Tasmanians warned to avoid the outdoors as huge winds forecast
Australians are being warned to reconsider non-essential outdoor activities as extreme weather batters a state.
A severe weather has been issued across Tasmania with residents urged to avoid all non-essential outdoor activities.
The Bureau of Meteorology says Tasmania will get smashed by severe winds with the potential for gusts to reach over 100km an hour.
The impacts are likely to be across the state on Sunday, with the gusty winds being followed by a cool front in the evening.
Due to the extreme winds, Tasmanian police urged locals to reconsider outdoor activities.
“These sorts of weather conditions impact our ability to conduct search and rescue response, with high winds preventing helicopter operations,” Tasmania police said.
“Please reconsider any high-risk activities, including boating or hiking, and make choices that prioritise your safety and the safety of others.”
The warning to Tasmanians follows a separate storm which left thousands of homes lost power after a “supercell” smashed parts of New South Wales and southeast Queensland.
A powerful storm pushed north from NSW on Saturday afternoon unleashed damaging conditions, including huge hailstones in Ipswich, Caboolture and Samford, north of Brisbane.
Residents say the storm brought with it hail the size of golf balls and strong winds across the region.
Sky News meteorologist Rob Sharpe said the storm initiated on the NSW, Queensland border before pushing north.
Following the storms around 4800 homes were without power at the peak of the storm at 9.45pm on Saturday.
As of 8.30am on Sunday, 73 homes were still without power.
Meanwhile, large parts of NSW will be hit again with a heatwave in the early parts of the week with Mr Sharpe warning some records could fall.
“Tuesday, some records could be broken over parts of the northwest and central west of the state, with temperatures pushing up by 40C, which at this time of the year is quite rare,” he said.
Sweltering conditions in NSW and Queensland have now also spread across the country with residents in South Australia likely to face a high of 45C over the next week.
“That heat has transferred out into the western inland parts of the country with widespread temperatures above 40,” Mr Sharpe said.
“Inland SA looks very hot through the next few days, even pushing up to 45C.”
Originally published as Tasmanians warned to avoid the outdoors as huge winds forecast
