Wet and windy front to sweep across Australia

The final week of May looks likely to bring back the colder, wetter weather.

Transcript

00:00Hi, it's Christy at the Bureau here to update you on the wet and windy weather that's expected across Australia over the next week.

00:07Looking at our synoptic weather pattern, we can see this big high-pressure system continuing to bring settled conditions to eastern Australia,

00:13but it's this cold front that's crossing

00:16southwestern WA that's going to bring us all the weather this week. As we move through the rest of today,

00:21we can see those showers across the southwest land division

00:24extending up to the Gascoyne Coast and also through inland parts later in the day.

00:28There may be some thunderstorms with these showers and also potentially some damaging wind gusts, maybe even some local large hail.

00:35So if you're in WA, make sure you stay up to date with your warnings today.

00:39But it's really as we move into tomorrow that that system gets some punch by tapping into tropical moisture

00:44from the Indian Ocean and dragging that moisture down over the system. So we can see rainfall across

00:51inland parts of Western Australia and even by the end of the day extending into western parts of South Australia.

00:57We also have showers continuing along the western and southern coasts.

01:01Now, it could also be some thunder and maybe even some small hail in those as well.

01:06As we move into Thursday, that system continues its way across the country with a cloud band extending from the Kimberley right across

01:12the Northern Territory into South Australia and by the end of the day, western parts of New South Wales,

01:18Victoria and Tasmania. We can see a very windy system with these strong winds wrapping around the low-pressure system.

01:25So there is the potential for damaging wind gusts, particularly over Tasmania, particularly western and southern parts and also

01:32potentially along the Alps of Victoria and southern New South Wales.

01:37On Friday, though, that system does tend to contract eastwards with the rainfall mostly contracting to northeastern New South Wales,

01:45although that cloud band does still extend back across Queensland and into the Northern Territory.

01:50We do have some follow-up showers along southern Victoria, western Tasmania and also southern parts of South Australia.

01:57Finally, there is this cold front approaching the west. Now, that will bring some more shower activity to western parts of WA over the weekend.

02:06So just how much rainfall are we expecting? This map shows the rainfall between now and 5 p.m.

02:11Saturday and we can see it extending across most of the country.

02:15These yellow and light blue areas showing areas that are expected to get between about 2 and 10 millimetres,

02:21whereas the darker blues showing areas that could see between 10 and 40, maybe 50 millimetres.

02:27In particular, some of the areas that could see the heavier falls include the northeast of Victoria,

02:32elevated parts of New South Wales, also northeastern New South Wales and some parts of central Australia

02:39under that cloud band, maybe also some heavier falls along the coast of WA.

02:45So looking at our temperatures for today, we are expecting most places to see temperatures above average,

02:50but as that front moves its way eastwards, the cold air pushes in behind it, just 16 degrees for Perth tomorrow.

02:57By Thursday, that cool air is pushing into central Australia and by Friday across much of the continent.

03:04On Saturday, just expecting a top temperature of 13 degrees for Melbourne and Hobart and

03:09possibly even some snow along the Alps of Victoria and New South Wales and also over Tasmania, above about 1,200 metres.

03:18So this is a developing weather system and warnings may be issued,

03:22so it's really important to stay up to date on the Bureau's website or our app,

03:25and we'll also keep you up to date on social media.