Victoria’s east and Tasmania will bear the brunt of a massive low pressure system moving across south-eastern Australia on Thursday.
Damaging winds with gusts reaching 100km/h are likely in Victoria’s eastern alpine areas while the system has already hit Tasmania, bringing rain and gusty winds.
Up to 90 millimetres of rain is expected in the island state’s north and higher falls are possible in elevated areas.
By early Thursday, Flinders Island had already had 16 millimetres of rain and 25 millimetres had fallen on King Island.
Tweet from @BOM_au
Emergency crews were on alert in the state’s north, with soil already damp from recent rain.
“These winds will likely cause trees and tree limbs to fall,” SES regional manager Mhairi Revie said.
Ms Revie implored motorists to drive safely at a time when roads are extra busy due to school holidays.
BOM forecaster Matthew Thomas said the severe weather could also affect southern parts of Tasmania, such as Bruny Island.
“We do have a severe weather warning for damaging easterly winds which does take in the east coast … particularly the exposed parts like the Tasman Peninsula and Bruny Island and also the west of the state and the central plateau,” he said.
Potentially damaging winds are also tipped in elevated areas of southern NSW on Thursday morning.
Tweet from @VICSESChief
The blast of wild weather comes after the giant low-pressure system stretching from Darwin to southern Australia brought heavy rain to parts of Victoria and southern NSW on Wednesday and overnight.
Warrnambool, in Victoria’s south-west, was hardest hit. It had 56 millimetres of rain in the 24 hours to 9am Thursday. Nearby, Port Fairy got 47 millimetres and Casterton 34 millimetres.
Port Fairy SES controller Steve McDowall said crews had been desperately trying to save houses in Koroit and Allansford, where there was most concern.
“[We’re] seeing houses being impacted by floodwater this morning,” he told the ABC.
“I know crews across Warrnambool and Port Fairy are working very hard at the moment in trying to save several properties from going under water.”
Mr McDowall said the SES was also sandbagging homes.
Senior forecaster Kevin Parkyn said the system heralded the onset of the La Nina weather pattern, which will deliver a wetter summer.
“The atmospheric conditions are just ripe for that system to intensify tonight right over Victoria,” he said.
“We call that process cyclone genesis. This system is linked to tropical moisture, we haven’t seen that for quite some time.”
-with AAP
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