Punishing winds to create ‘risk of tornadoes’ in Western Australia
Residents of south Western Australia have been warned that a low pressure system blocking cold air towards the coast is bringing “damaging locally destructive winds”.
Major towns and cities such as Perth, Margaret River, Bunbury and Mandurah are all on the front lines.
Towns stretching as far as Kalbarri in the northwest and near the Gulf of Israel in the southeast are in the warning zone, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
BOM meteorologist Sarah Scully said residents in the warning area could suffer “locally destructive winds, severe storms, areas of heavy rain, coastal hazards and even the risk of tornadoes” throughout the weekend.
“As we head into the weekend, we expect areas of showers and rain to begin to increase on Saturday and extend southwards, reaching the Perth area by midday,” Ms Scully said.
“However, severe storms are expected to develop in the afternoon and winds will really start to pick up.
“Local destructive winds are expected to cause damage to coastal and adjacent land areas.”
Ms Scully said the period of highest tornado risk would begin on Saturday night and end on Sunday morning.
“Any hurricane that forms will be very short-lived and very difficult to track,” he said.
The strongest winds are expected Sunday evening as the low pressure system rises over Albany and then moves toward The Bight by Monday.
“This low pressure system is also generating huge amounts of energy across the oceans with very powerful waves and swells,” Ms Scully said.
“Waves are expected to peak in the early hours of Monday morning with significant wave heights of eight metres.
“Where these very large waves coincide with high tides, this leads to an increased risk of coastal erosion as well as inundation of coastal areas.”
The WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services has urged residents of affected areas to actively avoid areas of potential danger, including trees, power lines, stormwater drains and streams.
On Saturday morning, BOM Senior Meteorologist Jonathan How said WA would experience a “bit of a rough weekend” but the rest of the country would experience fairly mild conditions.
“We’re finally seeing sunny skies return to the east coast, which is great news for people in Brissy, Newcastle and Sydney. We’ll see some sunshine return around noon today,” Mr How said.
“Another major weather event is cold air moving across South Australia today and across Victoria and Tassie tonight.
“This will bring a few more showers in the far south-east and the cool weather will allow some snow to settle in the Alpine areas later today.
“Northern Australia will have very clear skies and classic dry season conditions.”
