Wet weather increasing on the eastern states

Australian Community Media

Showers in the east, with heavy rain and strong winds a risk from Sunday May 18, 2025.

Transcript

00:00Hello Miriam at the Bureau with a weather update.

00:03This is not a severe weather update about imminent dangerous weather, rather it's a

00:07look at the wet weather across eastern Australia today and the potential, from Sunday, for

00:12heavy falls, strong winds and hazardous surf for parts of the New South Wales coast.

00:17It's a heads up and a reminder to everyone to stay on top of the forecasts and warnings

00:21over the weekend as this situation develops.

00:24Let's start by looking at today's rainfall.

00:28We're expecting to see scattered showers across parts of central and southeast Queensland

00:32today, northeast New South Wales and the east coast as well.

00:36Now isolated thunderstorms are possible mainly across southern inland Queensland and northern

00:41inland New South Wales.

00:43This wet and unsettled weather is being driven by a low pressure trough lying along the east

00:48coast and a second low pressure trough starting to develop across inland parts of the east.

00:55This weather pattern will continue into Friday, with the potential for some more moderate

00:59rainfall across the southeast of Queensland.

01:02As we move into the later part of Friday and into Saturday, we'll start to see showers

01:07contracting to the southeast coast of Queensland, all the while continuing through parts of

01:11eastern New South Wales, and this will push through most of Saturday as well.

01:16Isolated thunderstorms are likely across that period through these areas, but severe thunderstorms

01:20are not expected at this point in time.

01:23Taking a look at the rainfall totals expected from midnight last night out to midnight on

01:27Saturday night, we can see widespread low to moderate rainfall accumulations through those

01:33areas.

01:34Generally, 10 to 40 millimetres is likely, although we may see some higher accumulations through

01:39southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales over the next three days.

01:45As we move into Sunday, we're likely to see a new weather system starting to come into play.

01:51Areas of low pressure off the New South Wales east coast will start to deepen, with a coastal

01:56low pressure trough or possible coastal low pressure system starting to form.

02:02This system is expected to bring strong south-to-southeasterly winds, heavy falls and the risk of hazardous

02:08surf to parts of the New South Wales coast from Sunday into the early part of next week.

02:14Those heavier falls are possible across much of the south coast through Sunday afternoon

02:19and evening, starting to shift northwards through the later part of the day and into Monday.

02:25Through Monday and Tuesday, the focus for the rain is most likely going to be across the

02:29Hunter and lower parts of the mid-north coast.

02:33Of course, the exact areas likely to be hardest hit by the rain and the strong winds will depend

02:39on how quickly this coastal system develops, how close it sits to the coast, and how long

02:44it takes to start moving away from the coast again.

02:48At this point in time, we're expecting to see that system starting to move away from around

02:51mid-week, taking the strong winds and heavy rain with it.

02:55But if it lingers a little longer, we may see that wet and windy weather persisting.

03:01Widespread rainfall accumulations above 50 millimetres are likely across much of the southern, central

03:07and mid-north coasts of New South Wales through the later part of the weekend into early next

03:12week.

03:13But rainfall totals on a local scale could be much higher, especially close to and just

03:19to the south and west of that low pressure system if one develops.

03:25The winds are also likely to be a concern through the early part of next week.

03:29Here I'm showing you the winds at one and a half kilometres above the surface.

03:33This gives us a good indication of how strong the wind gusts might be when they reach the

03:38surface.

03:39Through the later part of Sunday and into Monday, we're likely to see those winds picking

03:43up across the central coast and central table lands, ramping up even further into Monday

03:48and pushing up towards the northern table lands as well.

03:52Now these strong winds are likely not just about the coast, but pushing a little ways inland

03:56too.

03:57Wind gusts of 70 to 90 kilometres an hour are possible.

04:00We may even see some damaging wind gusts developing at that time.

04:04Now winds of this strength could bring down trees or power lines and definitely lead to

04:08dangerous driving conditions, especially where they combine with that heavy rain.

04:13We may also see hazardous surf conditions and large waves developing for parts of the coast,

04:19particularly leading to coastal erosion in some parts and dangerous beachside conditions.

04:26While the wet weather is already starting today, we're likely to see it ramping up for

04:29New South Wales from Sunday with the risk of strong winds and hazardous surf as well.

04:34Be sure you stay up to date across the next few days via the Bureau's website, the

04:38BOM Weather app and via our social media.

04:41Stay safe and we'll catch you next time.

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