Blizzards have been forecast for parts of Victoria and residents have been warned to prepare for power outages and “destruction” as damaging winds are expected to lash the south-eastern states into the weekend.
An intense cold front began moving across Victoria from South Australia on Friday, after rain, thunderstorms and destructive winds battered the Adelaide metro area and surrounds on Thursday night and Friday morning, and a tornado warning was briefly issued.
The State Emergency Services chief officer, Tim Wiebusch, warned Victorian residents to secure loose items around their homes, to charge devices and spare batteries, and for those in heavily treed areas to avoid any unnecessary travel.
“These wind speeds will bring destruction,” Wiebusch said on Friday afternoon. “These wind speeds are likely to impact our power systems. So we are alerting all Victorians to make sure that you are prepared now.
“Expect that there will be power outages. Expect that there will be fallen power lines and to stay away from those power lines. Expect without power that you’ve already charged your phones and other devices this afternoon.”
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Those destructive winds, with gusts reaching up to 130km/h, were expected to push further into the eastern states on Saturday, bringing showers, hail and isolated thunderstorms.
“We haven’t seen wind like this for some time,” Wiebusch said. “In fact, the wind speeds that we’re going to expect we have not seen this year. And in fact, this is the weather system we’ve not seen for a couple of years.”
Snowfall as low as 600-metre elevation was expected in Victoria on Saturday along with strong winds. Blizzard conditions were forecast for the alpine areas above 1,200-metres.
Snow showers and possible small hail was forecast for Friday and early Saturday morning at Mount Hotham, after a week of severe weather in Victoria’s high country that has added complications to the search for suspected gunman Dezi Freeman in Porepunkah.
Winds of up to 113km/h had already been recorded at Mount Hotham on Friday.
Vicki Ward, minister for emergency services, said the SES had received 76 requests for assistance since midday Thursday, and were expecting those numbers to grow.
“We’ve already seen several serious incidents today, two cars impacted by trees and a person impacted by a tree,” Ward said.
“We’re asking people to remain vigilant, don’t be travelling if you don’t need to be. Clear up around your property, make sure there’s no loose items, and if you can remain indoors in safety, that’s the best place to be.”
Severe weather warnings covered much of South Australia, Victoria and parts of Tasmania and New South Wales on Friday. Damaging winds were expected as far into NSW as the Snowy Mountains, Brindabella Range and parts of the southern and central tablelands on Friday afternoon.
Risk from damaging winds was expected to peak in Melbourne and Geelong early on Saturday morning and were also likely to affect the water, with damaging surf possible across western and central waters of Victoria on Saturday, and elevated sea levels possible across Port Phillip Bay. A hazardous surf warning was possible for NSW for Saturday.
Snow was also forecast for areas that would not normally see it, including the Flinders Rangers and the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia, the Dandenong Ranges, Macedon Ranges and the Grampians in Victoria, and the Central Tablelands, including Orange, Bathurst and Oberon, in New South Wales.
Melbourne was expected to reach only 13C on Saturday, as was Hobart. Sydney had a forecast top of 17C for Saturday. Adelaide could expect 14C. Canberra was looking at 13C, showers and patches of morning frost.
Rain was also forecast for much of the south-east, and minor flood warnings were still current in Tasmania for the lower North Esk, South Esk and Meander rivers.
“Further minor to moderate river rises are possible across parts of Tasmania and through eastern Victoria in the coming days, but this risk will be closely assessed over the coming day,” Miriam Bradbury, senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, said on Friday morning.
There was a moderate flood warning still in place for the Namoi River in northern NSW, but no significant rainfall was expected in that area in the coming days.
The rest of the country’s capitals were expecting much milder weather for Saturday, with Brisbane looking at 21C, Darwin expecting 34C, and Perth 20C.
