The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds across western and south-eastern Tasmania on Wednesday, with gusts near 100 kilometres an hour expected from Thursday afternoon as a cold front crosses the state.
The warning, issued at 10:49am, covers the far south including Dover and forecasts winds averaging 60 to 70km/h with peak gusts to about 100km/h from Thursday afternoon into early Friday, behind a fast-moving west to south-west change. It was the only severe weather warning current anywhere in the country, the Bureau's warnings summary showed on Wednesday morning.
Behind the front, a cold westerly airstream is set to hold over the south-east into the weekend. The Bureau forecasts snow falling to 1000 metres and lowering to 300 metres in western and southern Tasmania by Thursday, and to about 800 metres in Victoria, where hail is possible in the south-east. Sheep graziers warnings are current for the New South Wales Central Tablelands and Snowy Mountains and for parts of Tasmania, where lambs and off-shears sheep are at risk in the cold and wet.
Flooding from earlier in the month is easing. The Bureau carries a final flood watch for the Moore and Hill River catchments in Western Australia and a final flood warning for the Kiewa River in Victoria, both signalling water receding. It is a milder system than the front that brought damaging winds and heavy alpine snow to the south-east at the start of July.
The damaging-wind window for Tasmania runs from Thursday afternoon to early Friday, with winds easing on Friday as high pressure builds in and westerly showers continue across the south-east through the weekend. The Bureau will update its warnings through Thursday.
