A powerful blast of winter weather is bearing down on Australia this week, with heavy rain, strong winds and chilly temperatures forecast to hit several states in the coming days.
Parts of New South Wales and southeast Queensland — which are set to cop the brunt this week — are bracing for up to 70mm of rain, large surf and persistent cold southerlies, while Sydney faces a string of dreary, wet days and a potentially intense low-pressure system on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Perth and southwest Western Australia are also in for a soggy stretch, with rain expected and cool temperatures to return by the weekend.
New South Wales
The system kicks off today, with a cold front sweeping through inland NSW and pushing showers towards the coast by early Wednesday morning. “We’ve got a weak cold front coming through today through parts of NSW, and we’ll see showers inland,” Senior Meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology Jonathan How told Yahoo News Australia.
“The showers will reach the coast of Sydney early tomorrow morning [Wednesday], and then the cold front moves off. But then we’re stuck with a very persistent southerly wind flow across NSW, all the way to the weekend.”
That persistent flow will drive widespread showers along the coast from the Illawarra to the Hunter region.
In Sydney, it’ll barely hit 15 degrees on Wednesday, with much of the rain focused on coastal suburbs.
“Up to 70 millimetres of rain could fall in the eastern suburbs,” How said. “For most of eastern NSW on Thursday and Friday, we’ll have pretty persistent showers, cold southerly winds, and large waves. For Sydney, it’s probably mostly just the eastern suburbs.”
Large parts of Australia’s southeast are in for a drenching this week. Source: Getty.
Some areas in the Hunter, Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers could see daily rainfall totals reaching between 50 and 100mm through the weekend. Winds along parts of the northern coastal fringe may also become damaging, with gusts surpassing 90km/h.
Snow is also expected to fall across the central and northern ranges at elevations above 1,000 to 1,300 metres, which could impact transport on certain roads due to ice, even outside the usual alpine zones.
How said the soggy streak will culminate on Saturday as a low-pressure system begins to form offshore.
“There’s another low that’s developing on Saturday,” How said. “So we’ll see a low-pressure system off the coast of NSW — and that’ll push more widespread rain, strong gusty winds and large waves. Pretty cool temperatures across much of eastern NSW.”
While the weekend system isn’t expected to be extreme, there is potential for flash flooding in coastal pockets. “There is the potential for some pretty heavy falls on the weekend of more than 50 millimetres,” How said. “We’re probably looking at the Illawarra, Sydney, the Hunter — that pocket.”
Queensland
Further north, Queensland will also feel the chill, though without quite as much rainfall.
“On Friday, Saturday, that frontal system moves up the coast to bring a rain band into Queensland down to the Bay, which brings pretty unstable rainfall across southeastern Queensland. Nothing particularly heavy,” said How. “Brisbane is in for a pretty cold day — 16 degrees on Saturday — and then colder out west, down to 11 degrees and a pretty cold wind as well.”
Parts of New South Wales and southeast Queensland are bracing for up to 70mm of rain. Source: Getty
Western Australia
The wet weather won’t be confined to the east. “There’s been pretty heavy rain in Perth and the southwest over the last few days,” How said. “Some suburbs have already experienced persistent showers, and will again on Saturday.”
How said cooler air will trail behind the rain, keeping conditions unsettled heading into the weekend.
Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the NT
Elsewhere around the country — particularly in South Australia, Victoria, and the NT — weather conditions are relatively settled this week. Tasmania may see some light showers, but no significant systems are expected.
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