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A low brings rain and storms to WA's interior. Showers & storms extend across the tropics with humid, unstable air. A strong southerly airflow behind a cold front sends gusty showers over Tas, and the odd shower to coastal Vic, NSW & Qld. Cool, dry winds over the south & interior
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15 Feb 2025, 11:22PM UTC
Southeast summer cold snap brings coldest February morning in decades
The surge of cold Southern Ocean air that dusted parts of Tasmania with a little snow has pushed northwards and made its presence felt across Victoria and NSW with a chilly morning. The morning chill is more reminiscent of autumn. Tasmania was also very chilly, with a little snow cover remaining on some of the mountains such as Ben Lomond. Image: Ben Lomond Village (elevation 1460m) at 9:10am EDT Sunday 16th. Source: Bellendena Ski Club It was the coldest February morning in decades for parts of Tas, Vic and NSW. It was the coldest in 32 years for Melbourne, dropping to 9.9°C, 11 years for Sydney, dropping to 15.6°C, and 8 years for Canberra, dropping to 3.2°C. It's also been 37 years since Melbourne recorded such a low temperature this early in the year. Hobart was colder than Melbourne, dropping to 8.8°C, but you only have to go back 2 years to find a similarly cold February morning for the southern most capital. The alpine peaks recorded temperatures below freezing. It plunged to: -3.3°C at Falls Creek, Vic (coldest in 27 years) -1.4°C at Mount Baw Baw, Vic (coldest in at least 24 years) -3.7°C at Mount Hotham, Vic (coldest in 17 years) -4.2°C at Thredbo, NSW (coldest in 5 years) -3°C at Perisher Valley, NSW (coldest in 5 years) The days and nights will stay quite mild for the next few days: Image: European model 2-m temperature anomaly forecast for 5pm EDT Sunday 16th. Source: tropicaltidbits.com, ECMWF The airmass is also very dry, so another thing this will do is reduce thunderstorm activity. There were severe thunderstorms for several days across NSW, Qld and Vic last week with high humidity and an upper level low present. Image: Severe thunderstorms over the NSW North West Slopes on Wednesday 12th. Source: author The dew point temperature (an absolute measure of humidity) across NSW was around 20°C across much of the state last week providing a rich source of moisture for thunderstorms. Currently the dewpoint temperature is in low single digits across much of the state, leading to dry and mostly sunny conditions for much of the coming week. Image: Himawari-9 satellite imagery, BOM radar and observed dewpoint temperatures at 10:10am EDT Sunday 16th. Source: Weatherzone Please stay up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings at Weatherzone.com.au
15 Feb 2025, 2:30AM UTC
Ex-tropical cyclone over WA, a dusting of snow over Tassie
Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia made landfall just east of Port Hedland on Friday at about 12:30pm WST. Its destructive winds felled trees, and its rainbands caused flooding rains. Image: Himawari-9 satellite imagery, BOM radar and observed wind gusts (km/h) at 1:05pm WST Friday 14th. Source: Weatherzone It reached Marble Bar as a tropical cyclone in the evening and dumped 203mm over the town in the 24 hours to 9am Saturday. It has now weakened to a tropical low and will continue to move southward and weaken. However, it can still bring heavy rainfall with it during Saturday and into Sunday. Image: River conditions for the Pilbara region as of 10:30 am WST Saturday 15th. Source: BOM Pilbara Rainfall and River Conditions Over the past several days, Ex-Tropical Cyclone Zelia has caused several hundred millimetres of rainfall across the Pilbara region including the 555mm recorded at Pardoo Station in the 96 hours to 9am Saturday 15th. The De Grey River at Coolenar Pool has reached major flood levels (Flood Warning for De Grey River). Several feeder rivers to the De Grey River have also reached major flood levels including the Shaw, Coongan, and Nullagine Rivers. Image: River heights for the De Grey River at Coolenar Pool as of 10:28am WST Saturday 15th. Source: BOM River Height data for De Grey River at Coolenar Pool Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, in total contrast, a blast of cold air behind a front is bringing a light dusting of snow to parts of Tasmania, as forecast yesterday: Summer snow in Tasmania this weekend. Image: Himawari-9 satellite imagery, BOM radar and observed temperature at 11:05am EST Saturday 15th. Source: Weatherzone Mount Mawson ski field (elevation 1250m) has been dusted with light snow. Mount Reed (elevation 1120m) has likely received a light dusting too, with temperatures dropping to about 0°C for 3 hours this morning and recording some precipitation during this time. A bushwalkers alert is currently in place for snow as low as 1000m for Saturday and early Sunday (Bushwalkers Alert). Image: A dusting of snow on Mount Mawson Skifield at 10am EDT. Source: mtmawson.info/snow-cam/ Wherever you are in Australia please stay up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings at weatherzone.com.au
14 Feb 2025, 3:44AM UTC
Summer snow in Tasmania this weekend
An unseasonably cold air mass will hit southeastern Australia this weekend, causing summer snow to settle in parts of Tasmania. The satellite images below show a huge area of speckled cloud to the south of Australia on Friday. This cloud pattern, which is more commonly seen in winter than summer, reveals that a cold air mass is moving from the Southern Ocean towards Australia. Image: Visible satellite image showing speckled cloud to the south of Australia on Friday. The frigid air was already starting to spread over parts of southern Australia on Friday, although the coldest air will arrive this weekend as a winter-like southerly airstream becomes stablished between a high pressure system centred over the Bight and a low over the Tasman Sea. Temperatures should get cold enough in Tasmania for snow to fall in elevated areas of the state this weekend. Snow will most likely be confined to areas above about 1000m elevation in central, southern and western Tasmania. Image: Liawenee is one of the places with snow on the forecast on the Weatherzone app this weekend. Mount Wellington might see a light dusting of snow on Saturday, while Hobart is only forecast to reach tops of 16°C both days this weekend. Victoria will also feel the arrival of colder air this weekend, which will come as a big change from the three days over 31°C that occurred in Melbourne between Tuesday and Thursday. The city is only forecast to reach 18°C on Saturday and Sunday. Image: Forecast 850hPa wind and temperature on Saturday, showing cold southerly winds flowing over southeastern Australia. This weekend's cool change will also bring showers that should help extinguish some of the fires burning in western Tasmania. Unfortunately, the state will also experience blustery winds, which may exacerbate any fires that aren’t put out by the rain. Visit https://alert.tas.gov.au/ for the latest updates on fires in Tasmania over the next few days.