Severe storms to continue as ‘warm blob’ fuels heavy rain in NSW and Victoria
Commuters fleeing from heavy rain have faced multiple delays after one city’s train services were smashed by severe storms.
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Video of a fierce storm that swept through Sydney, causing chaos for commuters and threatening cancellation of a high profile music act, has been shared online.
Live Nation Australia issued an urgent warning to music fans to delay their arrival for the performance of Post Malone at the Domain on Wednesday.
Gates were opened by about 8pm despite persistent showers, as roads and train services slowly returned to normal after key infrastructure was taken offline.
The Bondi/Randwick exit on the Eastern Distributor reopened following flooding about 7pm, with one lane of the King Goerges Rd at Wiley Park still shut.
âš ï¸ Post Malone Show To Resume The storm has passed though we are experiencing showers, we expect this to ease in the next hour. Post Malone show will now resume at the Domain. Gates are open. Be patient with our staff as we work to admit you to the venue as quickly as possible.
— Live Nation Australia (@LiveNationAU) November 29, 2023
A power supply issue at Hurstville station, in Sydney’s south, threw the T4 into disarray on Wednesday afternoon as workers flocked from the city.
The T1 line, which connects Sydney’s CBD to the city’s west, was also impacted after severe weather damaged equipment at busy Blacktown station.
Doonside train station, also in the city’s west, was also impacted after a power outage shutdown lighting, lifts, and OPAL ticketing machines.
Commuters on both lines were advised to expect delays. Trains were also not running between Harris Park and Canley Vale due to a police operation at Yennora.
Residents also reported a surge in prices when attempting to use ride service Uber, with some reporting their regular fares had doubled on Wednesday afternoon.
Southeastern Queensland is also bracing for a barrage of storms on Wednesday afternoon.
The Bureau of Meteorology detected severe thunderstorms just before 4.30pm on Wednesday on weather radar near Hornsby, Parramatta and Olympic Park.
The storms tracked southeast over the afternoon, with heavy rains possibly leading to flash flooding in areas such as Bondi, Sydney City and Wollongong.
The state’s Central and Hunter Coasts are also expected to be battered by severe weather, with Newcastle, Maitland, and Toukely in the firing line.
The warning comes after storms destroyed bridges and closed roads across the Eurobodalla region on the state’s south coast early on Wednesday.
NSW SES reported 496 incidents from midday Monday to Wednesday afternoon, including two flood rescues at Nowra and St Georges Basin on Wednesday.
BOM previously warned that “slow-moving thunderstorm clusters” will continue to develop throughout the day, maintaining the unstable conditions seen in the past few days with the added possibility of destructive winds and waterspouts on the coast.
The influx of rain may lead to “dangerous and life-threatening” flash flooding in areas such as Narooma, Goulburn, Yass, Wagga Wagga, Young, West Wyalong and Deniliquin.
BOM senior meteorologist Angus Hines said that over 100mm of rain could fall over large areas of the state on Wednesday.
“The flooding risk can persist even after the rain has stopped falling so that may well last several more days,” he warned.
The wettest place in the state is Shoalhaven town of Sassafras where 231mm of rain has fallen since 9am.
The storm front will move from the south to the eastern half of the state, including Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, from Wednesday afternoon.
“High-end supercell thunderstorms are a possibility this afternoon and evening through the east, particularly over the northeast, with a risk of localised destructive winds and giant hail,” the Bureau warned.
There is a broad thunderstorm risk across Queensland according to Mr Hines, with the state’s southeast under particular threat.
Severe weather warnings are in place for Queensland’s Darling Downs, Lockyer Valley, and Sceninc Rim.
“Through these areas we could see some severe thunderstorms bringing strong to damaging wind, heavy rainfall and large hail,” Mr Hines said.
“Their threat is most pronounced for today — there is still a thunderstorm risk into the next couple of days for Queensland, that does dial back quite a lot on Thursday where storms are expected to be much more isolated in around the state.
“But there’s another chance for some storms and possible severe thunderstorms through a lot of Queensland including the southeast again on Friday before a much more subdued weekend.”
The BOM warned heavy rainfall, damaging winds and large hail were also possible around Brisbane and on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts.
“There is also potential for isolated very dangerous isolated thunderstorms with locally giant hail and destructive winds during this afternoon and early evening,” the warning reads.
Both Victoria and Queensland are under the threat of supercell storms, which are long lived weather events according to Mr Hines.
The torrential rain plaguing Australia’s southeast is here to stay for at least a few more days as a “warm blob” in the sea fuels more storms for NSW and Victoria.
The past month has seen rain records broken across multiple states with widespread rain and thunderstorms driving residents inside for the majority of November and there won’t be a change until we move into the summer months.
Another meteorological event is about to kick off more rain, as a complex low pressure system mixes with a pool of abnormally warm water in the Tasman Sea.
The “warm blob” of water that’s six degrees higher than usual has moved down the NSW coast over the past month according to WeatherZone meteorologist Ben Domensino.
A new low pressure centre is developing off the NSW south coast on Wednesday morning, “causing a dream of moisture-laden winds to flow over southeast NSW and eastern Victoria”.
“This onshore flow will be drawing moisture from the ‘warm blob’ to the east of Bass Strait, which is likely to enhance rainfall,” Mr Domensino said.
The rain is expected to persist into the weekend and there will be a lot of it, with accumulated totals likely to exceed 200mm by the end of Thursday.
There are severe weather warnings in place for residents on the South Coast, the Illawarra, Snowy Mountains, Central Tablelands, and the entire ACT, with 154mm of rain falling in just six hours in South Coast town of Vincentia.
“Severe thunderstorms continuing inland, with heavy rainfall building in the southeast, locally intense around Jervis Bay area,” the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) warned.
The storms are likely to create rainfall so intense it could lead to “dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding and damaging winds”.
Over 250mm of rain is likely to fall across the South Coast and Illawarra on Wednesday, with the possibility of 160mm falling in just six hours in isolated areas.
There are also predictions of damaging wind gusts up to 90km/h on the South Coast.
There’s a chance the intense storms could inflict pain in our capital cities, with the Bureau predicting up to 60mm will fall in Canberra while 30mm of rain is likely in Sydney.
Mr Hines said that the “main threat” to Sydney was the possibility of severe thunderstorms through the metropolitan area on Wednesday and Thursday morning.
“Some of these storms could be severe bringing heavy rain and damaging wind gusts,” he said.
“It’s unlikely we’ll see storms are large enough to cover the entirety of the Sydney Metro area, meaning that rainfall totals across Sydney are likely to be very inconsistent as the storms move through but some of the Higher totals are likely to be in the 20 to 30mm range.”
Melbourne will be slightly less wet with a maximum of 20mm of rain predicted, but other areas of Victoria won’t be so lucky according to the BOM.
A low pressure system sitting over western NSW is moving slowly south, predicted to bring storm’s to the Victoria through the day on Wednesday.
The rural town of Ultima near Swan Hill in the state’s north received a whopping 90.2mm of rain in 24 hours.
“Heavy rainfall is likely through parts of the south including Gippsland and the Otways, with the risk of both flash flooding and riverine flooding,” the BOM predicts.
“Thunderstorm activity will continue in the north, with possible heavy rainfall.”
Southern parts of the state will experience strong winds which are expected to increase the risk of trees falling and powerline damage.
Six-hour totals of up to 70mm of rain are expected in the area and isolated showers in the Otways could reach up to 100mm.
Strong winds are expected to average 50-60km/h with damaging gusts of 90km/h expected for the Otways, Surf Coast and Wilsons Prom.
There’s light at the end of the tunnel for Southern Queenslanders with possible storms on Wednesday making way for a sunny Thursday.
Up to 6mm of rain is expected to fall in Brisbane on Wednesday with the chance of a severe thunderstorm, before things heat up to 35C degrees on Thursday without a cloud in sight.
The rain will return on Friday and stay over the weekend, but temperatures will still peak at mid thirties across the three days.
Adelaide will be out of the firing line for Wednesday’s wet weather after being inundated with water the day before — with the Bureau predicting clouds but no showers for the rest of the week.
It was the city’s wettest November day in 18 years on Tuesday, with 33.6mm falling to 9am, bringing flash flooding with it.
Streets turned to rivers in some parts of Adelaide and residents were spotted having to walk through calf deep water to get around.
One resident was spotted kayaking down the road.
Originally published as Severe storms to continue as ‘warm blob’ fuels heavy rain in NSW and Victoria
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