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A front & low are bringing strong winds, showers & storms to WA's south. A high is turning a cold morning into a mostly sunny day in the southeast. A low near NZ is edging east, causing swell to ease but bringing showery winds to the NSW coast. A few storms in the north tropics.
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Today, 1:29AM UTC
Prolonged spell of unseasonable warmth for large parts of southern Australia
Adelaide and Melbourne are just two locations in a large portion of southern Australia that will experience a run of unseasonable mid-autumn warmth lasting several days, beginning this Tuesday. For the next five days including this Tuesday, Adelaide is expecting maximums of 29°C, 27°C, 29°C, 28°C and 27°C. Adelaide's average April maximum is 22.2°C. For the next five days including this Tuesday, Melbourne is expecting maximums of 26°C, 24°C, 26°C, 25°C and 25°C. Melbourne's average April maximum is 20.4°C. The warmth will even extend as far south as Tasmania, where Hobart is expecting a run of five days with maximums of 20°C or higher from today onwards, including a likely Friday high of 25°C in a month when the average maximum is just 17.5°C. What’s causing the warmth? Sometimes the most basic tool in the meteorology toolkit illustrates the situation best. The synoptic chart below shows a large high pressure system dominating the weather over Australia. Image: Synoptic chart for Australia at 10am on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. To the east of Australia, the low that was sitting over the Tasman for several days has drifted all the way east of New Zealand, but winds circulating around that system are still pushing southerlies onto the New South Wales coastline, keeping conditions slightly cooler than average. In Western Australia, a cold front swept through the southwest overnight, bringing showers and a significant temperature drop. But the situation is very different for the large chunk of southern Australia between the east and west coasts. South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania are all being impacted by northerlies circulating anti-clockwise around the high, dragging warm air southwards from the interior of the continent. This pattern will remain in place for several days as the high drifts east. Dry conditions can be expected to accompany the warmth for the rest of the working week in most of the areas mentioned. Image: Predicted rainfall accumulation for SE Australia up until 4pm (AEST) on Friday, April 24, 2026, according to the GFS model. Source: Weatherzone. As the chart above shows, the only areas likely to see a few showers in coming days are the NSW coastline as well as parts of western, northern and central Tasmania.
20 Apr 2026, 1:52AM UTC
Storms and gale force winds as cold front roars towards WA
A powerful autumn cold front is approaching the southwest corner of Western Australia, bringing storms, strong winds, widespread showers, and a sharp temperature drop to follow on Tuesday. For Perth, showers and storms will likely arrive on Monday evening, and while conditions will start to ease on Tuesday, the mercury will reach just 19°C. Down in the South Coastal forecast district, Albany looks set for its coldest day of 2026 to date on Tuesday with a top of 16°C, while the South West forecast district town of Manjimup, about three hours south of Perth at an elevation of around 300m, should see a chilly Tuesday top of just 15°C. You can see the dynamic system approaching Western Australia’s SW tip this Monday on the loop below. Image: Two-hour satellite loop showing the cold front approaching southwest WA on the morning of Monday, April 20, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. A thick cloud band is evident ahead of the front, followed by a polar airmass which is indicated by the speckled cloud pattern. Storms are most likely on Monday evening as the two airmasses interact. Gale warnings issued, including for Perth area Due to the tight pressure gradient associated with the incoming cold front, winds are set to pick up quite dramatically during Monday. At 9:05am (AWST), the BoM issued a gale warning for Monday for the following areas: Perth Local Waters, Lancelin Coast, Perth Coast, Bunbury Geographe Coast, Leeuwin Coast and Albany Coast. Gale warnings are also in place for Tuesday for the following areas: Perth Local Waters, Perth Coast, Bunbury Geographe Coast, Albany Coast and Esperance Coast Image: Predicted peak wind gusts at 8pm (AWST) for Western Australia on Monday, April 20, 2026, according to the ECMWF model. Source: Weatherzone. How does the BoM define a gale? The BoM defines a gale as an average wind speed of 34 to 47 knots, which translates to 63 to 87 km/h. The average wind speed is calculated over 10-minute intervals, and it’s worth noting that gusts are often considerably stronger. Meanwhile a second, slightly weaker cold front looks set to push through on Thursday or Friday, as weather systems swing towards the pattern which is common in WA’s southwest during the cooler months.
20 Apr 2026, 1:18AM UTC
Hazardous surf and chilly air hitting NSW as Tasman Low spins
A large low pressure system sitting over the Tasman Sea is sending large waves and cold air towards New South Wales, resulting in hazardous surf and some of the lowest temperatures so far this year. The satellite images below show cloud spiralling around the Tasman Low on Monday morning, with air circulating in a clockwise direction around the centre of the low pressure system. Image: Day/night satellite images captured early on Monday, April 20, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. Due to this clockwise rotation, the Tasman Low is causing cool southerly winds to flow over southeastern Australia. These winds are also causing a big southerly swell to impact the NSW coast. Wintry temperatures The cool air being driven over NSW by the Tasman Low has caused a string of frosty mornings over the last few days. Monday morning’s -6.0°C at Cooma Airport was the lowest temperature reliably recorded anywhere in mainland Australia so far this year. It was also Cooma’s coldest April morning in 20 years. Canberra dipped below 0°C on each of the last three mornings, reaching -1.8°C on Saturday, -1.0°C on Sunday and -0.9°C on Monday. This was the first time Canberra has seen three consecutive April mornings below zero degrees for five years. Parts of Western Sydney cooled to around 5 to 7°C on Monday morning, which is 3 to 6°C below average for April. This followed similarly chilly temperatures over the weekend for the city’s west. Big waves hitting the coast Winds associated with the Tasman Low have caused big waves along the NSW coast over the last few days, with this large surf continuing on Monday. Significant wave heights have been hovering around 2 to 3 metres along much of the NSW coast since Saturday, with maximum wave heights reaching about 6 to 7 metres at times. A waverider buoy near Sydney registered 6 metre waves early on Sunday morning, followed by a 5.8 metre wave on Sunday night. Image: Significant wave height forecast for Monday morning. Source: Weatherzone. As of 11 am AEST on Monday, a hazardous surf warning was in place for the entire NSW coast, and for southeast Queensland as far north as K’gari (formerly Fraser Island). This warning means conditions are likely to be hazardous for coastal activities such as rock fishing, boating and swimming. Severe weather warnings are also in place for damaging surf on Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island on Monday. Looking ahead, waves will ease along Australia east coast during the next few days as the Tasman Low weakens and moves over New Zealand’s North Island. Overnight temperatures will also climb as southerly winds ease, allowing warmer air to return to southeastern Australia.