New year washout for soggy east coast

Wild weather will continue to batter Australia’s eastern seaboard, but authorities warn the deluge will do little to counter the looming threat of summer bushfires.

Gloomy weather at Sydney’s Bronte Beach on Tuesday. Picture: Nikki Short

Wild weather will continue to batter Australia’s eastern seaboard, but authorities warn the deluge will do little to counter the looming threat of summer bushfires.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Sarah Scully said much of the east coast, including Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, could expect rain and overcast, humid conditions this week and on New Year’s Eve.

“There’s a band of moisture that’s extending down eastern Australia that’s expected to linger over the next couple of days with showers and isolated thunderstorms across Queensland and parts of NSW,” she said.

“(On Wednesday) the storm area should shift north of Sydney metro but remain in north central NSW and extend into Queensland and the NT.

“There’s a possibility the storms may be severe with damaging wind gusts, heavy rains and hail.”

She said the wet summer, which was the result of the La Nina weather pattern caused by warmer sea surface temperatures across the Pacific Ocean, could have some positive implications for this year’s fire season compared to last year.

“That band of moisture is very typical of La Nina conditions; it’s a climate driver associated with increased rainfall across northern Australia and increased ­humidity and rainfall across eastern Australia,” she said.

NSW Rural Fire Service spokesman Greg Allan said though the wet conditions had allowed “some of our volunteers to have a few days off”, NSW must remain vigilant as it was still in the midst of the Bush Fire Danger Period, which began on October 1.

“The increase of the grass growth (due to the rain) has led to an increased fire risk and we have seen a number of grass crop fires over the past couple of weeks, including in the Riverina and western areas,” he said.

“People might be under the assumption that the whole state burnt but there are a number of pockets of forest area and there are still areas that can burn. All it takes is a couple of dry, warm days for that risk to return.”

Sydney and Melbourne will both have wet weeks. Brisbane is also expected to be cloudy with a chance of showers.

Darwin is predicted be wet and warm, at 32C, while Hobart will be much cooler with cloud and occasional showers.

However, Perth and Adelaide will both enjoy warm and sunny weather on New Year’s Eve.