The rain that fell across north east Victoria over the weekend is now in the rivers. Mount Buffalo Chalet recorded 161mm and Strathbogie North 128mm from 9am Sunday, and by Monday morning the Bureau of Meteorology had moderate flood warnings current for the Kiewa River, for the Ovens and King rivers, and for the Seven Creeks.
Minor flood warnings apply to Fifteen Mile Creek, Castle Creek, the Broken River and the Goulburn River. An initial warning is current for Tallangatta Creek. Behind all of them sits a flood watch covering parts of the North East, Gippsland and Central Victoria districts, which the Bureau issues when catchments are wet enough that further rain will run straight off.
The wind arrived first and did its damage on Sunday night. Mt Hotham recorded a 120km/h gust at 6.21pm and Falls Creek 100km/h at 8.33pm.
By the time the Bureau issued its Victorian severe weather warning at 4.28am on Monday, the system had contracted to the far eastern alpine areas, in parts of the East Gippsland and North East districts. That warning had damaging winds averaging 60 to 70km/h with peak gusts around 100km/h, easing by late morning. The next Victorian bulletin was due by 11am.
New South Wales got the same front later. The Bureau issued a severe weather warning at 10.21am on Monday for damaging winds along the Great Dividing Range, extending out to the coastal plains at Newcastle and Wollongong. It covers the Hunter and Illawarra districts and parts of nine others, from the Northern Rivers down to the Snowy Mountains.
Nobbys recorded a 50km/h gust about 7am. The Bureau forecast gusts near 90km/h through the afternoon for the Hunter Valley and Newcastle, with winds averaging up to 70km/h, and expected them to ease by evening.
Bureau meteorologist Helen Reid said the front was forecast to move off the New South Wales coast later on Monday. A second, weaker front is expected to reach the eastern states on Wednesday.
Sheep graziers warnings are current across a wide band of both states, from the Riverina and the Upper Western district through the tablelands and into the ACT. Cold, wet and windy conditions in the days after shearing kill lambs and off shears sheep, which is why the Bureau issues that warning separately from the wind warning covering the same ground.
The State Emergency Service advice for the wind is unchanged: move indoors, park away from trees, secure loose outdoor items and stay off the roads where debris is down.
River heights are the thing to watch now rather than the wind. Flood warnings update as each gauge is read, and the Bureau keeps them current after the rain has stopped, because a catchment that took 161mm on Sunday is still delivering that water downstream on Monday and Tuesday.
