Southern Tasmanians have received a rude awakening as damaging winds sweep across greater Hobart, cutting power to thousands of homes.
Wind gusts of up to 102km/h were recorded at in the Hobart CBD at the Bureau of Meteorology’s Ellerslie Road weather station shortly after 2am on Monday, following earlier warnings of damaging winds.
Even stronger gusts hammered Kunanyi/Mount Wellington, where winds reached 145km/h at 1:39am, while Hartz Mountain in the Huon Valley experienced gusts of 106km/h just after midnight.
The severe weather has left nearly 2,800 properties across Blackmans Bay, Bonnet Hill, Kingston and Kingston Beach without electricity since around 2am.
The wild weather is part of a strengthening northwesterly airstream ahead of multiple troughs and cold fronts expected to cross Tasmania throughout Monday and Tuesday.
Weather conditions are set to deteriorate further with the Bureau forecasting isolated showers mainly about the west and north on Monday, with rain developing in those areas by evening.
Fresh to strong and gusty northwesterly winds will continue throughout Monday.
Tuesday’s forecast indicates rain will spread across the north and west with showers elsewhere, and snow expected to fall to 900 metres by evening.
The Bureau has also warned of possible thunderstorms in the north and west on Tuesday, with severe storms possible in western areas accompanied by small hail in the west and far south.
The weather system is expected to shift to a westerly airstream by Wednesday as a high pressure system over mainland Australia influences conditions, before another cold front approaches from the west on Thursday.
