The wild weather bears down on Melbourne as seen from the Eureka Skydeck. Picture: David Caird. Source: News Corp Australia
Snow has started to fall in the alpine areas ahead of what is tipped to be the start of a huge snow dump
FREEZING weather with wild winds and heavy rain has hit Melbourne and the rest of the state.
Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Richard Carlyon said today’s conditions were set to be the windiest of the week.
“The strongest gales are due at about 8am until midday in Melbourne … and will ease a little tonight,” Mr Carlyon said.
“We will still see relatively strong winds for quite a number of days as further cold fronts move through.
“Conditions will be showery and windy and cold for most of the week.”
Mr Carlyon said the biggest winds overnight were in the south-west area of the state.
“A lot of the night we were in a little bit of a lull between weather systems, so there weren’t too many gusts,” he said.
“The worst we’ve seen was in the last half-hour where winds reached 107km/h in Cape Nelson and 91km/h in Portland.”
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Lulu Freedman is overjoyed with the fresh snow at Falls Creek, with forecasters tipping up to 100cm of new snow this week. overjoyed with the fresh snow. Source: Supplied
SES spokesperson Stefan Delatovic said they received 210 calls for help yesterday, with more than half in greater metropolitan Melbourne after gales of up to 95km/h hit the area.
“Most calls were about trees being blown down … and we had 30 calls for minor building damage like tiles lifting off roofs.”
Mr Delatovic expected to get a spike in calls this morning as people woke up.
He said commuters should take extra care on their way to work.
“We have another front crossing the state at the moment, so there is a possibility that it will hit Melbourne a bit stronger than yesterday,” he said.
“This will come into play in the morning peak, so take more time and be aware of hazards on the road.”
There are severe weather warnings for the Mallee, Wimmera, Northern Country, North Central, North East, South West, Central, West and South Gippsland and East Gippsland forecast districts
Margaret McCoppin and her Maltese Jack Russell cross, Alfie, cop an icy blast. Picture: Cormac Hanrahan. Source: News Corp Australia
Terry Saggers, Hannah Bowes and Kathryn Brackenridge celebrate the first real snow of the 2014 season at Mt Buller. Pic: Andrew Railton. Source: Supplied
A dusting of snow is predicted to cover Mt Dandenong and Mt Macedon while alpine areas could see up to 50cm of snow by today.
Snow falls and strong winds will create poor conditions in alpine areas with blizzards likely today and tomorrow.
Mr Buller and Falls Creek have seen their first real falls for the 2014 season.
“We’re expecting follow-up snow through the rest of the week with cold fronts and a further 20 to 40cm by the end of the weekend,” Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Andrea Peace said
For emergency help in floods and storms, ring your local SES Unit on 132 500.
The first real snow of the season at Mt Hotham. Source: Supplied
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