Ben Domensino, 23 Jan 2017, 5:25 AM UTC
Stormy start to the week
Severe thunderstorms are affecting three states this afternoon.
Storm warnings were in place at 4pm EDT today for damaging winds and heavy rain in parts of South Australia, southwest Queensland and western New South Wales.
The thunderstorms are forming near troughs of low pressure, which are extending from central Australia down to the nation's southeast.
In South Australia, storms have become widespread across northern and western parts of the state. Around 50mm of rain fell at Elliston this morning and at Ceduna between 9am and 3pm. Rain and isolated storms will spread across most remaining southern and eastern areas tonight, before clearing and contracting into the state's Pastoral and Flinders Districts tomorrow.
Storms have also bubbled up from western Queensland down into southern New South Wales this afternoon. Some of these storms could cause bursts of heavy rain and damaging winds during the next few hours. More storm are likely over New South Wales and southern and western Queensland on Tuesday as the trough shifts further east, some of which will become severe.
Earlier today, storms brought heavy rain and flooding to southern parts of the Northern Territory. Alice Springs picked up 20mm in three hours and nearby Gemtree Park collected 51mm during the 24 hours to 9am. This rain caused water to flow in the ephemeral Todd River, flooding social media with photos and videos.
The latest severe storm warnings can be found at: http://www.weatherzone.com.au/warnings.jsp
Note to media: You are welcome to republish text from the above news article as direct quotes from Weatherzone. When doing so, please reference www.weatherzone.com.au in the credit.