Category: Posts EN

Major Winter Storm Smashes Southeast Australia with Flooding Rains, Winds, and Snow

Written by Team Morecast

 

A powerful early winter storm is crawling up the southeast coast of Australia today, bringing abnormally cold and moist air into Victoria and New South Wales. A steady stream of heavy rain has been funneling into the Gippsland region of eastern Victoria since Wednesday. Rainfall totals there have exceeded 200 mm in many areas, leading to serious flooding. Rivers and creeks have risen swiftly overnight with several gauges at major flood levels, the highest in nearly a decade. These surging waters are flooding homes and businesses in many towns, leading to hurried evacuations. The State Emergency Service (SES) has fielded nearly 6,000 calls for assistance. Numerous roads are now closed, and officials are concerned that major arteries like the Princes Highway could be next. Most of the heaviest rainfall has already fallen, but runoff from smaller tributaries could cause significant flooding issues along the region’s bigger rivers in the coming days.

 

 

Winds have also been a widespread hazard late Wednesday into Thursday morning over central and eastern Victoria, including the Melbourne metro. Gusts in the city peaked in the 70-100 kph range, but surrounding higher elevations saw gusts as high as 125 kph. These high winds combined with soil weakened by the heavy rains have led to numerous downed trees and power lines. Hundreds of thousands are reported without power. Flooded roads will only delay repair and power restoration efforts. The story further north in the Dividing Ranges of eastern New South Wales is anomalous low-level snow. Parts of the capital district of Canberra saw unusual snow flurries with a dusting of accumulation on Wednesday. However, surrounding higher elevations are seeing much heavier totals, upwards of 50 cm by week’s end. The heavy snows combined with high winds are causing dangerous blizzard conditions with high drifts and near-zero visibilities. Lead photo courtesy Facebook user Melina Bath.

 

Cyclone Seroja Bearing Down on the Western Australia Coast

Written by Team Morecast

 

Residents of Western Australia are bracing for the arrival of Cyclone Seroja later this weekend. Evacuation orders have been issued for the outer islands. Seroja has been meandering over the Indian Ocean for the past few days, but is expected to turn southeast and pick up speed later today. Seroja will make landfall near Geraldton before racing diagonally across south-central WA.

 

 

 

Seroja affected Timor and Indonesia last weekend as a slow-moving tropical low. Torrential rainfall lead to severe flooding and landslides, destroying numerous homes and roads. As of Friday, the death toll had risen up to 167 in Indonesia alone with dozens more killed in East Timor. Thousands more have been left homeless. The prime minister of East Timor, Taur Matan Rauk, called the floods one of the most devastating natural disasters in decades.

 

 

Cyclone Seroja has intensified this week over the favorably warm waters of the eastern Indian Ocean. Another short-lived cyclone named Odette was recently downgraded just to the northeast. Odette is being absorbed by the larger and more powerful Seroja. Once this process is complete, Seroja will accelerate towards the Western Australia coast, making landfall late Sunday near Geraldton. As it picks up speed, the main threat will increasingly be damaging winds, especially near and north of the track of the cyclone (see graphic above). Gusts up to 150 kph will lead to downed trees and powerlines. Power outages will be common, some long-lived, especially in rural areas. There will be a significant storm surge as well, especially near or just north of Geraldton and up into the Shark Bay region. Heavy rain and freshwater flooding will be less of a concern due to the fast forward motion of the storm, but some minor flooding could occur in poor drainage areas.

Days of Torrential Rain Lead to Major Flooding in New South Wales!

Written by Team Morecast

A persistent pattern of heavy rainfall has led to record-breaking rainfall totals over much of eastern New South Wales in the past week. Although the rain has finally diminished, runoff is filling up rivers, leading to major flooding. Thousands of evacuations have been forced to keep local residents safe from the roiling floodwaters.

 

 

An upper low was nearly stationary over northern New South Wales from late last week through the weekend. Meanwhile, persistent onshore flow brought rich tropical moisture in from the north and east. This combination led to several days worth of abundant rainfall. Some stations in eastern NSW saw 5-day totals approach 1,000 mm (see table above). The station at Redoak tallied 371 mm in one day! These widespread heavy rains have already lead some rivers to rise to major flooding levels. Whole communities have been inundated, forcing at least 18,000 people to evacuate their homes. And humans aren’t the only species fleeing to avoid the rising waters (see tweet below).

 

 

 

Although the rain has come to an end, water will continue to flow into the major rivers with additional rises through the next few days. Additional evacuations are standing by to evacuate as a result. Clean-up is predicted to last for several weeks, if not through April. Agricultural authorities suggest the soaking rains will hamper summertime crop yields, but could prove beneficial in the longer term for wheat and other fall to winter crops.

Tornadic Supercells Plow Through the Mid-South Wednesday!

Written by Team Morecast

 

An outbreak of severe storms, including several long-lived, destructive tornadoes, tore through portions of the Mid-South on Wednesday. More than 20 reports of tornadoes were confirmed, most of them in Mississippi and Alabama. The storm system responsible for the severe weather will head east for Thursday, bringing more destruction to portions of the Southeast.

 

 

 

Severe storms broke out first in parts of Texas and Oklahoma late on Tuesday. These mainly produced large hail and localized high winds. An influx of warm Gulf moisture on Wednesday helped set the stage for tornadic storms. The Storm Prediction Center felt confident enough in the outbreak potential to include a high risk for severe storms in their outlooks, something they typically do only a few times a year. For parts of Alabama, the high risk outlook was justified. At least two long-lived and severe tornadoes rolled over the state. One moved near Tuscaloosa in the mid-afternoon, overturning cars, uprooting trees, and flattening homes (see tweet pictures above).

 

 

More severe storms are likely for Georgia and the Carolinas on Thursday. Destructive winds will be a widespread concern. Large hail and isolated tornadoes will also occur with the stronger cells. A squall line will rip across the region during the day as depicted by the blue dashed time lines in the graphic above. Other, isolated supercells will pose a threat for winds, hail and tornadoes ahead of the squall line, especially over eastern North Carolina. Residents of this region should be ready to move to shelter as soon as emergency alerts are issued for their location. Lead photo courtesy Brad Goddard, National Weather Service.