Tasmania is set to be battered by damaging winds and heavy rain over the next 24 hours as a low-pressure system approaches from the Tasman Sea.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Simon Lewis said the system will bring strong winds to the east coast on Sunday afternoon, particularly in areas exposed to strong southerly winds.
“We’re expecting it will get quite windy in a lot of places, but in particular, damaging winds that could bring down large tree branches should develop across the east coast this afternoon,” he said.
“[Places] like the Tasman Peninsula, Freycinet, South Arm, anywhere that’s quite exposed to a southerly should see damaging winds developing.”
The low will also bring rainfall totals of between 30mm and 50mm across much of the state, with higher totals of up to 100mm forecast for higher ground in the south.
“We have quite wet catchments across the state at this time of the year and so we expect rivers to respond quite quickly to those moderate rainfall totals,” Lewis said.
A flood watch is currently in effect for the southern and eastern catchments, with authorities closely monitoring the Huon, South Esk, Derwent, Coal and Jordan Rivers.
Chris Irvine from the State Emergency Service said crews are prepared to respond to calls for help arising from the severe weather, particularly along the east coast.
“With school holidays underway, the SES is aware that a number of families may be travelling or preparing activities out and about,” he said.
“We encourage people to make informed decisions about what they intend to do and take into consideration the current forecasts and the warnings that are currently issued.”
As of 3:45pm, Bureau of Metrology data indicates a 95km/h gust was recorded on Maria Island and a 91km/h gust on Tasman Island.
