States brace for ‘wintry outbreak’ with severe storms and snow
Many states will face a strong approaching cold front that will bring “opposite conditions” with severe storms, high winds and wintry temperatures throughout the weekend.
Conditions will reverse on Thursday as a cold front and troughs advance across southeastern parts of Australia.
Large troughs are expected to cause severe storms across parts of southern Australia, Victoria and southern NSW.
“It looks like a contrast in conditions between what we’re looking at at the front and back of this trough,” said Ilana Cherny of the Bureau of Meteorology.
“For Sydney we’ll see 34 degrees on Friday, then dropping to 26 degrees on Saturday and 22 degrees on Sunday… conditions are quite contrasting over the weekend,” he said.
Weatherzone said storms with strong winds “could produce damaging winds with the possibility of damaging winds in some areas”, with winds in excess of 80km/h likely to strengthen to 90km/h to 100km/h in the Vic mountains, alpine regions and parts of Tasmania.
“Later on Thursday we could see damaging winds over higher areas of the southeast NSW foothills and we will likely see a severe weather warning for this risk later today,” Senior Meteorologist Ilana Cherny said.
A cold front will pass through late Thursday before a secondary trough and low pressure system sends much colder air to the southeast on Friday, bringing distinctly wintry conditions into the weekend.
A week of gray skies and rain is expected in Melbourne; temperatures are expected to drop from a high of 27C on Thursday to just 17C on Saturday and Sunday.
Overnight lows will hover around or slightly below 10C throughout next weekend.
Canberra will experience the coldest conditions, with temperatures expected to drop to 2°C on Sunday and Monday mornings.
The lowest temperature in Adelaide over the weekend is expected to be 9°C, while night temperatures in Hobart will be around 7°C.
The cold outbreak is unusually intense for April, with snow levels likely to fall to around 600 meters in parts of Tasmania.
Victoria’s higher elevations may also see some snow, although only above 1000 metres.
Cold weather thunderstorms with small hail are also expected, marking what Weatherzone describes as a “notable early-season winter outbreak” for southeastern Australia.
“Later on Friday and Saturday we will likely see a dusting of snow over the higher reaches of Tasmania and Victoria and with that there appears to be a contrast between the conditions we’re looking at ahead and behind the front in that trough,” Senior Meteorologist Ilana Cherny said.
Residents in affected areas need to prepare for strong winds and ensure outdoor gear is secured ahead of Thursday’s storm activity.
