When we first saw this image of Melburnians on Middle Park beach, we thought the black thing was an upside down labrador which had blown off its chain. We now realise it's apparently just a jacket. Either way, it illustrates wild weather. Picture: Nicole Garmston. Source: News Corp Australia
THE cold front has hit Melbourne. Tullamarine Airport plummeted from 18 degrees to 7.7 in a matter of minutes this evening, while the Yarra river is bursting its banks.
The Yarra is not overflowing because of rain, but due to a surge caused by incredibly strong winds which have buffeted much of south east Australia today.
Wild weather has blown off roofs, knocked over trees and left 15,000 Victorian homes and businesses in the dark.
A shop roof was blown off and became tangled in powerlines in the Latrobe Valley as a cold front moved across the state on Thursday.
The SES received more than 1670 calls for help, including to a supermarket car park in Bayswater where a tree fell onto 10 cars.
Power company SP AusNet, which covers large parts of regional Victoria, had 13,000 customers blacked out on Thursday night.
An SP AusNet spokeswoman said homes and businesses were steadily being switched back on as crews repaired fallen powerlines.
SES spokesman Daniel Burton said volunteers had been responding mainly to fallen trees and wind damage.
"Four residents of four Gippsland properties have been relocated due to property damage," Mr Burton told AAP on Thursday.
He said the worst of the strong winds appeared to have passed in metropolitan areas.
A shop roof was blown off at Newborough in the Latrobe Valley and was hanging from nearby powerlines.
A home in nearby Mirboo North suffered significant damage when a large tree fell into a room, a SES spokeswoman said.
Further east, horse races at Sale were cancelled because of safety fears, with the starting barriers straining on an angle against the strong winds.
Trains were suspended for several hours on the Ringwood line after a tree fell across the tracks at Ringwood East.
The Bureau of Meteorology forecasts winds of about 130km/h to 140km/h above alpine areas and between 90km/h to 110km/h for lower parts of the state, including the metropolitan area.
Colder temperatures will persist into the weekend and snow is forecast for areas 500 metres above sea level on Friday.
Meanwhile, strong winds have felled trees across Tasmania, killing a woman and leaving 10,000 homes and businesses without power.
The 63-year-old woman and her husband were clearing trees outside their Launceston house on Thursday when another tree was blown down, trapping her.
The man managed to free his wife but she could not be saved.
More than 10,000 homes and businesses are without power across Tasmania and the SES says its resources are stretched trying to cope.
TasNetworks spokeswoman Ann Kile said more homes are expected to lose power overnight as winds up to 130 km/h are forecast for the state's south.
"There remain a number of wires down, poles down and trees on lines from the earlier storms," Ms Kile said on Thursday night.
More than 21,000 properties were blacked out on Thursday afternoon, mainly across the north of the state.
Tasmania Police Inspector Michael Johnston said people should stay indoors and travel only when it was essential.
"We would urge people who don't need to make a trip tonight to stay at home or stay where they are," Insp Johnston said.
Inspector Johnston said the woman who died and her husband were working outdoors in high winds when the tree came down.
"They had a number of trees fall on their property and they were in the process of clearing those when a further tree fell and struck her," Insp Johnston told reporters.
"She was trapped under the tree, her husband was able to cut some of the tree away and get her out, but unfortunately she was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics."
SES regional manager Mhairi Revie said it was proving difficult to cope with the number of damaged and torn roofs.
"Certainly our resources are stretched," Ms Revie said.
"When it comes to roofing crews, it takes a significant amount of training and expertise to get up onto roofs safely and to conduct their work in this type of environment."
A flight carrying Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey was unable to land in Launceston because of the weather and was diverted to Hobart.
Mr Abbott and Mr Hockey instead took part in the Tasmanian Economic Council meeting via teleconference.
Train lines across the north-west and west coast were also affected by the wild weather, with TasRail suspending train services on the Melba Line and west of Western Junction.
At least 15 Tasmanian schools will close on Friday as high winds and the risk of flash flooding keep children at home.
FROM EARLIER TODAY...
THEY call it the hairdryer.
It's a gale-force westerly wind that heats up the south east of Australia in late winter, tearing the snow off the ski slopes like paint stripper and giving east-coast residents an early, teasing taste of spring.
Then it slams the door in your face, mocking your T-shirt and shorts with an Antarctic blast that sends you scurrying for your winter woollies.
Storm chaser Hannah took this from her balcony in Docklands just as the cold front hit Melbourne this afternoon. Picture credit: Hannah Weddell Source: News Corp Australia
No, the weather hasn't gone mad. It's just gotten a little extreme.
It's also gotten extremely scary in some parts of the country. Launceston Police said a person had died as a result of injuries sustained when a tree fell in high winds about 12.30pm today. Strong-to-gale-fore winds will increase across much of south east Australia in the coming 24 hours.
So what's going on?
This is actually a classic setup for the second half of winter, and we're going to borrow a few weather charts from the Bureau of Meteorology website to explain all that.
This first chart shows the current weather situation right about now.
Lunchtime Thursday July 31. Source: NewsComAu
See the big low pressure system below Tasmania? The first thing to understand is that air circulates clockwise around a low.
The wavy lines, called isobars, help show you which way the air is flowing. So as you can see, right now there's a bunch of air flowing across NSW and Victoria which has more or less come from central Australia. As you'd imagine, that air is pretty warm.
You should also know that the closer the isboars are together, the windier it is. And those isobars are really close together. Thredbo in the NSW Snowy Mountains has had gusts in excess of 100 km/h for each of the last three days. In the last hour or so before this story was published, wind speeds touched 124 km/h. Mt Hotham in Victoria just hit 113 km/h. Eek.
As mentioned, all that wind plus warmish temperatures create a real hairdryer effect. That's why the snow in the Aussie Alps has gone from this...
The Aussie snowfields a couple of weeks back Source: NewsComAu
To this...
The same scene after three days of hairdryer. Source: NewsComAu
But the cold is about to return with a vengeance. Have a look at the projcted weather map for Friday.
See what we mean? Source: NewsComAu
See how the cold front will have crossed the south east by late Friday morning? The front is the line with the black "shark fins" on it. Now the air impacting south east Australia is coming from a cold place way down in the Southern Ocean. That means good snow for the Alps, plus snowfalls to fairly low levels in NSW and Victoria. The suburbs of Hobart and Canberra may even see a few flakes Friday.
It also means your taste of spring is over. For now.
In summary, the weather has not gone mad. Cold outbreaks like this with big surges of warm air ahead of them are really common this time of year. The strong winds are common too. Be careful out there, people.
- with AAP
Got a wild weather pic? Tweet us at @newscomauHQ or @antsharwood and we'll upload the best ones into this story!
Gigantic waves crash into Mornington Harbour on July 31, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. Temperatures dropped and strong winds of over 100mk/h hit Melbourne this afternoon, bringing rain and hail across the state. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images
