Severe thunderstorms are forecast to bring lightning, damaging winds and hail to New South Wales on Thursday, after days of intense heat earlier this week.
Sydney, Wollongong, Goulburn, Orange and Gosford are anticipating severe thunderstorm activity, with thunderstorms also forecast for inland Queensland on Thursday.
It will be “quite a significant day with the thunderstorm activity”, said Morgan Pumpa from the Bureau of Meteorology.
“We do have quite a large area of thunderstorm activity today stretching out across many states,” Pumpa said.
Heat and humidity feeding through a northern tropical airflow is bringing possible severe thunderstorms from the central tablelands through to parts of the Hunter, Central Coast and greater Sydney, as well as the Illawarra and South Coast.
A trough moved through Victoria in the last 24 hours, bringing with it heavy rainfall to parts of greater Melbourne and the north-east of the state. Suburbs in south-eastern Melbourne experienced flash flooding and severe thunderstorms on Wednesday, with Lake Dartmouth seeing the state’s highest rainfall at 70mm.
It is stretching into NSW on Thursday, as well as across the Kimberly in WA, through the west and into central west Queensland.
Thunderstorm activity in the afternoon will bring the chance of damaging winds and hail to Greater Sydney.
Flash flooding and heavy rainfall is possible in and around Sydney, with expected sharp heavy bursts of rain bringing the risk of puddling on roads and poor visibility, Pumpa said. Sydney will see up to 15mm of rainfall, with the possibility of more in the coming days.
Thursday morning saw 50mm of rainfall in Waratah in NSW, as well as a severe weather warning in north-west Tasmania. Heavy rainfall is also expected around Tamworth and through the Western Downs in Queensland up to the north-west of the state, as well as across the Barkly in the NT and south of Darwin.
“We are definitely watching a rather active period at the moment, continuing on the weekend, and we will still be watching for some showers into the start of next week as well.”
Pumpa has urged Australians to look out for weather forecast warnings.
“With the heavy rainfall, and when we have severe thunderstorms move through with damaging winds … branches coming down is possible.”
“People, I am sure, are very tired,” Pumpa said. “It has been very hot, unseasonably hot, especially hot and humid in the south-east parts of the country.”
Humid conditions affected much of Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland on Wednesday. The Bureau of Meteorology said high water vapour – a measure of moisture content in the atmosphere – was “streaming down from the north and across the eastern states of Australia”.
Wednesday also saw high temperatures, particularly in western parts of Sydney. Penrith Lakes reached 39.9C, nearing the area’s 40C November record from 2020.
Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Kimberly region in WA could see thunderstorm activity by Saturday.
Thunderstorm activity is also possible in South Australia, Victoria and parts of Tasmania.
“I would say to anyone in the south-eastern states, and also for New South Wales and always for Queensland this time of year, to be watching your local forecast,” Pumpa said.
