Thursday 4 August 2022 01:43 AM Weather: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane: What time major storm will strike trends now
A new weather event is striking Australia that could bring even more rain after one of the wettest starts to the year for the east coast on record.
The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed on Wednesday that a negative Indian Ocean Dipole event is underway, which increases rain and wind over the country during winter and spring.
The wild weather has already set in, with five states in line to be battered by rain and damaging winds courtesy of one of the most powerful cold fronts to hit the nation this winter.
WA was slammed with the extreme weather event earlier this week before it moved across to South Australia and Victoria. NSW and Tasmania are next in line for the weekend.
Houses had their roofs ripped off in Perth while the severe weather cut power to parts of Perth Airport, pushing back check-ins, flights, and leading to the delay of the city's flight schedule, after a high-voltage transmission pole was damaged.
The unprecedented rain and record-breaking floods which have ravaged Australia's east coast this year could be here to stay, with new research revealing climate change has loaded our atmosphere with more moisture. Pictured: Sydneysiders brave the rain
In WA, destructive winds wreaked havoc with tress knocked down and fences blown over. At one point there were some 35,000 people without power in WA but that number is understood to have dropped to around 10,000
In NSW, a severe weather warning has been issued for southeast of the state, with a cold front forecast to bring heavy rain, damaging winds and possible flooding.
The Bureau of Meteorology says heavy rain may lead to flash flooding in the Illawarra, Southern Tablelands, the Hunter, South Coast, Central Tablelands, North West Slopes and Plains, Central West Slopes and Plains, South West Slopes, Snowy Mountains, and Riverina.
The Snowy Mountains and the south western slopes could cop six-hourly rainfall totals between 45 and 60mm on Thursday, with localised falls up to 100mm possible
Wind gusts could peak around 90km/h over the ranges to the west of the ACT, as well as the eastern Great Dividing Range from Bombala to south of Crookwell, extending north to the Blue Mountains.
'Saturated soils in the Central Tablelands and Illawarra bring an increased risk of gusty winds toppling trees and powerlines,' the BOM said.
A flood watch is current for areas including Braidwood, Goulburn, Bombala, Tumbarumba, Tumut, Khancoban and Thredbo Top Station.
NSW SES superintendent Barry Griffiths said volunteers in Wagga Wagga were preparing for riverine flooding of the Murrumbidgee River around Tumut and Gundagai.
'We have mobilised two high clearance vehicles, a fixed wing and been engaged with the local government agencies in those affected areas since Monday,' he said on the Nine Network on Thursday.
There are a number of strong wind warnings for northern parts of Tasmania, as well a several minor flood warnings for the state.
Emergency crews across the state responded to more than 300 call-outs on Tuesday as several homes in Port Kendi and in Joondalup north of Perth suffered extensive damage
Thousands of Victorian households and businesses were without power yesterday after winds took out power lines.
AusNet Services reported the most unplanned outages on Wednesday morning, with more than 15,000 as of about 9am. The outages were significant east of Melbourne and in the state's far southeast.
By about 11am, the number of properties without power had dwindled only slightly to nearly 12,900.
Victoria's
