Weather News

Vigorous cold front blasts the southeast

Drew Casper-Richardson, Sunday April 9, 2017 - 12:02 AEST

A strong cold front is making its presence felt as it continues its march across the southeast.

South Australia was first up with winds gusts approaching 100km/h in coastal areas. Neptune Island recorded a gust of 98km/h and the airport at Robe had a gust of 91km/h. The highest rainfall totals were recorded in the state's far southeast. Mt Gambier picked up 13mm to 9am on Sunday. The suburbs of Adelaide generally saw around 5mm of rain. Showers, some thundery, will continue through Sunday in southeast SA with showers more isolated further west.

Showers and thunderstorms fired up over Victoria late on Saturday with a trough ahead of the main cold front which reached Melbourne during the small hours of Sunday morning. Wind gusts have already topped 100km/h with Mt Hotham having a gust of 113km/h and Mt Buller 106km/h. Melbourne suburbs picked up between 5-15mm of rain to 9am Sunday with heavier falls of 36mm recorded at Mt Donna Buang and 26mm at Rowville. Heavy rain and damaging wind gusts are expected throughout Sunday, prompting the release of a Severe Weather Warning.

Tasmania has escaped the worst of the wind so far, but winds are expected to increase during Sunday, especially in the west. The Apple Isle didn't dodge the rain though. Heaviest falls were recorded about the Central Plateau where Fisher River recorded 38mm and Lake Mackenzie picked up 34mm. More rain and storms are forecast on Sunday with the highest totals likely in a similar area where totals of around 40mm are possible.

Along with the wind and rain, the cold front has also brought an abrupt change in temperature. Adelaide reached 29 degrees on Saturday and is forecast to hit just 18 on Sunday. Melbourne climbed to 28 on Saturday and may struggled to get beyond the mid-teens on Sunday. Just before 9am a shower over Melbourne dropped the temperature nearly 3 degrees in just 10 minutes and down to 11.5 degrees shortly after. With a cooling airmass and showers set to continue the mercury might struggle in the mid-teens for the day.

On Sunday the cold front started moving through southern parts of NSW bringing stronger winds, showers and storms. Thredbo recorded a gust of 91km/h with winds likely to exceed 100km/h today. The change will reach Sydney during the early evening with storms likely late afternoon or early evening.

- Weatherzone

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