‘Wild weather’ set to lash eastern coast of Australia

A NSW town has copped 41mm of rain in half an hour and the dangerous storms are set to continue across Australia’s east coast.

A NSW town has copped 41mm of rain in half an hour as “wild weather” is predicted to hit across eastern Australia.

Maroota, about 50km northwest of Sydney, was drenched in heavy falls on Sunday afternoon amid concerns the downpour could lead to flash flooding.

Much of the NSW coast had been sweltering through a heatwave towards the end of last week, with temperatures reaching the mid-30s.

Dangerous storms are expected across a wide swath of the east coast over the coming days, prompting warnings from emergency services.

Sky meteorologist Rob Sharpe said the “wild weather” was predicted to bring storms, heavy rainfall and damaging winds.

“At the moment eastern Australia is still the focus of the wild weather … it’s been hot and humid but storms will ramp up today,” he said.

“Initially, patchy rain will turn into severe storms this afternoon, especially in the centre and north of NSW and into the southwest of Queensland.”

Thunderstorms forecast Mon 30 Jan: Storms this afternoon and evening, with severe thunderstorms possible in the central east, northeast and northwest. Heavy falls/flash flooding is of concern. Wind gusts and large hail also possible. Monitor https://t.co/Ss766eSCrL for updates. pic.twitter.com/CJkudBew0g

— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) January 29, 2023

Severe thunderstorm warnings have been issued by authorities in NSW for the much of the northern part of the state, with concern about flash flooding, wind gusts and large hail.

A severe weather warning along the Victoria-NSW border has eased on Monday, with significant rainfall totals up to 150mm recorded overnight.

On the border at Albury Wodonga, record rainfall of more than 130mm in the past 24 hours was recorded in Albury.

The storm will continue north into Queensland on Tuesday, according to Mr Sharpe, with concerns for thunderstorms in the tropics.

Heavy rainfall is predicted in Queensland’s southwest from Monday afternoon before the storm event shifts north towards the east coast on Wednesday.

Queensland was braced for a “long wet run”, Mr Sharpe said, with the next fortnight looking “wetter than usual” across the state.

Later in the week, a strong cold front will descend on Victoria, dropping the mercury to 9c below average on Friday.

In the alpine regions, temperatures are expected to drop below freezing – and may even result in a fall of summer snow.