rainfall.

00:28And today is going to be another big storm day, so let's start off by looking at the

00:33thunderstorm forecast.

00:35Now here the green area is showing where thunderstorms are possible, whereas the yellow and the red

00:40areas indicate where severe thunderstorms are either possible or likely.

00:45So zooming in on these areas here, they extend from southern NT into much of south Australia,

00:52western NSW and northwest Victoria.

00:55Now out in the west here, damaging wind gusts is the main concern, but as we move further

01:01eastwards, heavy rainfall, large hail and damaging wind gusts may also be a big risk.

01:08And there is an area of focus through eastern parts of south Australia including the Flinders

01:13Ranges.

01:15Now impacts of these severe thunderstorms include branches and trees coming down that

01:21may lead to power outages, and as well the large size hail may produce damage to cars

01:27and property, and as well heavy rainfall could lead to flash flooding and water across the

01:31roads creating hazardous driving conditions.

01:35Now at the moment there are a number of severe weather warnings, but just focusing on south

01:39Australia, we've got a really windy day with damaging wind gusts across the region that

01:45are expected to ease later this evening with this warning to be cancelled.

01:49So shifting the focus to elevated parts of Victoria, those damaging wind gusts are expected

01:54to develop later tonight and continue into the early hours of Friday morning.

02:00So let's see how this severe weather is developing.

02:03We've got this complex low in the Nullarborn that's been bringing these showers and storms

02:07throughout the region overnight into this morning, and it's tracking eastwards with

02:13these strong northwesterly winds pushing into eastern parts of the country where the widespread

02:18storm area will move into, including Melbourne and Sydney tomorrow.

02:22Now those storms will quickly clear out in the early hours of Saturday morning, leading

02:27to a much more settled weekend across southern parts of the country.

02:33Now the storm forecast for tomorrow, so this is for Friday, you can see that there's severe

02:38thunderstorms are possible in the yellow and red areas extending from central NT through

02:42southwest Queensland, much of NSW into Victoria and northern Tasmania as well.

02:49Now there is a particular concern with the severe thunderstorms likely through on and

02:53west of the Great Dividing Range for NSW and through central and northeastern parts of

02:59Victoria, and again they can bring damaging winds, large hail or heavy rainfall.

03:06So how much rainfall are we expecting?

03:08This is the accumulated rainfall total from now through until early hours of Saturday

03:12morning, and you can see it's really speckled and that's due to the hit and miss nature

03:16of thunderstorms.

03:18But the heaviest rainfall is about the southern Tablelands and Plains, northeastern NSW and

03:24northern parts of Victoria as well, but that being said, anywhere that thunderstorms form

03:28there is the potential for flash flooding underneath them with the heavy rainfall.

03:33So in short, we've got a really big couple of days with storms, and if you live within

03:38any of the areas that are expected to be impacted, it's important that you stay up to date with

03:42the latest warnings via the Bureau website, app and social media.

03:46Keep an eye on the radar if you can, and listen to all the advice from your local emergency

03:50services.

03:51Bye for now.

Category

Transcript

Recommended