Warning to batten the hatches as wild weather looms
NSW and Victorian residents are being warned to bunker down as heavy rainfall, large swells and flash flooding approach.
Wild weather complete with heavy rainfall, large swells and flash flooding is expected to lash eastern Australia over coming days as a deepening low pressure system builds off the coast.
Damaging winds of up to 90km/h and wave heights of up to 6m are being predicted by forecasters at the Bureau of Meteorology, with residents being warned to hunker down.
According to the BOM, about 200mm could fall across East Gippsland in Victoria and across the southern half of NSW, with damaging winds strong enough to bring down trees and powerlines.
“The low will deepen off the NSW coast on Monday and into Tuesday, causing heavy rainfall which could lead to flash flooding, as well as damaging winds and hazardous surf conditions,” meteorologist Grace Legge said.
“Wind gusts of up to 90km/h south of Port Macquarie will be locally damaging and strong enough to bring down trees and powerlines along that coastal fringe area.”
Large swells will follow the intense weather system, with wave heights predicted to reach up to 6m from Tuesday into Wednesday.
“The large swells will start really building from about Tuesday, affecting a lot of the NSW coastline for much of the week,” Ms Legge said.
The bureau is predicting at least 25mm of rain in Sydney on both Monday and Tuesday, with similar rainfall expected in Wollongong and Newcastle.
East Gippsland and the NSW south coast are expected to cop the brunt of it while Melbourne and Brisbane will likely avoid the downpour.
The BOM said the low pressure system would rapidly develop off the NSW coast on Monday as a high moved south of Tasmania and extended a ridge over South Australia.
The system delivered rain to South Australia and parts of Victoria at the weekend, with Briagolong (48mm) and Glenaladale (30mm) seeing the worst of it.
Resilience NSW, the state’s leading disaster management agency, warned residents to “get ready” and follow the State Emergency Service for updates.
On Sunday, the NSW SES sent out a warning, encouraging residents to prepare their properties before the severe weather arrives.
“So far, the NSW SES have received 24 calls for assistance overnight. Now is the time to clean your roofs, gutters and downpipes in preparation,” it said on Twitter.
Victoria’s SES issued a flash flooding warning for Whiteheads Creek in the Seymour area.
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