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Ben Domensino, 22 Oct 2020, 1:51 AM UTC

Days of rain and storms in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra

Days of rain and storms in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra

A multi-state thunderstorm outbreak will impact Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra later this week, with severe storms possible.

A large mass of moisture-laden air interacting with an upper-level trough will result in several days of wet and stormy weather across a large swathe of eastern and southeastern Australia from now into early next week.

Image: Forecast accumulated rain during the next 7 days (Thursday to Wednesday) according to the ECMWF-HRES model.

This dynamic weather event could cause back-to-back days of severe thunderstorms in parts of Queensland, NSW, the ACT, and Victoria. It's also going to cause rain and possibly storms in each of these state's or territory's capital cities.

Thunderstorms are classified as severe if they produce one or more of the following:

  • Large hail (2cm in diameter or larger)
  • Giant hail (5cm in diameter or larger)
  • Damaging or destructive wind gusts (generally wind gusts exceeding 90 km/h)
  • Heavy rainfall which may cause flash flooding
  • Tornadoes

In Brisbane, showers and thunderstorms are possible today, although the most intense storms will occur over the state's southern inland. Drier weather will return to Brisbane on Friday and Saturday, with only a slight change of a shower or storm on both days. However, skies will darken again on Sunday as rain and potentially severe storms hit the city, followed by more wet and stormy weather on Monday, Tuesday and possibly Wednesday.

In Sydney, showers will plague the weekend and thunderstorms could roll over the city on Saturday. These storms could be severe. While Sunday won't feature any storms, gusty southerly winds, clouds and showers will linger throughout the day. Showers will continue in Sydney into the beginning of next week as well.

Showers and storms could develop over Canberra from Friday afternoon. Things will deteriorate further on Saturday as heavy showers and potentially severe storms hit the city. The risk of storms will abate on Sunday, although showers will continue and possibly linger into Monday too.

In Melbourne, rain will develop on Friday afternoon as warm and humid air passes over Victoria. Storms could develop near Melbourne late on Friday as well. Rain will continue into Saturday morning, before easing to showers during the day and mostly clearing by the afternoon. A few more showers are possible again on Sunday, but they will be light.

Severe thunderstorms are likely to affect a broad area of eastern Australia during the next several days, including some major towns and cities. Be sure to keep up to date with the latest warnings in your area.

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