‘Prepare now’: Stark weather warning

Residents of four states are being warned to get prepared as one of the strongest cold fronts of the year so far powers through.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued multiple severe weather warnings for New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania.

Across much of the south east the wild conditions could kick in on Wednesday morning with gusts as high as 130 km/h in places, generally the more damaging the higher you get.

Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide could all be affected.

While conditions should ease late on Wednesday, another blustery cold front is right behind it which could see a windy end to the week too.

That’s in addition to the unseasonably hot conditions across the country for early spring.

‘Prepare now’

“Down in the south east, these cold fronts are slipping across, bringing really windy conditions and also gusty showers and storms,” said BOM meteorologist Sarah Scully.

Victoria’s State Emergency Service (SES) said people needed to “be alert” until at least Thursday morning.

“Victorians need to act and prepare now for what might be the strongest weather system we’ve seen this winter crossing our state,” SES chief Tim Wiebusch said on Tuesday.

“Ensure that you’re driving to the conditions, be alert on our roads to the risk of fallen trees and debris that may be there over the next 36 hours”.

That advice can be extended to vast swathes of the other eastern states too.

A severe weather warning remains in place for south east South Australia, including Adelaide, for 60-70km/h winds and gusts of up to 90km/h. That should ease during Wednesday morning.

Adelaide will likely see a high of 17C on Wednesday rising to 23C on Thursday when the winds should ease.

Winds build in Victoria, NSW

A severe weather warning is in place for all of southern Victoria including Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat and Warrnambool.

The BOM has said that 60-70km/h winds – gusting up to 100km/h – are possible over all elevated areas and into Melbourne from Wednesday morning. In Alpine areas those winds could top 130 km/h.

Melbourne could see some rain and highs of 17C on Wednesday and Thursday.

Late on Wednesday the winds are forecast to lessen.

Northern and western Tasmania, including Launceston, are also expected to see damaging winds from around dawn on Wednesday.

Hobart shouldn’t be as badly affected by the wild weather. On Wednesday it’ll reach a top of 12C with morning showers and north-westerly winds.

A severe weather warning is in place for NSW from the state’s south east border with Victoria, across the Snowy Mountains and then in a band up to the Illawarra, Blue Mountains and western Sydney.

The Sydney suburbs and Blue Mountains could see winds averaging 60 to 70 km/h with peak gusts of around 100 km/h from early Wednesday morning, easing later in the day.

For Alpine areas, like Thredbo, gusts of 125 km/h are possible and 100 km/h in elevated parts of the south coast and Southern Tablelands.

Sydney will be warm, sunny and windy with a 28C high on Wednesday falling to 23C on Thursday before pushing up to nearly 30C on Friday. Lows will be in the mid-teens.

It is set to be windy in Canberra but the capital should just dodge the worst of the conditions experienced elsewhere.

A high of 18C and a low of just 8C on Wednesday with the rest of the week continuing with similar temperatures.

Queensland will be away from the weather battering the south but not the heat.

Brisbane will see a string of days north of 30C with a 31C maximum on Wednesday rising to 35C on Saturday. That will be warmer than tropical Cairns which is looking at 28-29C this week.

Darwin is looking at a toasty 34C on Wednesday and for much of the week with dry conditions and lows of 23C.

A possible late shower in Perth on Wednesday peaking at 21C. Soggier conditions on Thursday and then cloudy into the weekend with highs of around 19C.