A strong frontal system is crossing southeast Australia and, for Victoria, this has meant wind speeds have picked up and cold days are on their way.

The aforementioned frontal system has a trough moving just ahead which is drawing warm winds into the southeast. As a result, the likes of Sydney and Brisbane will be basking in warmth today as the temperature hits the mid 20's. However, it was Melbourne and Adelaide which had a magnificent Friday as the mercury hit 22oC in each city. It was precisely these warm winds that helped the day turn out so warm.

Image: Satellite (Himawari-8) imagery showing the temperature difference on either side of the frontal system at 11 am EST Saturday

The strength of these warm, northerly winds was such that Melbourne Airport recorded a NNE wind gust of 85km/h just after midday on Friday. However, that wasn’t all, as many other locations had similar wind gusts exceeding 100km/h: 

• 120 km/h at Mt Buller (12 am Saturday) 
• 106 km/h at Mount William (11 am Friday) 
• 102 km/h at Mt Hotham (9 pm Friday) 
• 100 km/h at Kilmore Gap (7 pm Friday) 

Similarly, the Snowy Mountains region in New South Wales also had a gusty period as the system approached overnight. NW wind gusts at Thredbo exceeded 128 km/h on Friday evening. 

As alluded to, the passage of this front is causing a change in the weather for Victoria, with Melbourne expecting a top of only 16^oC today. Although the strong northerly winds have subsided, there is still the potential for some similarly strong southwesterly winds behind the cold front overnight between Saturday and Sunday. As such, a Severe Weather Warning has been issued for parts of Victoria and alpine areas of NSW so be sure to keep an eye on the warnings here.