Latest news with #AnthonySharwood
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mail
Sydney sky turns orange courtesy of rare weather phenomenon
Sydney 's skies have been tinted orange following an enormous dust storm in South Australia. Destructive winds whipped up dust storms over SA on Monday. Strong westerlies then swept up more topsoil overnight and a wind stream carried the dust and sand over Victoria to reach eastern NSW by Tuesday morning. The topsoil was vulnerable to being swept up following a lengthy spell of dry weather over much of SA with many places in the south experiencing record-breaking low rainfall in recent months. The 'dust front' was perceptible on satellite images on Monday over SA and western Victoria. The cloud of dust had stretched an estimated 600km by 3pm yesterday, covering parts of eastern SA, northwest Victoria and southwest NSW. By Tuesday morning it could be seen as a brown mass hanging over the Tasman Sea. The dust thinned considerably over the journey but remained thick enough to treat Sydneysiders to a rare orange glow over the city. The weather event is rare, with the last major dust storm to reach Sydney in 2009 turning the sky a deep orange colour for days and dumping thousands of tonnes of dirt into Sydney Harbour. Weatherzone's Anthony Sharwood said the dust storm did not come out of the blue. 'Take the driest 15-month spell in a century-and-a-half of records. Add the strongest cold front of the year to date with winds gusting up to 80km/h,' he wrote. 'And presto, a massive South Australian dust storm a few days out from winter.' Visibility was heavily impacted throughout the morning by the dust. 'Observations from Canberra Airport reported haze overnight, with visibility reduced to around 5-6 km for more than one hour as the dust blew over the ACT,' Weatherzone said. 'Similar visibility reductions were also reported in other areas of the Illawarra and South Coast regions of NSW. 'Sydney Airport's aviation forecast, which is used to help safely plan and operate flights, also warned of blowing dust on Tuesday morning.' The Bureau of Meteorology said there would be 'morning dust' on Tuesday. But it also added there would be further winds to lash the NSW coast later in the day. A severe weather warning is in place for damaging winds in the Illawarra and parts of the Mid North Coast, Hunter region, South Coast, Central Tablelands, Southern Tablelands. The warning is also in place for the Snowy Mountains, Northern Tablelands, North West Slopes and Plains districts. The dust is expected to continue to move over the Tasman and clear from the coastal regions. Rain is also expected to briefly return to flood-battered areas of NSW's east. It is possible showers will develop again later in the week in the regions. Wind conditions will ease overnight as general conditions begin to calm.
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mail
Insane polar blast to strike Australia: Snow and freezing temperatures on the way
A polar blast originating in Antarctica is headed towards southeastern Australia, set to freeze millions of Aussies. Weatherzone meteorologist Anthony Sharwood warned the cold front is likely to hit on Monday. The system is expected to deliver rain, wild winds and potentially heavy snowfalls to alpine regions in Tasmania, Victoria, southern NSW and the ACT. While those in Australia's southeast may feel prepared having shivered through a cold front last weekend, which delivered centimetres of snow to ski resorts, Mr Sharwood warned next week's will be more intense. 'The coming system looks to be stronger, colder, longer-lasting and wetter with the potential for heavy precipitation in a broad arc extending roughly from Adelaide to the ACT,' he said. 'This is the sort of cold front that snow lovers dream about in midwinter, let alone in May. 'The chart above shows how frigid air is expected to push northwards from well south of Tasmania early next week. The cold air should reach SE Australia on Monday along with plenty of moisture.' Snow could fall down to 400m in Tasmania's mountains. 'In terms of systems of this calibre in May, the predicted set-up is reminiscent of the famous May 28-30 cold outbreak way back in the year 2000, when a metre of snow fell at the ski resorts and an NRL game at Canberra Stadium was played on a field that was white with settled snow,' Mr Sharwood said. 'That's not to suggest that the system will be quite that cold, or that snow will settle across Canberra, but brief snow flurries down as low as Canberra's elevation - around 600m - appear possible at this stage, with the snow level closer to 400m in Tasmania.' The cold front is good news for ski lovers with the system to provide a half-metre of snow just in time for ski season. 'That's assuming there's no major rain event between this system and the season opening on Saturday, June 7,' Mr Sharwood said. Significant rain is forecast for large parts of Victoria and southern SA. 'Estimating precise rainfall totals a few days out from a weather event is difficult to do with confidence, however widespread falls of at least 10mm or more are likely in the areas mentioned,' Mr Sharwood said. 'While this system is highly unlikely to be a drought-breaker, many locations will see their heaviest falls to date in 2025.' Strong and potentially damaging winds are also set to affect alpine areas and exposed coastal weather stations in Victoria and Tasmania as the arctic air mass pushes northward. 'It's also worth mentioning that eastern NSW will be vulnerable to falling trees due to loose soil from the recent extremely heavy rain and historic flooding,' Mr Sharwood said. 'While the NSW coast usually sees minimal rainfall from southwesterly systems like this one, it generally doesn't miss the strong winds.' Sydney Friday: Cloudy. Very high chance of rain, easing in the late afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm. Winds east to northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h becoming light in the early afternoon then becoming northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h in the late evening. Min 16. Max 22. Saturday: Partly cloudy. Winds northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h tending westerly during the day then becoming light during the afternoon. Min 13. Max 22. Sunday: Mostly sunny. Light winds. Min 12. Max 21. Melbourne Friday: Cloudy. High chance of showers. Light winds. in 10. Max 17. Saturday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning. Winds northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h turning northerly 20 to 30 km/h during the afternoon. Min 11. Max 19. Sunday: Mostly sunny day. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the evening. Winds northerly 25 to 40 km/h. Min 11. Max 19. Brisbane Friday: Sunny. Light winds. Min 14. Max 25. Saturday: Partly cloudy. Light winds. Min 14. Max 25. Sunday: Mostly sunny. The chance of morning fog in the west. Light winds. Min 14. Max 27. Perth Friday: Cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the early morning. Winds southerly 15 to 20 km/h becoming light before dawn then becoming southeast to southwesterly 15 to 25 km/h in the morning. Min 10. Max 17. Saturday: Partly cloudy. Patches of morning frost about the hills. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming westerly 15 to 20 km/h during the day then becoming light during the afternoon. Min 5. Max 17. Sunday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning. Light winds becoming southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the day then becoming light during the afternoon. Min 9. Max 19. Adelaide Friday: Sunny. The chance of morning frost about the northern suburbs. Light winds becoming west to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h in the middle of the day then becoming light in the late afternoon. Min 5. Max 18. Saturday: Mostly sunny morning. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Winds northerly 15 to 25 km/h turning northwesterly 25 to 35 km/h during the morning. Min 8. Max 21. Sunday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the evening. Winds northwesterly 35 to 50 km/h. Min 11. Max 21. Hobart Friday: Mostly sunny morning. High chance of showers, most likely in the late afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming north to northeasterly 15 to 20 km/h in the evening then becoming light in the late evening. Min 5. Max 19. Saturday: Partly cloudy. Very high chance of showers, most likely in the morning. Light winds becoming west to northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h during the day then becoming light during the evening. Min 10. Max 17. Sunday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the evening. Winds northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h turning northerly 20 to 30 km/h during the afternoon. Min 9. Max 17. Canberra Friday: Cloudy. Very high chance of rain, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Winds east to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h shifting northwesterly in the early afternoon. Min 9. Max 18. Saturday: Cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the morning. Winds northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h becoming light during the evening. Min 6. Max 16. Sunday: Mostly sunny. Slight chance of a shower. Light winds becoming northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h during the morning. Min 4. Max 17. Darwin Saturday: Partly cloudy. Light winds. Min 22. Max 32. Sunday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers. Light winds becoming easterly 15 to 20 km/h during the morning then becoming light during the day. Min 24. Max 32.
