As severe winds and significant rainfall sweep the nation, Australians are being advised to prepare for “exceptionally dangerous” weather.
With gale force winds, thunderstorms, heavy rain, and wild surf, two strong cold fronts pounded Western Australia on Monday and are expected to do so until late Wednesday.
The sluggish moving systems from the Indian Ocean will continue throughout the week and may affect all six states.
According to Johnathan How of the Bureau of Meteorology, “Southern Australia will experience a protracted period of wet and windy conditions this week as a succession of powerful cold fronts sweep over the country.”
Over the Southern Ocean, there is a sizable mass of cold and unstable air.
And it is this complete complex that will move north, bringing the windy and rainy conditions to the remainder of southern Australia.
Tuesday saw wind gusts in Western Australia reaching more than 90 km/h, with Bunbury recording 91 km/h, Mandurah recording 109 km/h, and Cape Leeuwin recording 135 km/h.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Perth is expected to have widespread rainfall of up to 15 mm each day.
In southern Western Australia, there will likely be further rain, with Albany receiving about 60 mm between Tuesday and Thursday.
According to Mr. How, there is a warning in effect for Western Australia’s southern coastline due to the risk of coastal erosion brought on by severe surf with waves above seven metres.
A front will move earlier in the week, followed by another front that will bring more rain and slippery conditions a few days later.
On Tuesday, South Australia will see strong winds with gusts of up to 90 km/h.
the end of the day and early on Wednesday, Victoria and Tasmania will also experience these winds.
Warrnambool, Ballarat, and Falls Creek residents have been advised to prepare for high gusts between 65 and 100 km/h starting late Tuesday.
The impact on WA, SA, and Victoria will be severe, according to Sky News Weather Meteorologist Rob Sharpe, but NSW appears to be in for the worst of it.
According to Mr. Sharpe, Thursday in New South Wales “looks particularly rainy” and is the target zone for this week’s wettest weather.
Tom Saunders, a fellow Sky News Weather meteorologist, stated that forecasters were also concerned about the swell.
According to Mr. Saunders, “because to the persistence of those offshore gales, we’re looking at monster season swells.”
Coastal erosion warnings are in effect, initially for the west coast but later moving to the southern sections of Western Australia by the middle of the week.
There could be combined wave heights of well over 10 metres.
“Extremely dangerous conditions” are defined as “the absolute maximum waves from the system will probably exceed 15 metres.”
Canberra is expected to have showers starting on Wednesday, with a possible downpour of 50 to 70 mm on Thursday as the system finally makes it to the nation’s capital.
However, Sydney will avoid the severe weather on Thursday with a few showers, generally bright skies, and a high temperature of 22C.
On Tuesday, Brisbane was covered in a dense fog that could be seen from space.
This fog caused congestion on the roadways and delayed flights into and out of the city.
Residents were advised to leave more space between cars and to turn on their headlights as the visibility for drivers was as low as 100 metres due to the dense fog.
Due to Monday’s small showers and the clear skies and cool temperatures that followed, there was moisture in the air, which led to the fog.