Polar blast: Cold front brings strong winds, freezing conditions
Parts of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania are shivering through some of the coldest weather to hit Australia in years.
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A “polar blast” bringing extreme gusts and plunging temperatures hit much of Australia’s east coast on Friday and will continue throughout the weekend.
After a ferocious day of wild weather pummelled southeast Australia, bringing destructive winds and plummeting temperatures, forecasters have warned we’re only on day three of a four-day winter storm which is likely to persist until Sunday.
Watch our full Weather Update on YouTube at https://t.co/cu4BDpVjJD re damaging winds, rainfall & snow forecast for SE Australia this weekend. Video current at 12 pm AEST, 9 August 2019. Check warnings on our website; follow advice from emergency services @ABCemergency pic.twitter.com/Plrz2KTlCA
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) August 9, 2019
Across most of New South Wales and Victoria, the extent of extreme winter weather could be the worst seen in at least three years.
“This could be the strongest cold outbreak so far this winter,” the Bureau of Meterology’s Michael Logan said.
“We’ll see temperatures really plummet and snow levels down to 500m in Victoria and NSW and blizzard conditions in Alpine areas. It certainly is a real cold snap, now is the time to prepare.”
The Bureau issued a number of severe weather warnings covering New South Wales, Victoria South Australia and Tasmania.
It’s likely to only reach 11 degrees in Melbourne on Saturday and Sunday.
The gusty winds are expected to remain in eastern parts of NSW throughout Saturday as temperature in Sydney will struggle to get to 17C and drop overnight to 8C.
Blizzards are likely for Alpine areas above 1500m.
Conditions began easing into Friday evening but the Bureau of Meteorology warned windy conditions will stick around throughout the weekend.
“We have seen the worst of the winds [on Friday],” meteorologist Stephen Stefanac told AAP.
“On Saturday there will be fresh and strong winds but not as windy as [Friday].”
Authorities have urged people to remain vigilant as conditions will remain poor on the roads, including fallen trees.
Friday saw the wild weather cause dramatic scenes across many parts of the country.
In Victoria a woman died and a child is fighting for life after wild weather brought a huge tree down on top of a family car in Fernshaw, in the Yarra Ranges northeast of Melbourne.
Melbourne was smashed by ferocious winds of up to 120km/h, with the Frankston Pier snapping off and washing away in large swells.
Damaging winds also torn the roof off a nursing home in NSW as wild weather lashed the state.
And in a historic first for the AFL, snow fell in Canberra during the Giants vs Hawks game.
In South Australia, the Bureau is also urging residents in the state’s southeast to exercise caution with Adelaide, Murray Bridge and Kingscote in line for gusts in excess of 110km/h overnight.
In Adelaide, Saturday will see a low of seven degrees and a maximum temperature of 13 degrees, with similar conditions on Sunday.
In Sydney and Melbourne there were airport delays on Friday night, with a number of cancellations and diversions that could have a knock-on effect for the weekend.
More than 180 domestic flights in and out of Sydney Airport had been cancelled by 6pm on Friday, with the airport down to a single runway.
The airport is urging travellers to contact their airline for specific information and arrive with plenty of time to spare.
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