Hello, Sarah from the Bureau with an update on the rain band
and the wet and windy weather that's expected to develop across many parts
of Australia over the coming days. Now, at the moment, there are a number of
Severe Weather Warnings current across multiple states,
but just focusing in on those over WA. We have the south coast
and the south-west coast, including the Perth area, with damaging
wind gusts possible this afternoon. So, that's wind gusts in excess of 90 km/h that are strong enough
to bring down trees and power lines. But we are in the easing trend and this
Severe Weather Warning is expected to be cancelled later today. But if we shift the focus over
to south-eastern parts of the country, here we have damaging wind gusts
that are expected to develop tomorrow. And there about the elevated parts
of Victoria, the exposed southern coasts and also eastern parts of Tasmania as well. But zooming in on the north-eastern part,
just this polygon here, there's an added
warning for heavy rainfall to develop late Thursday night, tomorrow night continuing into the early hours of Friday
morning with six hourly rainfall totals of 50 to 70 mm possible,
and these may lead to flash flooding. But if we zoom out and take a look
at what's going on with the satellite imagery, we can see
where all this severe weather is coming from. We've got this cloud band that's extending
across WA at the moment, tapping into tropical moisture in the Indian
Ocean, that's being pushed eastwards by a cold front
that moved across WA yesterday. Now, that rain band has embedded
thunderstorms within it, and it's expected to continue to move eastwards
with damaging wind gusts possible today with any of the storms that form on
that sort of southern part of the flank, there is also scattered showers
and possible storms behind that front, and even small hail in those showers. Now, as we move into Thursday,
that rain band is forecast to continue to track eastwards into eastern parts of South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, south-western parts of Queensland
and the Northern Territory as well. Embedded thunderstorms
continue to be possible, with widespread rainfall totals of between 5 to 15 mm
and isolated totals as much as 30 to 50 mm under
any thunderstorms that do form. But just having a look at this low
pressure system here, you might notice you've got these lines
that are really close together. That's a real tightening
of the pressure gradient and that's
what's driving the really strong winds. So, tomorrow it's going to be wet
and it's going to be windy across this south-eastern quadrant of the country. And as we move into Friday,
you can see that low pressure system starts to skirt down to the south-east
with those stronger winds contracting southwards, while the rain band will move
into eastern parts of New South Wales, move out of eastern parts of Victoria but large areas remaining throughout
Queensland. Now, behind that trough, however, it's
still going to remain quite dreary and cloudy, with drizzle and showers
continuing through this region here. By Saturday, however, that rain band contracting into north-east New South Wales
and south-east Queensland with a slight risk of severe thunderstorms
through the region, and later on Saturday evening, there is the potential
for a coastal trough to develop right offshore
and just enhancing that onshore flow, meaning it does look like
it may be a wet weekend for eastern parts of New South Wales, with rain areas
and potentially widespread showers. So, how much rainfall are we talking
with this extensive rain band? So, the heaviest rainfall totals are
in this pink area here about north-east Victoria, with the potential
to accumulate over 100 mm however, more broadly
speaking, we're looking at rainfall totals between 25 to 50 mm in through these yellow
and orange areas here, and more broadly
between 5 to 15 mm elsewhere. So, if you or anyone that you know lives
within these areas, it's really important that they stay up to date
with the latest Bureau forecasts and warnings via
the Bureau website, app and social media. And as always, listen to the advice
from your local emergency services. Bye for now.