Cold snap ahead as state braces for 'full gamut' of extreme weather

Melbourne could record its coldest April day in nearly a quarter of a century and is on track to eclipse last year's rainfall level in under five months as Victorians brace for heavy downpours, flash flooding and a freezing change this week.

Alisha Bennett and three of her four children - Ava, 12, Lukas, 11,
and Arabella, 5. They are waiting to have their heating fixed.

The Bureau of Meteorology said Thursday's 13-degrees forecast would make it the coldest April day since 1996. It will feel even colder due to strong winds.

"It's certainly unusual for April," bureau senior metrologist Kevin Parkyn said.

Victoria will be hit with heavy rain, beginning on Wednesday in some areas such as the state's north-east ranges, tipped to top 100 millimetres.

Melbourne, particularly the eastern suburbs, could experience 15 to 35 millimetres of rain, the bureau says.

Read the story from The Age by Anthony Colangelo and Michael Fowler - “Cold snap ahead as state braces for 'full gamut' of extreme weather.”

UK’s lack of plans to protect people from climate crisis ‘shocking’, say advisers

The government’s own advisers have declared themselves shocked that the UK has no proper plans for protecting people from heatwaves, flash flooding and other impacts of the climate crisis.

 Flooding in York.

The Committee on Climate Change said the UK’s climate crisis preparations were being run like Dad’s Army and left the population at real risk, adding that funding for programmes to tackle problems resulting from global heating had been cut.

The CCC’s annual progress reports, published on Wednesday, also found that just one of the 25 emissions-cutting policies it said were vital in 2018 had been delivered in full. Lord Deben, who chairs the committee, said ministers could be sued in court if the failure to act continued.

Read the story from The Guardian by Damian Carrington - “UK’s lack of plans to protect people from climate crisis ‘shocking’, say advisers.”

Wild weather causes flooding in Melbourne and chaos in Sydney

A thunderstorm sweeping across Melbourne is causing widespread flash flooding prompting numerous calls for assistance.

Sydneysiders are also dealing with traffic chaos as residents along the length of the New South Wales coast are being told to prepare for heavy rainfall, damaging winds and large hailstones.

People in the Melbourne CBD and eastern suburbs are being warned to stay indoors and not to enter floodwaters.

A live map of the city on the VicEmergency website is dotted with requests for assistance due to flooding. Areas include Hawthorn, Richmond, Toorak, Kew, Cremorne and Port Melbourne.

Read the story from The Guardian by Australian Associated Press - “Wild weather causes flooding in Melbourne and chaos in Sydney.

(In his book “Defiant Earth: The fate of humans in the anthropocene” Clive Hamilton quotes climatologist Kevin Trenberth, who said: “All weather events are affected by [human-induced] climate change because the environment in which they occur is warmer and moister than it used to be.” 

Surely, what is happening up and down Australia’s east-coast is climate change made visible - Robert McLean)

Philippines storm: At least 120 dead after tropical storm Tembin triggers flash flooding, landslides.

At least 120 people are dead and more than 160 missing after a tropical storm devastated the southern Philippines, unleashing flash flooding and setting off landslides.

Police officers help with rescue efforts, holding the hands
 and belongings of two women in rising floodwaters.

Most of the deaths from tropical storm Tembin were in the hard-hit provinces of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur and on the Zamboanga Peninsula, according to an initial government report on storm casualties.

Romina Marasigan, of the government's disaster response agency, earlier said authorities had reported at least 75 deaths were due to landslides and sudden surges of floodwaters, but added those initial reports needed to be confirmed.

An entire village was buried by a mudslide, according to reports.

Read the ABC News story - “Philippines storm: At least 120 dead after tropical storm Tembin triggers flash flooding, landslides.”

Flash floods and strong winds forecast as Perth prepares for season's roughest storm

Wild weather is set to lash Perth this weekend as three consecutive fronts hit the south-west, bringing flash flooding and damaging 125km/h wind gusts.

Wild weather is forecast for Perth this weekend
as three consecutive fronts hit the south-west. 

The first front will hit south-west coastal regions about 6pm on Friday, bringing winds in excess of 100km/h before moving to the south metropolitan about 11pm.

A weaker front is expected to pass through on Saturday with conditions easing before the season’s roughest storm hits on Sunday night into early Monday.

The Bureau of Meteorology warns Sunday’s front will bring waves off the capes up to 8m high, with 6m-7m surf at Perth beaches.

Read Naaman Zhou’s story on The Guardian - “Flash floods and strong winds forecast as Perth prepares for season's roughest storm.”

Melbourne weather: Severe weather warning in place as damaging winds, heavy rain set to lash city.

More rain could fall in Melbourne on Sunday than is usually recorded for the entire month of April with damaging winds and possible flash flooding forecast.

A reader's picture of the storm rolling
 into Mornington on Saturday evening. 

By 7am on Sunday, the State Emergency Service had responded to more than 140 requests for help across Victoria. But the emergency service said Saturday's storm was just a teaser to Sunday's worsening weather.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicts up to 60 millimetres could fall in Melbourne, higher than April's average monthly rainfall. Areas including the Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Valley could cop as much as 80 millimetres.

A severe weather warning has been issued for a large part of the state, while flash flooding warnings are in place for Bacchus Marsh and Geelong.

Read the Melbourne Age story - “Melbourne weather: Severe weather warning in place as damaging winds, heavy rain set to lash city.”

Two Missing, Evacuations Underway as Flash Flooding Submerges Northwest Italy

Lamposts and a tickets kiosk are submerged by the
swollen Po river in Turin, Italy, on Nov. 25, 2016.

Flash flooding in northwest Italy has forced evacuations in several cities and may be responsible for at least two deaths.

An expansive, lumbering storm centered over the Iberian Peninsula pumped deep moisture into northwest Italy, said weather.com senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman, and run off from the resulting torrential rains swept quickly out of the mountainous terrain.

The flood waters may have already claimed a life Thursday when five migrants were reportedly swept away after a swell hit the bridge they were living under, euronews reports. Four were saved, but a Nigerian man is still missing, presumed drowned.

Read the Weather Channel story - “Two Missing, Evacuations Underway as Flash Flooding Submerges Northwest Italy.”

Melbourne weather: Regional Victoria bracing for heavy rain, flash flooding

Flooded paddocks along the Drysdale Creek,
 north of Warrnambool, earlier this month.

The once in 50-years storm that lashed South Australia's coastline is expected to skip Melbourne, but could batter already saturated parts of regional Victoria.

Up to 80 millimetres of rain could fall within six hours over parts of northern and western Victoria on Wednesday night, with more expected on Thursday, raising fears of flash flooding.

Damaging winds up to 110km/h could also lash regional areas, as the complex low-pressure system crosses into Victoria's north-west overnight.

The fierce weather system that gripped South Australia on Wednesday afternoon, cut power to the entire state.

Read the Melbourne Age story - “Melbourne weather: Regional Victoria bracing for heavy rain, flash flooding.”

Wet week ahead as low pressure moves south down east coast

Victorians should prepare for a wet week ahead, as rain is set to continue.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of dangerous weather in Australia's eastern states across the weekend and early into the week, caused by a large and complex weather system coupled with a developing low pressure system along the east coast.

A severe weather warning and flood watch were issued by the weather bureau on Saturday for east Gippsland, warning heavy rain may lead to flash flooding in parts of the district, as well as damaging winds overnight on Saturday and throughout Sunday.

Read the story from today’s Melbourne Age – “Melbourne weather: Wet weekend prompts flood warnings.”

Hurricane Alex blasts into the record books

Hurricane Alex blasted into the record books on Thursday as the first Atlantic hurricane to form during the month of January in more than three-quarters of a century, U.S. weather forecasters said.

The storm, with wind gusts up to 85 miles an hour (137 kph), was expected to bear down on the Azores islands off the coast of Portugal on Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. It did not pose a threat to the United States.

Local authorities issued a hurricane warning for five islands in the central Azores, which could see flash flooding, mudslides and storm surge, said NHC spokesman Dennis Feltgen.

Read the Huffington Post story -   “January Hurricane Forms In Atlantic For First Time In 78 Years.”