Wild weather on to hit Victoria, NSW and Tasmania

VICTORIA, Tasmania and NSW are in for a day of wild weather.

A rain soaked Melbourne morning. Jane (foreground) and Peta, both from Perth, battle the rain crossing Fitzroy Street in St Kilda. Wet weather. Umbrella.

VICTORIA is in for a day of wild weather, with high winds over most of the state, blizzards in alpine areas and possible flooding in metropolitan Melbourne.

A severe weather warning has been issued for southern and mountain districts of Victoria on today.

Damaging winds of 50 to 70km/h, gusting up to 100km/h, are expected.

A deep low pressure system is passing south of Tasmania while a cold front has begun crossing Victoria, Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Terry Ryan says.

“It’s a very quick-moving change and there is a fair bit of wind around it,” he said.

“Showers should start developing in southern Victoria and they should get over the ranges too.

“We’re expecting showers all through the state and by tonight there will be snow down to 600 metres, and possible hail and thunder developing later in the afternoon in the south moving through Melbourne tonight.”

That snow should fall over much of the Dandenong Ranges, the Yarra Ranges and hills around Melbourne.

The severe weather warning affects the North Central, Central, South West, South and West Gippsland, East Gippsland and North East forecast districts.

The State Emergency Service has warned people to move vehicles under cover and away from trees, secure and store loose items, and stay clear of fallen powerlines.

A sheep graziers warning is in place for the same regions, as well as the Wimmera district.

Rivers and creeks in the Melbourne metropolitan area could also flood in coming days.

A flood watch has been issued for the Greater Melbourne catchment, which includes the Yarra, Maribyrnong, Werribee and Bunyip rivers, the Dandenong Creek, and their tributaries.

Recent rain has brought the eastern portion of the catchment to near-saturation point — and up to 50 millimetres of rain could fall in parts of the Melbourne area by night.

Minor flooding is expected from late today.

Meanwhile, damaging winds are gusting across southeastern NSW ahead of a strong cold front.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds of 50km/h gusting to 90km/h in the Snowy Mountains and ACT regions and parts of the Illawarra, South Coast and Southern Tablelands.

The wind will hit 80km/h with gusts to 110km/h on alpine peaks as the cold front crosses southeastern NSW today.

At 3.30am, winds averaged 75km/h at the Thredbo automatic weather station, with gusts up to 102km/h.

Tasmania is in for another wild weather day as damaging winds sweep the island state.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for all Tasmanian districts for damaging winds of 50 to 60km/h, gusting to 100km/h, as an intense low pressure system passes to the south.

The winds will develop at the Bass Strait islands and west in the early morning and extend across the state during the day and contracting to the far southeast this evening.

Snow is expected down to 600 metres today.

The latest warnings come after storms that battered the northwest coast yesterday, damaging heritage buildings.

One of the state’s oldest agricultural businesses, the Van Diemens Land Company, yesterday reported that some buildings dating back to the 1800s at its Woolnorth property would have to be demolished after being ravaged by “tornado-like” conditions.

No one was injured when the storm hit the property on Tasmania’s far northwest tip yesterday morning.