Millions of Aussies about to cop more wild weather
Australia is set for more wild weather this week - but of a different kind after torrential rain and flooding buffeted NSW.
The Bureau of Meteorology says that a cold front is due to sweep into south-eastern Australia, bringing rain, destructive winds and even snow.
With winter just a week away, meteorologist Jonathan How described it as the most powerful cold front of the year.
The cold front is moving in from the Southern Ocean and is expected to make its mark on southern Australia on Sunday and Monday.
The BOM says that residents in southern states can expect strong northerly winds and there is the risk of dust storms across the agricultural regions of South Australia and Victoria.
Strong winds are forecast for large parts of South Australia, Victoria and south eastern NSW over the next few days. Picture: Supplied/BOM.
On Sunday night, the cold front will reach Adelaide, bringing rain, strong winds and thunderstorms.
Ten to 25mm of rain is expected in the South Australian capital on Monday, with showers easing by the middle of the week.
The bureau has issued strong wind and gale warnings for large swathes of South Australia and Victoria for Sunday.
The BOM also warns that winds over 90km/h are expected in the NSW Snowy Mountains and alpine regions.
Conditions are expected to ease across south-eastern NSW on Sunday before northerly winds pick up again the following day.
On Monday, the cold front will push across the rest of south eastern Australia.
'We see these very strong winds coming up from the south, with widespread damaging winds expected to across much of south east South Australia, Victoria, and also New South Wales,' Mr How said.
Sydney is expected to be mostly sunny on Sunday, but rain is forecast to return next week.
Tuesday is expected to be cold, with sub-10 degree minimums expected in Adelaide and Melbourne, with possible snow in the alps.
Warragamba Dam spill during a spill last year. Picture: NCA NewsWire.
DAM SPILLS
Meanwhile, Sydney's Warragamba Dam has spilled after a week of heavy rain.
WaterNSW said that Warragamba Dam - which services much of Sydney - reached 100 per cent capacity on Saturday afternoon.
It said that inflows into the dam were slowing as rain clears, however it was now at capacity.
'Residents are reminded to remain alert to warnings,' WaterNSW said in a statement.
'If you are downstream of the dam, stay away from fast flowing or deep water near waterways and floodplains.'
An outflow of 20 gigalitres is expected on Sunday.
78.7mm of rain has fallen across the Warragamba catchment over the last week, according to WaterNSW.
Several other smaller dams across greater Sydney are already spilling including Woronora, Nepean, Cataract, Avon and Tallowa.
Warragamba spilled three times last year, in April, May and June.
The clean up has begun in Taree. Picture: Scott Calvin/ NewsWire.
CLEAN UP BEGINS
The NSW SES says the clean-up is beginning, while they are looking to resupply residents that have been cut off due to rising waters during record floods across the NSW Mid North Coast and Hunter regions.
NSW SES acting assistant commissioner Allison Flaxman said they estimate 10,000 properties have been impacted by the floods.
'As the river levels begin to subside, NSW SES members and our partner agencies are today commencing the task of assessing properties which have been flood affected,' she said.
The SES is warning residents to let damage assessments take place before anyone tries to return home.
'It's important we need to evaluate the extent of property and infrastructure damage to ensure your property is safe to return to,' Ms Flaxman said.
At the same time she said the SES will continue to carry out re-supply operations of essential foods and medications to stranded residents.
'The NSW SES has carried out 200 resupply requests in the last two days,' she said.
'There are still many communities that remain isolated, with 50,000 people estimated to be impacted.'
Read related topics: Weather
Steve Zemek
Court reporter
Steve Zemek began his career in his native Queensland before moving to Sydney with Australian Associated Press in 2014. He worked as an NRL journalist for five seasons, covering the game all over Australia and in New Zealand before making a career pivot towards court reporting in 2019. He joined NCA NewsWire in mid 2020 as a Sydney-based court reporter where he has covered some of the state's biggest cases.
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The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
The photos that captured a disaster: 18 years on from the Pasha Bulker storm
Ask any local on the street and chances are they'll tell you where they were on June 8, 2007 when the massive 76,000-tonne Pasha Bulker ran aground on Nobbys Beach in a wild tempest of fierce seas, roaring gale winds, and pounding rain. That month is still one of the wettest on record for Newcastle, as nearly half a metre of rain fell over Nobbys Head, eclipsing the Bureau of Meteorology's 161-year average for the month over four times over. The city had woken up to a rotten morning. The beaches were pummelled by a merciless swell, whipped under tearing winds and a pouring rain. Veteran newsman Greg Wendt was waiting in the gale for his morning coffee at the Merewether Surf Club when he caught word of a ship might have been in trouble off the coast. As he made his way into work at the Newcastle Herald offices, the phones were ringing off the hook. The Pasha Bulker had been fighting her way up the coast, battered by a 10-metre swell. The ship was unloaded and sitting high in the water, and her captain was fighting hard to get the propeller to find purchase. By the time Wendt arrived on the waterside with photographer David Wicks, the untethered ship was floundering. "The captain of the ship was trying to reverse it and then jerk the bow into the teeth of the storm, so he was reversing down towards Nobbys," Wendt reported for the paper on the 10th anniversary of the storm. "There is a great shot that (former Herald photographer Darren Pateman) got of the Pasha Bulker being hit by a wave and was bent almost over the rocks at the Cowrie Hole. "I thought that's where it is going to end up. But it kept going in reverse towards Nobbys at a rate of knots. "This wave just swamped it and all you could see was a bit of the funnel and a little bit of the bow and then it disappeared in the murk towards Nobbys.'' The ship ultimately ran aground on Nobbys Beach as its crew sheltered together inside the swaying 225-metre vessel, before they were rescued from the deck by a pair of Westpac Rescue Helicopters. Notably among them, crewman Greg Ramplin, who could be seen descending into the tempest's teeth countless times to winch the crew to safety, and veteran lifeguard Warren Smith who leapt on board a jet ski with a few fellow surf life savers to brave the ocean and patrol from the water. After 90 minutes, the extraordinary rescue - which continues to be lauded as one of the great maritime operations - was over. Ramplin collapsed, utterly spent, on the sodden turf outside the surf club. The dramatic events of June 8 preceded more than a year of investigation and scrutiny by the national transport watchdog, which finally found the bulk of blame for the grounding rested on the ship's master, who either failed or didn't properly understand how to ballast the ship for bad weather. The investigation, which prompted significant changes to the Port of Newcastle's arrival and vessel queuing protocols, found that most of the 27 ships, including the Pasha Bulker, that had tried to ride out the storm in the port's coal queue dragged anchors in the gale before the Pasha's master attempted to haul anchor and adjust the ship's course ultimately leading to the grounding just after 9am. "A number of masters did not appropriately ballast their ships," investigators concluded in 2008, among a litany of findings and recommendations. "It was also found that the substantial ship queue increased the risks in the anchorage and resulted in another near grounding, a near collision and a number of close-quarters situations at the time." The Japanese-owned ship was renamed Drake for a time, and then Anthea in 2018, and was last reported to be off the coast of Brazil this week en route to the Port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. Ask any local on the street and chances are they'll tell you where they were on June 8, 2007 when the massive 76,000-tonne Pasha Bulker ran aground on Nobbys Beach in a wild tempest of fierce seas, roaring gale winds, and pounding rain. That month is still one of the wettest on record for Newcastle, as nearly half a metre of rain fell over Nobbys Head, eclipsing the Bureau of Meteorology's 161-year average for the month over four times over. The city had woken up to a rotten morning. The beaches were pummelled by a merciless swell, whipped under tearing winds and a pouring rain. Veteran newsman Greg Wendt was waiting in the gale for his morning coffee at the Merewether Surf Club when he caught word of a ship might have been in trouble off the coast. As he made his way into work at the Newcastle Herald offices, the phones were ringing off the hook. The Pasha Bulker had been fighting her way up the coast, battered by a 10-metre swell. The ship was unloaded and sitting high in the water, and her captain was fighting hard to get the propeller to find purchase. By the time Wendt arrived on the waterside with photographer David Wicks, the untethered ship was floundering. "The captain of the ship was trying to reverse it and then jerk the bow into the teeth of the storm, so he was reversing down towards Nobbys," Wendt reported for the paper on the 10th anniversary of the storm. "There is a great shot that (former Herald photographer Darren Pateman) got of the Pasha Bulker being hit by a wave and was bent almost over the rocks at the Cowrie Hole. "I thought that's where it is going to end up. But it kept going in reverse towards Nobbys at a rate of knots. "This wave just swamped it and all you could see was a bit of the funnel and a little bit of the bow and then it disappeared in the murk towards Nobbys.'' The ship ultimately ran aground on Nobbys Beach as its crew sheltered together inside the swaying 225-metre vessel, before they were rescued from the deck by a pair of Westpac Rescue Helicopters. Notably among them, crewman Greg Ramplin, who could be seen descending into the tempest's teeth countless times to winch the crew to safety, and veteran lifeguard Warren Smith who leapt on board a jet ski with a few fellow surf life savers to brave the ocean and patrol from the water. After 90 minutes, the extraordinary rescue - which continues to be lauded as one of the great maritime operations - was over. Ramplin collapsed, utterly spent, on the sodden turf outside the surf club. The dramatic events of June 8 preceded more than a year of investigation and scrutiny by the national transport watchdog, which finally found the bulk of blame for the grounding rested on the ship's master, who either failed or didn't properly understand how to ballast the ship for bad weather. The investigation, which prompted significant changes to the Port of Newcastle's arrival and vessel queuing protocols, found that most of the 27 ships, including the Pasha Bulker, that had tried to ride out the storm in the port's coal queue dragged anchors in the gale before the Pasha's master attempted to haul anchor and adjust the ship's course ultimately leading to the grounding just after 9am. "A number of masters did not appropriately ballast their ships," investigators concluded in 2008, among a litany of findings and recommendations. "It was also found that the substantial ship queue increased the risks in the anchorage and resulted in another near grounding, a near collision and a number of close-quarters situations at the time." The Japanese-owned ship was renamed Drake for a time, and then Anthea in 2018, and was last reported to be off the coast of Brazil this week en route to the Port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. Ask any local on the street and chances are they'll tell you where they were on June 8, 2007 when the massive 76,000-tonne Pasha Bulker ran aground on Nobbys Beach in a wild tempest of fierce seas, roaring gale winds, and pounding rain. That month is still one of the wettest on record for Newcastle, as nearly half a metre of rain fell over Nobbys Head, eclipsing the Bureau of Meteorology's 161-year average for the month over four times over. The city had woken up to a rotten morning. The beaches were pummelled by a merciless swell, whipped under tearing winds and a pouring rain. Veteran newsman Greg Wendt was waiting in the gale for his morning coffee at the Merewether Surf Club when he caught word of a ship might have been in trouble off the coast. As he made his way into work at the Newcastle Herald offices, the phones were ringing off the hook. The Pasha Bulker had been fighting her way up the coast, battered by a 10-metre swell. The ship was unloaded and sitting high in the water, and her captain was fighting hard to get the propeller to find purchase. By the time Wendt arrived on the waterside with photographer David Wicks, the untethered ship was floundering. "The captain of the ship was trying to reverse it and then jerk the bow into the teeth of the storm, so he was reversing down towards Nobbys," Wendt reported for the paper on the 10th anniversary of the storm. "There is a great shot that (former Herald photographer Darren Pateman) got of the Pasha Bulker being hit by a wave and was bent almost over the rocks at the Cowrie Hole. "I thought that's where it is going to end up. But it kept going in reverse towards Nobbys at a rate of knots. "This wave just swamped it and all you could see was a bit of the funnel and a little bit of the bow and then it disappeared in the murk towards Nobbys.'' The ship ultimately ran aground on Nobbys Beach as its crew sheltered together inside the swaying 225-metre vessel, before they were rescued from the deck by a pair of Westpac Rescue Helicopters. Notably among them, crewman Greg Ramplin, who could be seen descending into the tempest's teeth countless times to winch the crew to safety, and veteran lifeguard Warren Smith who leapt on board a jet ski with a few fellow surf life savers to brave the ocean and patrol from the water. After 90 minutes, the extraordinary rescue - which continues to be lauded as one of the great maritime operations - was over. Ramplin collapsed, utterly spent, on the sodden turf outside the surf club. The dramatic events of June 8 preceded more than a year of investigation and scrutiny by the national transport watchdog, which finally found the bulk of blame for the grounding rested on the ship's master, who either failed or didn't properly understand how to ballast the ship for bad weather. The investigation, which prompted significant changes to the Port of Newcastle's arrival and vessel queuing protocols, found that most of the 27 ships, including the Pasha Bulker, that had tried to ride out the storm in the port's coal queue dragged anchors in the gale before the Pasha's master attempted to haul anchor and adjust the ship's course ultimately leading to the grounding just after 9am. "A number of masters did not appropriately ballast their ships," investigators concluded in 2008, among a litany of findings and recommendations. "It was also found that the substantial ship queue increased the risks in the anchorage and resulted in another near grounding, a near collision and a number of close-quarters situations at the time." The Japanese-owned ship was renamed Drake for a time, and then Anthea in 2018, and was last reported to be off the coast of Brazil this week en route to the Port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. Ask any local on the street and chances are they'll tell you where they were on June 8, 2007 when the massive 76,000-tonne Pasha Bulker ran aground on Nobbys Beach in a wild tempest of fierce seas, roaring gale winds, and pounding rain. That month is still one of the wettest on record for Newcastle, as nearly half a metre of rain fell over Nobbys Head, eclipsing the Bureau of Meteorology's 161-year average for the month over four times over. The city had woken up to a rotten morning. The beaches were pummelled by a merciless swell, whipped under tearing winds and a pouring rain. Veteran newsman Greg Wendt was waiting in the gale for his morning coffee at the Merewether Surf Club when he caught word of a ship might have been in trouble off the coast. As he made his way into work at the Newcastle Herald offices, the phones were ringing off the hook. The Pasha Bulker had been fighting her way up the coast, battered by a 10-metre swell. The ship was unloaded and sitting high in the water, and her captain was fighting hard to get the propeller to find purchase. By the time Wendt arrived on the waterside with photographer David Wicks, the untethered ship was floundering. "The captain of the ship was trying to reverse it and then jerk the bow into the teeth of the storm, so he was reversing down towards Nobbys," Wendt reported for the paper on the 10th anniversary of the storm. "There is a great shot that (former Herald photographer Darren Pateman) got of the Pasha Bulker being hit by a wave and was bent almost over the rocks at the Cowrie Hole. "I thought that's where it is going to end up. But it kept going in reverse towards Nobbys at a rate of knots. "This wave just swamped it and all you could see was a bit of the funnel and a little bit of the bow and then it disappeared in the murk towards Nobbys.'' The ship ultimately ran aground on Nobbys Beach as its crew sheltered together inside the swaying 225-metre vessel, before they were rescued from the deck by a pair of Westpac Rescue Helicopters. Notably among them, crewman Greg Ramplin, who could be seen descending into the tempest's teeth countless times to winch the crew to safety, and veteran lifeguard Warren Smith who leapt on board a jet ski with a few fellow surf life savers to brave the ocean and patrol from the water. After 90 minutes, the extraordinary rescue - which continues to be lauded as one of the great maritime operations - was over. Ramplin collapsed, utterly spent, on the sodden turf outside the surf club. The dramatic events of June 8 preceded more than a year of investigation and scrutiny by the national transport watchdog, which finally found the bulk of blame for the grounding rested on the ship's master, who either failed or didn't properly understand how to ballast the ship for bad weather. The investigation, which prompted significant changes to the Port of Newcastle's arrival and vessel queuing protocols, found that most of the 27 ships, including the Pasha Bulker, that had tried to ride out the storm in the port's coal queue dragged anchors in the gale before the Pasha's master attempted to haul anchor and adjust the ship's course ultimately leading to the grounding just after 9am. "A number of masters did not appropriately ballast their ships," investigators concluded in 2008, among a litany of findings and recommendations. "It was also found that the substantial ship queue increased the risks in the anchorage and resulted in another near grounding, a near collision and a number of close-quarters situations at the time." The Japanese-owned ship was renamed Drake for a time, and then Anthea in 2018, and was last reported to be off the coast of Brazil this week en route to the Port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.
Sydney Morning Herald
12 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Double joy as drought-breaking rain arrives and snow covers the alps
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The Age
12 hours ago
- The Age
Double joy as drought-breaking rain arrives and snow covers the alps
After months of relentless dry conditions and record-low rainfall, farmers in Victoria enjoyed much-needed relief on Saturday as rain finally arrived across the state. For many living in drought-affected communities, this weekend marked a make-or-break moment, and nature didn't disappoint. According to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), the skies opened up on Friday, and widespread rain began to soak the state. By Saturday morning, much of western Victoria had received up to 20 millimetres of rain. Senior meteorologist Dean Narramore said the Wimmera and south-west Victoria felt the full force, with some of the heaviest falls. Loading Edenhope in Victoria's west, which had only seen 70 millimetres of rain all year, was treated to 27 millimetres in just one day. Horsham, Warracknabeal, Warrnambool and Portland also reported between 10 and 20 millimetres. But it wasn't just rain – snow made a stunning appearance, too. The Victorian Alpine region, which includes popular ski resorts Mount Buller, Falls Creek, and Mount Hotham, saw fresh snow blanketing the slopes on Saturday morning, in time for the official start of the 2025 ski season. Narramore said these areas received between 10 and 20 centimetres of snow overnight, with forecasts predicting an additional 15 to 30 centimetres by Sunday afternoon. 'You're looking at two-day totals of 30 to 50 centimetres for the mountains by the time we get to Sunday night. A very snowy weekend, perfectly timed for the opening of the ski season,' he said.
