Latest news with #coldfronts
ABC News
a day ago
- Climate
- ABC News
Major winter storm to bring gales, rain and snow to southern Australia
A series of three cold fronts will spread an intense burst of wintry weather across southern states during the next five days. The fronts are predicted by modelling to become more powerful than typical early winter systems, and will generate damaging wind gusts, heavy showers, isolated thunderstorms and pockets of small hail. While wind speeds have the potential to exceed warning thresholds, farmers will rejoice with a solid soaking likely from the Western Australian west coast to north-east Victoria. The alpine region will also welcome another dump of snow, which will make 2025 one of the best starts to a ski season this century. The ongoing frontal activity, which was noticeably absent last winter, has laid the platform for the first wetter-than-average month along the majority of Australia's southern coastline since July 2024. The first front in the series already brought showers to the WA west coast on Friday, including over 30 millimetres in Busselton by sunset. Widespread showers will continue across WA today near and behind the front, with up to 20mm likely near the south-west and lower west coasts, and possibly up to 10mm over the wheat belt. As the first front weakens in the Bight on Sunday, a trailing second front will maintain showers along WA's south coast. Front number two will then rapidly cross the South Australian coast on Monday, before sweeping across Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales on Tuesday, bringing widespread showers and the odd storm or two with small hail. Totals by late Tuesday should exceed 20mm in coastal areas exposed to a westerly airstream, including around Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Warrnambool. The final front will then follow on Wednesday across south-east states and generate further heavy showers, storms and small hail. After several days of showery weather, this series of fronts will deliver an average of 20 to 40mm of rain to southern agricultural SA, along with much of southern and mountain Victoria, and the southern slopes and ranges of NSW. For Adelaide, another 32mm will make this June the city's wettest month in two years. Unfortunately, though, repeating the trend from previous fronts, only light rain will reach north-west Victoria, the western Riverina and the SA Murraylands and Riverland. The continued absence of genuine drought relief across areas further inland is the result of fronts not linking with plumes of tropical moisture — which from their origin favour rain in areas further north. Daytime temperatures will climb as much as 5 degrees Celsius above average across south-east states during the coming days, thanks to a mild northerly airstream — a common pattern preceding vigorous fronts. The passage of the fronts will then drop temperatures back to average for winter, with the colder air reaching Adelaide on Monday, Melbourne, Hobart and Canberra on Tuesday, and Sydney by Wednesday. Initially, the unseasonable warm northerlies will lead to rain across the Alps on Monday, but temperatures will quickly fall below freezing on Tuesday. Once the cold air arrives, near continuous snowfall should last around 36 hours, accumulating to around 50 centimetres at major resorts, although Mt Buller may receive slightly less. An additional dump of heavy snow arriving soon after the opening weekend storm will make 2025 one of the best starts to ski season this century. The snow depth by Thursday should challenge previous high late June depths measured in 2000, 2004, 2012 and 2022. In terms of non-alpine snow, Tasmania will be the main beneficiary with snowfalls possible to very low levels on Wednesday below an elevation of 500 metres. A strong westerly airstream is a characteristic attribute of most major winter cold fronts, and this series won't disappoint, bringing strong to gale-force winds over a wide swathe of southern Australia. A warning for damaging gusts has already been issued for southern WA this weekend, and multiple warnings should follow for south-east states into the new week. Winds will strengthen across south-east states through Sunday and Monday ahead of the fronts, which could whip another dust storm across the parched regions of inland SA. For most of SA and Victoria, though, the strongest winds will arrive on Tuesday when maximum speeds reach around 90 kilometres per hour although exposed parts of the coast and ranges could see gusts above 100kph. The fierce winds will also lash NSW on Tuesday, and peak across eastern NSW on Wednesday, again with gusts possibly near 100kph. Winds at this strength often bring down tree branches and can become destructive in heavier showers and storms, a scenario which may lead to isolated power outages. Current modelling indicates calmer weather will return to southern Australia by Thursday.
Daily Mail
03-06-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mail
Sydney weather: Urgent warning issued
A series of cold fronts is moving across southeastern Australia this week, set to send temperatures tumbling and bring snow to alpine regions. Cold air will sweep through New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania, with light snow expected in the high mountains. According to Weatherzone, the midweek chill will mark the unofficial opening of the ski season, with several days of fresh snowfall on the cards. 'Wednesday night and Thursday morning will be particularly cold, with minimum temperatures forecast to reach -5 to -7°C in the Vic and NSW Alps,' Weatherzone said. The real chill is expected to hit over the weekend, when two cold fronts are forecast to sweep across southeastern Australia, one on Saturday, followed by another on Sunday. This back-to-back system is expected to deliver a steady stream of cold air and snowfall, with snow likely each day from Saturday through at least Tuesday. The timing couldn't be better for ski resorts, with the King's Birthday long weekend approaching. 'Tuesday's front won't deliver a lot of natural snow,' Weatherzone said. 'But it will cause temperatures to drop and allow ski resorts to make plenty of artificial snow in the lead-up to the weekend.' The June long weekend typically signals the start of the ski season for most of Australia's main resorts. However, early June is often unreliable when it comes to natural snow, and in some years, there isn't enough coverage to open slopes this early. Weatherzone says this year looks more promising. 'Fortunately, Mother Nature will be kindly serving up several bursts of cold weather over the coming week, including a good bout of fresh natural snow over the long weekend and early next week,' they added. Perth meanwhile is set to receive its heaviest rainfall this year as a slow-moving low pressure system brings rainfall totals potentially exceeding 85mm over Tuesday and Wednesday. The extreme conditions in the first week of winter come after Australia enjoyed its fourth warmest autumn on record. The south-western regions of Western Australia will cop a soaking after a relatively dry start to 2025 with below-average rainfall in its capital. Check the forecast below for your capital city this week. Sydney Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Min 11 Max 16 Thursday: Sunny. Min 8 Max 17 Friday: Partly cloudly. Min 8 Max 18 Melbourne Wednesday: Showers. Min 8 Max 14 Thursday: Partly cloudy. Min 6 Max 15 Friday: Shower or two. Min 7 Max 14 Brisbane Wednesday: Sunny. Min 14 Max 23 Thursday: Sunny. Min 11 Max 22 Friday: Mostly sunny. Min 11 Max 23 Perth Wednesday: Showers and storms. Min 13 Max 20 Thursday: Showers. Min 12 Max 20 Friday: Partly cloudy. Min 8 Max 19 Adelaide Wednesday: Sunny. Min 4 Max 16 Thursday: Shower or two. Min 5 Max 18 Friday: Showers. Min 9 Max 19 Hobart Wednesday: Cloudy. Min 4 Max 12 Thursday: Cloudy. Min 6 Max 13 Friday: Shower or two. Min 4 Max 14 Canberra Wednesday: Cloud clearing. Min 2 Max 12 Thursday: Morning frost, Sunny. Min -3 Max 13 Friday: Morning frost, cloudy. Min -3 Max 13 Darwin Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Min 22 Max 32 Thursday: Mostly sunny. Min 22 Max 31 Friday: Partly cloudy. Min 21 Max 32
