A polar blast is making its way across Australia’s east coast, bringing with it rain, snow and a drop in temperatures.
A cold front that moved through Victoria and Tasmania earlier in the week is now moving across New South Wales, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting rain and potentially severe thunderstorms, including hail, for areas in the north-east of the state.
Sydney had a sunny start to Tuesday with a high of 22C recorded at Observatory Hill at midday. But temperatures plummeted quickly in the afternoon, dropping to around 11C by 2.30pm.
Frosty weather is forecast for Wednesday morning, with temperatures set to drop to minimums of 7C in Sydney and 5C on the Central Coast.
Strong cold front to bring strong and gusty winds, rain and possible isolated thunderstorms to #Vic and southern #NSW today. Moderate falls will keep river levels elevated.⚠️Severe Weather Warnings current for damaging winds for parts of #Tas, Vic and NSW. https://t.co/Xg52WF15kk pic.twitter.com/jFXMnIIbup
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) August 22, 2022
The drop in temperature will also bring snow, with the BoM forecasting some flurries of snow over the central and northern tablelands over Tuesday and Wednesday.
The rain band following the cold front is expected to hit regions already facing flood threats, with minor to moderate warnings covering the Macquarie, Bogan, Lachlan, Murray, Tumt and Murrumbidgee rivers.
Christie Johnson, a senior meteorologist at the BoM, said because much of those regions were already saturated, the small showers coming behind the front meant “some of these flood warnings will continue for a number of days”.
“Most of the rainfall has been in that 10 to 30 millimetre range. So not hugely heavy, but enough to just keep the flood warnings going. There’s extensive flood warnings in inland NSW, eastern Victoria and north-eastern Tasmania.”
It comes as strike action continues to affect public transport in Sydney, with authorities warning commuters will experience disruptions on Tuesday and Thursday.
The cold weather is forecast to last until Thursday, with a sunny weekend expected to follow, easing days of below-average temperatures.
The cold front has already brought low temperatures and snow flurries to the south-east of Australia, with Johnson saying snow levels are still rising.
“Snow level is rising over Victoria and Tasmania now – it will be up to 900 metres by tonight. In that cold air, there’s probably going to be small hail and some showers.”
Cold front moved across #Victoria yesterday, with strong winds and rain. Snow level dropped to ~500m before dawn, but is on the rise already, expected to reach ~900m by this evening.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) August 23, 2022
Isolated showers, small hail, and storms possible today. 🌧️#VicWeatherhttps://t.co/0KUXahrGpO pic.twitter.com/mHAV98JOgm
A moderate flood warning has been issued for the King River in Victoria, with the waters forecast to peak later on Tuesday evening, while a minor flood warning was issued for the Ovens River downstream of Rocky Point.
⚠️ Moderate #Flood Warning issued for #King River. A peak around #Moderate flood level likely at #DockerRdBridge early Tuesday evening. See https://t.co/zQk6fgvnx0 for details and updates; follow advice from @vicemergency #VicFloods @vicsesnews pic.twitter.com/nlSzea5YSH
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) August 23, 2022
A severe weather warning for damaging wind gusts was cancelled earlier on Tuesday, but the BoM still recorded gusts of up to 115km/h in Victoria.
Temperatures in Melbourne will remain below average for the rest of the week, with tops of only 13C and 14C on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
Hobart will similarly see the cold continue, with tops of 13C on Wednesday, and 15C on Thursday and Friday.
Johnson said those conditions should ease by the weekend: “Temperatures will remain below average for this time of year over the next day or two. By Thursday and Friday, we’ll be close to average, and on the weekend we’ll be seeing above-average temperatures.
“Sunday is looking like the warmest day through much of the south-east.”
