Half of Australia braces for wild weather as massive cloud band approaches
Millions of Australians across six states and territories are bracing for a severe weather outbreak as a massive 5000 kilometre system sets its sights on the country.
The enormous cloud band, described as an “atmospheric river” stretching from the Indian Ocean, is poised to unleash drenching rains, damaging winds, and severe flooding until early next week.
Half of Australia is bracing for weekend of wet weather. Weatherzone
Weatherzone said satellite images captured a large northwest cloud band developing over Australia on Friday, revealing that it will deliver widespread rain across much of the nation over the weekend into early next week.
While Friday did not deliver as much rain as expected, experts say that’s about to change.
The system is set to interact with a cold front to produce widespread rain across a broad area of Australia’s east and south-east this weekend into Monday.
Widespread rain of 20 to 40mm is likely across parts of every state except the Northern Territory until Monday, with some parts of south-eastern Victoria and south-eastern NSW bracing for 50-100mm over this period.
The rain developing this weekend could cause flooding in some parts, most likely in those two states.
A flood watch was issued for parts of Victoria on Friday and further flood watches and warnings may come out over the weekend.
In addition to the rain, this system is also likely to cause damaging winds, snow, hail and thunderstorms across southern and southeastern Australia between Saturday and Monday.
Australia’s south braces for a wet weekend
The low-pressure system journeying from the edge of Antarctica is predicted to have travelled more than 4000 kilometres before reaching the country by Saturday.
Weatherzone warned the cold snap will bring a massive surge of freezing polar air across the Southern Ocean, with temperatures expected to plummet by Saturday.
Some areas in the Western Australia’s south are also being told to brace for small hail as freezing temperatures push behind the cold front.
While temperatures in the state’s capital are expected to top 16 degrees on Saturday, the cold winds are expected to make the air feel as cold as 10 degrees for most of the day.
The low-pressure system will drag a large mass of polar air towards Australia as it traverses the Southern Ocean. Weatherzone
South Australia is the second state lined up for a drenching, with the cold front expected to reach the territory by Saturday afternoon, as Adelaide is expected to feel the system as early as Sunday morning.
Similar to Perth, strong winds in Adelaide are set to make temperatures feel colder than they actually are.
Heavy wind and rain are expected to continue across Australia’s south-east over the weekend, with cold temperatures across NSW, Victoria, Queensland’s south and the ACT until Monday.
Damaging wind gusts are expected to develop across Victoria, NSW, and the ACT, with the potential to continue south into Tasmania.
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