Heavy rainfall, severe thunderstorms increasing

Australian Community Media

Eastern states bracing for enormous rainfall totals during the first week of January, 2024.

Transcript

00:00 Another day of severe weather for the eastern states of Australia with heavy

00:03 rainfall continuing through southeast Queensland and severe thunderstorms

00:07 increasing further to the southeast. Our satellite imagery shows the unstable

00:12 nature of the atmosphere with showers and storms already developing across

00:17 Victoria and parts of New South Wales. Thicker cloud around southeast Queensland

00:21 in areas which overnight have seen another two to three hundred millimeters

00:25 of rainfall. Those parts of Queensland are still seeing showers at the moment.

00:30 They've contracted out of northeast New South Wales and are starting to become

00:34 patchier but we're still seeing bands of heavier falls moving through along the

00:38 coast. Our severe weather warning currently covers areas just to the north

00:43 of Brisbane extending up towards Gurry. In the warning area we still may see

00:48 that risk of heavy rainfall today that could lead to flash flooding as well as

00:52 locally intense rainfall, those really high rainfall rates. If you are living in

00:57 or moving through the warning area and you're in a period of easing showers

01:01 just be aware that the situation may still intensify very quickly with that

01:06 risk of flash flooding returning. As well as the severe weather warning we do have

01:10 a number of flood watches and warnings current. Moderate flood warnings for the

01:15 Albert and Logan rivers in southeast Queensland, minor flood warnings for the

01:19 Tweed and Richmond rivers of northeast New South Wales. Flood watches and a

01:23 couple of other warnings cover larger parts of southeast Queensland. It's also

01:27 worth remembering that over the next couple of days even as the rainfall

01:30 eases back we may see further changes to these flood watch and warning products

01:35 as those high amounts of rainfall continue to move through our water

01:39 systems. For the rest of today the heavy rain risk continues about that southeast

01:45 Queensland coast starting to become patchier through the later part of today

01:49 and easing back away from the Brisbane area. The risk of heavy falls may persist

01:54 in some parts through into early tomorrow morning however so we should be

01:58 aware of that risk as we head into the evening and overnight period. Further

02:03 afield moisture is moving south with the risk of severe storms increasing

02:07 through parts of New South Wales and much of Victoria. Severe thunderstorms

02:12 have already been seen through Victoria today bringing heavy rainfall damaging

02:16 winds and large hail. In general the storms today won't bring us high

02:20 rainfall totals through these southeastern parts as we've seen through

02:24 southeast Queensland but the risk of flash flooding is there particularly

02:29 with those most severe thunderstorms. Our thunderstorm forecast for today shows

02:33 just how unstable the areas over eastern Australia with thunderstorms possible

02:38 pretty much everywhere except for Tasmania. Our severe thunderstorms are

02:42 more likely about the New South Wales Queensland border and through inland and

02:47 southern New South Wales and much of Victoria. In fact the severe thunderstorm

02:51 risk actually extends through the eastern and northern suburbs of Melbourne

02:55 most likely through this afternoon and evening with those winds, rain and hail

03:00 being a risk. Severe thunderstorms are likely to the north of the ranges

03:04 spilling into the Riverina district of New South Wales. As we go into tomorrow

03:10 the risk of severe storms will continue but it will start to contract into

03:14 eastern Victoria and southeast New South Wales. As we go towards Thursday the

03:19 heavier rainfall is going to move up the New South Wales coast with the risk of

03:23 storms continuing. However inland areas will see much patchier falls than

03:28 they're expecting today. With a number of warnings current and further warnings

03:33 expected over the coming hours and days it's essential to keep up to date with

03:38 the latest via the Bureau's website and weather app. Keep up to date with advice

03:42 from your local emergency services, keep yourself safe and we'll catch you in the

03:46 next update.

03:48 [Music]

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