Senior meteorologist details Arctic blast impacting Australia’s southeast

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Let's get more now on that weather system impacting the south-east. Miriam Bradbury is Senior Meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology and details the weather system impacting Australia’s southeast.

Transcript

00:00We certainly did see some damaging winds across southeast South Australia, including around

00:06the Adelaide metro area, as the front moved through earlier this morning.

00:09That system is now moving into Victoria and it will push across the eastern states through

00:14the rest of today into tomorrow.

00:15So we are expecting that very widespread risk of damaging winds still covering parts of

00:21South Australia, parts of Victoria, parts of eastern New South Wales and even some smaller

00:26parts of Tasmania.

00:27That's all covered with a warning, really just flagging that risk of those very strong

00:31winds over the next 24 hours or so.

00:33And it's going to be cold?

00:35It absolutely is.

00:36The cold air is going to move in behind the front.

00:38So from Friday night into Saturday, that's when it's going to be the chilliest.

00:42We're going to see the snow levels are really dropping down, down to six or 700 metres across

00:46Victoria, parts of New South Wales and even southeast South Australia, which means we could

00:51see snow flurries about the Mount Lofty ranges as well as about the central Victorian ranges.

00:57Tomorrow on Saturday are going to be very low and that wind chill will play a factor in

01:01making it feel even more wintery.

01:03And there's going to be snow, merriam in places that aren't used to it then?

01:07Yes, absolutely.

01:08As I mentioned, we could see some in southeast South Australia.

01:11It's unlikely to be more than a flurry, but will still be pretty exciting for those residents

01:15if we do get it.

01:17Central ranges of Victoria could see some about the Dandenong ranges.

01:20For New South Wales, we could see some snow about the central Tablelands, as well as a

01:24few flurries further north about the Barrington Tops in the northern Tablelands.

01:27So it's definitely an icy blast moving through and a good weekend if you are looking out for

01:33that snow.

01:33Is it going to be wet as well?

01:35We're certainly expecting showers, some isolated thunderstorms and small hail to move

01:39through with this frontal system.

01:41But rainfall totals are generally going to be on the moderate side of things, with those

01:45high falls more likely about the elevated parts of the southeast and about our exposed

01:50coasts.

01:50So the rainfall, well, it is going to be wet, but it's not expected to be a drenching of

01:56rain.

01:56It may still lead to some minor river rises through parts of northern Tasmania and northern

02:01Victoria, depending on exactly where those showers move.

02:04OK.

02:04And there was a tornado warning for Adelaide early in the day, wasn't there?

02:08Yeah, look, as the cold front itself moved through, we saw a very strong line of showers

02:13and thunderstorms along the edge of that front.

02:16Now, those thunderstorms did tend severe and they did produce that risk of locally destructive

02:21wind gusts and possible tornadoes.

02:23We did certainly have some wind damage across parts of the Adelaide metro area, but it was

02:28a fairly short-lived warning because tornadoes themselves are very short-lived.

02:32We're still looking into that more closely to see what we did see and how we can, you know,

02:38make that assessment in the future.

02:39So how long do you expect weather warnings to remain in place?

02:44For South Australia, the weather warnings for winds are likely to ease later today, but for

02:48Victoria and New South Wales and Tasmania, that's likely to persist into Saturday as

02:52well.

02:53But the cold front that's driving all of this windy weather and the cold weather too, we'll

02:57be moving off the east coast during Saturday with much more settled weather returning later

03:02on Saturday into the end of the weekend.

03:04So by the end of the weekend, we're not expecting to have those severe weather warnings for damaging

03:08winds current any longer, but we may still see some impacts remaining.

03:12For example, we could see some hazardous surf along the New South Wales coast persisting

03:16into early next week.

03:18What's causing this wild weather, Miriam?

03:21So it's a very, very strong cold front that's moving in from areas further south, pushing

03:27up across the Bight and now sweeping across the southeastern states.

03:30This cold front does have support from the upper atmosphere.

03:33Now, what that means is that any severe weather that develops is more likely to produce those

03:38severe impacts.

03:40It's also bringing up a really big mass of cold air and pulling it directly across the

03:46southeast, bringing it all the way across the southern ocean.

03:48So it's very, very cold air.

03:50And all of that is the perfect combination to see this severe weather across the southeast

03:54this weekend.

03:55OK, so what's the advice to people then?

03:57Stay home if you can.

03:58Definitely stay home if you can.

04:01Even though it is exciting, particularly with this snow risk as we go into the weekend,

04:05be aware that it is still a severe weather event.

04:07And it could produce some fairly dangerous conditions out on our roads in particular,

04:11with blizzards a risk in the southeast, various slippery conditions on the roads likely as well.

04:16So keep an eye on the radar, keep an eye on the forecasts and warnings and keep yourself safe.

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