Heavy rain and storms are predicted to hit New South Wales, which could wipe out snow cover in the alpine region and add to the flood risk in the state’s south-east.
It comes as heavy fog blanketed south-east Queensland on Thursday morning, causing flight delays.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for heavy rainfall and damaging winds in south-east NSW, including the Snowy Mountains, and extending into north-east Victoria.
Jonathan How, a forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology, told the Guardian that “we have a powerful cold front sweeping across New South Wales and Victoria today. We’ve seen showers and storms increase last night and into this morning. And we’ve already seen some quite high rainfall totals with some of those storms.”
The warning areas could see six-hourly rainfall totals of up to 60mm, with isolated areas including the alpine resorts seeing a further 100 to possibly 200mm on Thursday.
Current radar shows thunderstorms across much of inland #NSW and the southern ranges. Unsettled weather today due to a complex low moving east across the Bight, heavy rain and damaging winds possible.
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) August 3, 2022
Radar: https://t.co/joGHpQeD2Z
Warnings: https://t.co/Ss766eSCrL pic.twitter.com/zf5uklFQ53
How said the forecast for Thredbo is potentially up to 200mm today, with the rain expected to wipe out much of the snow cover in alpine areas “because it’s quite warm and it’s not falling as snow, it’s falling as rain.”
Thredbo has closed all of its lifts because of conditions.
The bureau is warning heavy rain could lead to flash flooding in the Illawarra, southern tablelands, the Hunter, south coast, central tablelands, north-west slopes and plains, central west slopes and plains, south-west slopes, Snowy Mountains and Riverina.
How said that the melting snow could add to the flood risk around the Snowy Mountains because so much water is “locked up in snow and the ice”.
“Once the snow starts to melt, it will add to the rainfall that’s coming, mainly about the upper Murray, and then all those tributaries in the southern tablelands which feed into the Murrumbidgee and the Murray River, so really that alpine area.”
A flood watch is current for areas including Braidwood, Goulburn, Bombala, Tumbarumba, Tumut, Khancoban and Thredbo top station.
NSW SES superintendent, Barry Griffiths, said volunteers in Wagga Wagga were preparing for riverine flooding of the Murrumbidgee River around Tumut and Gundagai.
“We have mobilised two high clearance vehicles, a fixed wing, and been engaged with the local government agencies in those affected areas since Monday,” he said on the Nine Network on Thursday.
Although Canberra isn’t under the warning, the capital has already seen 20mm of rain and How said the rain is expected to pick up this afternoon, with up to 90mm in the forecast.
Thursday has also seen extensive fog in south-east Queensland.
#bnefog 👻 @sunriseon7 @TheTodayShow @10NewsFirstQLD pic.twitter.com/wILeXEDglz
— Dave Andrews 🎥 🚁 📺 📻 (@chopperdaveqld) August 3, 2022
How said the fog was due to a ridge of high pressure extending across the south-east of the state, which is bringing calm conditions with light winds.
How said on Thursday morning the fog was reducing visibility down to 100m at Brisbane, Amberley and Archerfield airports.
How said the damaging wind warnings for parts of south-east Western Australia and the South Australian coast remain in place, including Adelaide.
He said damaging winds would increase on Thursday, with “quite a showery pattern right across the south of Australia”, but conditions are expected to ease later on Thursday and into Friday.
With Australian Associated Press
