Australia facing ‘prolonged’ wet weather as three separate rain bands and storms hit

Australia is set for more wet weather in the coming days with three separate rain bands forecast to end the recent south-east cold snap.

Angus Hines, senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, said it would be a “showery weekend” across the entire east coast of New South Wales and Queensland.

“There’s a few different areas of rain we’re keeping a close eye on,” he said.

“It’s not likely to be very heavy with significant flooding or severe weather, but it is a prolonged stretch of wet and showery weather.”

A band of rain is also expected to develop across central parts of Australia, parts of South Australia and northern pastoral districts and western parts of Queensland, with thunderstorms expected to expand on Saturday.

From Sunday, the band will drift eastwards to Adelaide, spreading through much of central Queensland and northern NSW, including unseasonably high rainfall in the eastern outback.

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By Tuesday, Hines said, the band would hit the east coast and bring another spell of wet weather to parts of NSW, including Sydney, parts of Victoria and Tasmania.

“Many of our capitals will see a wet couple of days as the band transitions across eastern states,” Hines said.

In Western Australia, another winter cold front was expected to arrive late Saturday or Sunday morning, bringing rain, strong winds and a chance of thunderstorms to large parts of the state, including Perth.

“There will be elevated coastal conditions and high tides and it could arrive with a bang,” Hines said. “But it races through quickly and will slide off to the south and weaken.”

While only five to 10mm was expected across the nation’s cities, Hines said because it had been so wet even a small amount of train would have fields waterlogged and cause sports cancellations, as well as travel and transportation impacts.

After a string of chilly nights for south-east states, with a high-pressure system causing temperatures to dramatically fall, the cloud cover was expected to bring a much-needed reprieve to the cold.

After dropping to 1C on Wednesday, Melbourne’s temperatures will rise from next week and not fall below 5C, while Sydney will not fall below 10C.

The cold weather was particularly notable for part of Tasmania, with the mercury dropping to -13.5C in Liawenee on Wednesday evening, and remaining below -12C for three days.

It was a record low for the state in July according to Weatherzone, attributed to an unusually strong high pressure system.

It comes as the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) anticipates a wetter then normal winter and spring across parts of eastern Australia, WA and SA, in addition to higher than normal temperatures.

Last year was Australia’s driest August to October on record. The forecast is linked to a recent move from the BoM to a La Niña Watch, with signs it may form in the Pacific Ocean later in 2024.