Rain, gales, heat, storms and snow to end winter: August 20-

Post by **hillybilly** » Thu Aug 29, 2024 7:16 pm

Nice day here today inbetween fronts. Tomorrow is back to wild

I’m loving the snow, waves and rain, but winds are pretty full on. Lost a few big branches in the garden this week, but nothing beyond that. Trees down here are going to be pretty vulnerable to blowing over with the soils saturated. Most areas around here have had 200 to 300mm in the last six to eight week.

Going to be wild in Victoria with winds reaching warning levels. Showers, but not so cold. A solid storm surge on the coasts.

Expecting some serious coastal erosion at the end of the system. Obs last night showed a 17.8m wave off Tassies west coast which is the biggest in a decade which shows the wave energy.

Post by **hillybilly** » Fri Aug 30, 2024 6:41 am

Pressure down here dropped to a phenomenal 976hPa. Not quite a record by quite exceptional. Haven’t looked at the local beaches but that would typically translate into at least a 50cm storm surge. Fortunately high tide this morning isn’t very high. Winds were strong here on the coast but under thick cloud things didn’t mix down that well overnight, so nothing like the 120+km/hr gusts at elevation.

Solid rainband though a bit shreaded by topography. Another 13mm here, though more like 25mm on the hills. Out west another dumper. Flooding is now starting to become an issue, though it’s good for the hydro dams which have been struggling. Unfortunately some warm air has wrapped in so mostly rain overnight on the ranges here and on the mainland.

Clearing for the next 12 hours before the next front Saturday morning, then another Sunday, then Monday then Tuesday. The last couple finally put some cold air over Victoria. Could see snow briefly dip to spots like Mt Macedon. Sadly too late for the snow resorts with Baw Baw and Buller shutting down. Maybe enough to keep Hotham and Falls open for another week.

Btw some crazy numbers back in SA and WA. 38C at Nullarbor and 34C at Ceduna. So many records smashed. Hard working people on farms and in the ski resorts are watching their lives turned upside down as our weather becomes warmer and wilder.

snowfall · Post by **snowfall** » Fri Aug 30, 2024 9:02 am

Gordon wrote: ↑Thu Aug 29, 2024 11:09 am Terrible winds here too - my least favourite weather (not that I get to choose it...). Suspect I'm not alone!

Definitely my least favourite too. It's probably the only downside to living on the ranges, which otherwise has amazing seasonal weather. Managed 1mm here overnight following another round of stormy winds. Rinse and repeat for the next week!

Didjman · Post by **Didjman** » Fri Aug 30, 2024 11:34 am

Here in Wallan, I recorded a max gust of 90klm/hr just after 4 am. Was a one off extreme gust - maybe a rotor off the hill where the BoM have their AWS 5klm north?? Baro dropped to 994Hpa.

Skywalker · Post by **Skywalker** » Fri Aug 30, 2024 11:45 am

So over this garbage windy filth. It's just relentless. The tiny amount of rain that does fall is immediately evaporated away.

Heading down to the Island tonight for a few days. Will be fair to say that I'll be staying away from the North facing beach in Cowes.

Post by **hillybilly** » Fri Aug 30, 2024 6:43 pm

This system is just crazy. Another big storm surge down here tonight with huge waves. Same in Victoria. Seeing photos of massive damage on the west facing beaches. Sounds like there have been some infragravity waves with this major flooding event hitting Gippsland https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-30/ ... /104289450

Looking a pressure, quite a few stations down here recorded their lowest pressure on record this morning for August with widespread values in the 1970s. Stats for Hobart which has a really long record puts the values the last two 9am reading around the 1 in 50 years levels. And we’ve got two more exceptionally reading still to come. Can’t imagine how unusual this sequence with day after day of gales to storm force winds and pressures around 980hPa is. We are unbelievably lucky that tides this week have been low otherwise this would have been an absolutely unprecedented coastal flood event.

Lots of showers here today, with 3mm more but over 20 mm on the mountains to the wet. More snow on the mountain after rain last night.

Next 24 hours brings two more strong fronts so foul winds for Victoria and lots of rain and gales down here. Flooding starting to pop up on lots of rivers here now. Sunday is a repeat, but showers become more extensive for Victoria.

Post by **hillybilly** » Sat Aug 31, 2024 6:17 am

Cracking front this morning for TAS. Numerous cracks of thunder and heavy rainfall. Another 10mm in the gauge and monthly now sat on 105mm. Looking at Hobart the combined July-August total is the highest since 1990.

Out west best falls in the past 24 hours are around 50mm, with many sites over 200mm for the month. Could be some record lurking, but think most sites will fall a bit below their highest in record for the month.

We’ve got another strong front through here this afternoon, then another Sunday arvo. They will go into the September total. Not out of the question that we could have our September average by Monday evening.

On the mountain been dumping snow with another foot or so pilling up. Best up there now in two years.

Some showers for southern Victoria today, but main feature will be the winds. Sundays front into Monday looks wetter and colder for the mainland. Meanwhile, record heat to our north with Queensland possible in line for their first 40C winters day, and Brisbane forecast to see 35C. Those numbers are just ridiculous and almost all sites in the southeast would be seeing a record today if it weren’t for the crazy crazy heatwave of 2009. I remember when that one hit not believing mid 30s were possible down into NSW and yet here we are again challenging that event

Gordon · Post by **Gordon** » Sat Aug 31, 2024 2:31 pm

hillybilly wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2024 6:17 am Cracking front this morning for TAS. Numerous cracks of thunder and heavy rainfall. Another 10mm in the gauge and monthly now sat on 105mm. Looking at Hobart the combined July-August total is the highest since 1990.

Out west best falls in the past 24 hours are around 50mm, with many sites over 200mm for the month. Could be some record lurking, but think most sites will fall a bit below their highest in record for the month.

We’ve got another strong front through here this afternoon, then another Sunday arvo. They will go into the September total. Not out of the question that we could have our September average by Monday evening.

On the mountain been dumping snow with another foot or so pilling up. Best up there now in two years.

As much as I'm a wee bit jealous (less than half our August average here) I'm delighted to see Tassie copping all that rain and snow - order has been restored. I spend a bit of time in the highlands every year, and I'm looking forward to seeing lots of water lying around next visit.

Post by **hillybilly** » Sat Aug 31, 2024 7:43 pm

Crazy winds on the front here this evening. Insane for about five minutes. 172km/hr at Kunanyi. Our nearest station at Dennes point which is about the km away hit 143km/hr. I reckon here would have been at least 120km/hr.

Another 8mm in the gauge.

Went hiking to Shipsterns Bluff today to check out the waves. Biggest sets were around 6m. Swell is a bit too westerly but still wild. I can’t imagine how big it must be out west. Here’s one of the sets. Was snowing down to 200m as we head out, but then cleared up a reasonable arvo down there.

Gordon · Post by **Gordon** » Sun Sep 01, 2024 10:52 am

1mm to start the month; along with more relentless wind. The chainsaw is getting a bit of work now.

Hope everyone is okay, especially hillybilly - Tassie getting smashed with wind and rain. Next 24 hours will be a challenge for most of us, but especially the Vic coast and Tassie.

stevco123 · Post by **stevco123** » Sun Sep 01, 2024 11:12 am

Very windy overnight and still going on now. Today is meant to be a lull day according to BoM.
If this is a lull, I'm terrified to find out what tonight will be like. BoM going for potential 130km/h winds here.

Australis(Shell3155) · Sun Sep 01, 2024 5:38 pm

Plenty of watch and acts..

Happy Fathers Day for all the Dads, Dudes that get out of doing dishes tonight..

Didjman · Post by **Didjman** » Sun Sep 01, 2024 6:18 pm

Australis(Shell3155) wrote: ↑Sun Sep 01, 2024 5:38 pm Dudes that get out of doing dishes tonight..

We went out to celebrate - but like others, I get my hands wet often too, "Dish Fairy" as we call it
Stay safe all!!

Post by **hillybilly** » Sun Sep 01, 2024 6:30 pm

Wow this even just keeps giving. Another 16mm here today and still tonight’s front to come. Event total is now over 100mm. Total of about 250mm since mid July. Dams are full, tanks full, and horse paddock flooded. Country here really needed a good wet spell so no complaints.

Still wintery so went for a hike across the Kunanyi plateau this morning. Was a cracking blizzard up there with near a metre of snow at the top. Big drifts. Feel like temperature as down below -15C. Few photos below. Not often I feel cold but I did up there today.

Last major front of the sequence tonight with heavy showers tending to rain. Chance of small hail and rumbles. More heavy falls down here. Lots of showers for Victoria’s south and ranges, but not particularly heavy. Decent shot of cold air so chance of some snow at Macedon and down here around Ferntree.

Post by **hillybilly** » Sun Sep 01, 2024 8:57 pm

Btw seeing some massive erosion in Bass Strait. Terrible damage. Yet too reports from Fairhaven and Apollo Bay where some significant structure are at risk. Sea level rise makes erosion much worse, so this isn’t something that’s going to get better, unfortunately.

This one’s Inverloch Beach

Post by **hillybilly** » Mon Sep 02, 2024 8:28 am

7mm more overnight. Looks to be clearing now. Event on 100mm give or take which is about one and a half months worth of rain

September total already on nearly 40mm two days in. Very happy with it, and can now look to a good spring here for the garden and farmers.

Mixed bag for Victoria, with bumper falls on the coastal fringe but just wind and warmth now cool inland. Out west and northwest farmers must be struggling. Anyone got insights on how the season is tracking crop and pasture wise?

StratoBendigo · Post by **StratoBendigo** » Mon Sep 02, 2024 8:40 am

Crops in Vic are quite stressed. Anecdotally, Mallee is bad, Nhill -Rainbow area is ok, Quambatook to Bendigo not bad, especially in the South.

An actual day of winter weather today. First one in weeks.

Macedonian · Post by **Macedonian** » Mon Sep 02, 2024 9:31 am

No real damage from wind overnight at my place. Snow started falling around 8.30am but has cleared off now. Low was 2.5°.

snowfall · Post by **snowfall** » Mon Sep 02, 2024 10:03 am

Managed to get through relatively unscathed here. But geez, it was wild, and still gusting strongly. We lost power twice through the night, but it's back on now.

The front came through with a bang too, around 3am. Very heavy rain, beating like crazy on the windows with the wind. Managed to get 7mm from that. A few showers about today, but expecting conditions to gradually ease as the day goes on, before the wind fires up again Wednesday-Friday.

Hope everyone got through OK.

Gordon · Post by **Gordon** » Mon Sep 02, 2024 10:05 am

Sounds like the warning for destructive winds in the Macedon Ranges, which came through on Vic Emergency yesterday evening, didn't quite eventuate. Good to hear!

Half a tree down in our front yard this morning, and lots of big branches and a few trees down between here and Bungaree. Certainly the worst damage in the date range around here. Incredibly though, our power is still on (touch wood!).

5mm in the gauge and a few wet flakes in the rain this morning.