Warning for millions of Aussies as 'double whammy' winter blast is forecast
Millions of Australians are being urged to brace themselves for not one, but two new bursts of wintry conditions this week, as a sharp plunge in temperature will quickly follow damaging winds across large parts of the country.
These "far-reaching" cold fronts will keep Aussies bitterly cold across the southeast, and Angus Hines — a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) — told Yahoo News people should prepare themselves for the "double whammy" if they haven't already, with high-speed wind expected in the south as early as tonight.
"The most significant feature of the weather for most people will be damaging winds," he said. "We're looking at some very large waves and abnormally high tides coming in tandem to southern coastlines in parts of South Australia, Victoria, and Tasmania — they'll be subjected to quite powerful ocean conditions. It's going to make it quite hazardous for swimming, surfing and fishing," he warned.
There is also the possibility of small hailstones falling in some regions on Wednesday including Melbourne and Hobart. Any low lying infrastructure along the coastlines of these affected states, such as roads, powerlines, parks and even properties will feel the impact of the "very, very strong winds".
SES Victoria has urged Aussies to take the weather warnings seriously to mitigate damage and safety risks.
"Community members are encouraged to safely secure any outdoor furniture or trampolines to prevent them becoming projectiles in high winds, and park vehicles undercover or away from trees," a spokesperson told Yahoo News. "Where possible, community members are encouraged to stay indoors and away from windows during intense storms.
"If travel is necessary and conditions are dangerous, safely pull to the side of the road away from trees and low-lying areas."
Just as the wind is forecast to pick up, the temperature is set to cool down — way down.
"It looks like the coldest temperatures will be on Wednesday, and that will then get into Thursday as well. So it'll be really chilly throughout the middle of the week, a bunch of southern cities in Australia, and in particular, across Tasmania, where it will be really struggling to get above about 11 degrees," he said.
The alpine regions across eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales are forecast to experience "blizzard-like conditions" and are expected to feel the worst of the weather as both the brunt of the strong winds — above 110 kilometres an hour — and the highest levels of snowfall will occur here. This follows a series of rescue missions at the start of the month when several groups of hikers had to be rescued during a snowstorm.
"It could be creating extremely low visibility," Hines said. "We'll be looking at the snow level dropping to about 700 meters, which is fairly low for those locations. So a decent dumping of snow for elevated parts."
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Thredbo Ski Resort and Perisher Manor Hotel, both situated in NSW's Snowy Mountains, confirmed to Yahoo News on Tuesday afternoon the snow had already started to fall, with up to 60 centimetres expected in the next few days.
"We wish and dream for the snow everyday, and we're hoping to open up as much new terrain as possible on the resort... Obviously safety is our number one priority so we'll only open what's safe and skiable over the storm," Bronte Crawley from Thredbo Ski Resort told Yahoo.
"The other consideration is the roads to get in and out of Thredbo, which is probably our main concern, but we do have road clearing, and National Parks is also very good at managing road safety... There will be mountain operations team on the ground to monitor the snow that comes in over the next few days."
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