Wet and stormy week ahead for much of Australia

Australian Community Media

Extreme temperatures expected for much of the east.

Transcript

00:00It's going to be a wet week ahead for much of Australia, with rain and storms expected

00:04across every state and territory.

00:06Let's start off first with a look at how much rainfall we're expecting through the

00:09week.

00:10And this map here shows the forecast total rainfall across the country, starting off

00:13on Monday morning.

00:14We can see heading into Tuesday, rainfall totals building through northern Australia

00:18as well as the southeast of the country.

00:20By Wednesday, we could see accumulated rainfall exceed 50mm for parts of Victoria and the

00:25northern Territory.

00:26From Thursday and Friday, that's when we start to see rainfall totals building through

00:30New South Wales and southern Queensland.

00:32This will help to ease some of those heatwave conditions through there.

00:35And by Friday night, we could see large parts of the country approach or even exceed the

00:39average monthly rainfall for November.

00:42You will notice though that the rainfall distribution is not uniform.

00:45We do have areas of low rainfall next to areas of higher rainfall, and that's because rainfall

00:49is expected to come broadly from showers and thunderstorms, and so some of those heavier

00:53totals will depend on where those thunderstorms do move and then develop.

00:57But to get a better sense of where we're expecting thunderstorms over the next few

01:00days, we can have a look at the Thunderstorm Outlook map.

01:03First starting with Tuesday, areas in green all the way from southern Victoria and up

01:07to the top end in Kimberley show where thunderstorms are possible on Tuesday.

01:11But these areas in yellow show where severe thunderstorms are possible, bringing heavy

01:15rainfall, damaging winds and large hail.

01:17And they lie through central parts of Australia, South Australia, Victoria and southern parts

01:21of New South Wales.

01:23On Wednesday, the thunderstorm risk shifts towards east.

01:27We still see the risk of severe thunderstorms for much of central Australia, but we also

01:30see thunderstorms possible for Tasmania, and this red area here through northeastern parts

01:34of Victoria is where we could see severe thunderstorms become likely, again with the risk of damaging

01:40winds, large hail and heavy rainfall.

01:43So as well as the thunderstorm risk, there is also the possibility of flooding through

01:46the week, especially as rainfall totals start to build.

01:49At the moment we do have flood warnings coming through southern Queensland, but as rainfall

01:52totals grow heading into Friday and the weekend, we could see further flood watches and warnings

01:57being issued, and this situation is being monitored daily.

02:00So do keep an eye on the latest information for your area, especially if it has been quite

02:04wet recently.

02:05So what has been driving, and what will drive, these consecutive days of heavy rainfall across

02:10the country?

02:11Well we can have a look at what's happening in the oceans, and in particular the sea surface

02:14temperatures across the country.

02:16These areas in yellow shading and into the orange show where sea surface temperatures

02:20are in excess of 20, even approaching 30 degrees.

02:23But it's across the far northwest of the country where sea surface temperatures are

02:27exceeding 30 degrees, even pushing up towards 32 degrees off the coast of the Kimberley.

02:32As sea surface temperatures rise, the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere or moisture

02:36increases, and this is fuel for thunderstorms.

02:39And so another measure of this is precipitable water.

02:42This shows the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere, and the darker colours indicating

02:46where there is a risk of heavier rainfall.

02:48We see those dark shades across much of the country, but as we start to zoom out, and

02:52over the next few days, we start to see these weather systems push across southern Australia.

02:56They drag that moisture down across the southeast of the country, and there is also quite a

03:00bit of water vapour coming across the Pacific Ocean.

03:04And so over the next week, with the risk of severe thunderstorms and flooding, do keep

03:07up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings on our website and app, follow us on our socials,

03:13and as always, please stay safe.

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