Victoria freezes as Queensland faces dangerous weather conditions

Victoria’s shivers through cold front as Queensland faces “incredibly heavy rain” and Tasmania gets blasted by its biggest rain event since 2018.

Victorians have shivered through a cold front this week with Falls Creek awakening to its first snow of the year earlier in the week and more than a month ahead of schedule.

While overnight temperatures dropped to as low as 4C in Melbourne on Friday, other states across the country are facing far more dangerous weather conditions.

It begins! First #snowfalls of the year at #FallsCreek 👋❄️ pic.twitter.com/u1GhyYwb8u

— Falls Creek Official (@fallsaustralia) May 5, 2022

“Incredibly heavy rain” is on its way to Queensland only months after the sunshine state weathered through record-breaking floods earlier in the year.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued major flood warnings for the state’s north, which comes as a motorist was pulled from his car in the Sunshine Coast on Friday night.

Emergency services spent several hours rescuing the man whose vehicle became stuck in floodwaters near Cookes Rd Bridge. He did not require any medical attention.

10 months of rain is set to fall in just a matter of days with central Queensland likely to receive 100-200mm of rain and areas south of Townsville 200-250mm.

Premier Palaszczuk has urged Queenslanders to prepare in advance for storms. Picture: Chris Dawson

Over the next week the state could see almost 10 times its average rainfall for the month.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has urged Queenslanders to prepare in advance for storms and flooding after more than 20 lives were lost across Queensland and Northern New South Wales in the floods earlier this year.

“It is very unusual to see this type of situation occurring in Far North Queensland especially this time of year, which is usually near the end of the season,” she said.

“We are expecting higher rainfall totals than we’ve seen before in May.”

BOM Meteorologist David Grant said that there would be an increased risk of flash flooding over the next week.

“This rainfall at this time of year over such a wide area, in conjunction with recent rainfall and saturated catchments, means that any of the small catchments will be very responsive with a heightened flash flood risk,” he said.

“Where we’ve got current or recent flooding, that will be more prone to renewed rises.”

This comes as Tasmania was blasted by its biggest rain event since 2018 caused by a low pressure system moving across the South.

Flood warnings were issued as schools were forced to close in the south after the region was lashed with strong winds and heavy rainfall early Friday morning, with thousands of homes losing power.

Tasmanian emergency services reportedly received over 250 calls for assistance yesterday, most of which were for homes impacted by overflowing stormwater drains.

SES Acting Director Leon Smith revealed this morning that the state had “actually dodged a bit of a bullet.”

“A lot of people actually slept through the night only to wake this morning and find their homes inundated,” he said.

Rainfall is expected to ease across the state today.