Dangerous and severe “supercell” thunderstorms with the potential for giant hail and destructive winds were forecast for parts of New South Wales on Sunday, as volatile weather continued in the eastern states over the weekend.
Storms dumped heavy rain across large parts of northern and eastern NSW and much of Queensland on Saturday, with strong winds recorded up to ۹۸km/h in Goulburn and rainfall totals of between ۳۰mm and ۵۰mm in the Coffs Harbour area.
A man in his ۲۰s was struck by lightning while swimming at Ettalong beach on NSW’s Central Coast on Saturday afternoon. He was pulled from the water by fellow swimmers and given CPR by first responders until NSW Ambulance paramedics arrived. He was taken to Gosford hospital in a serious condition, and later transferred to Royal North Shore hospital.
The young man was in a critical but stable condition on Sunday morning, a hospital spokesperson said.
Witnesses said while there was storm activity visible in the distance towards Gosford, the area around the beach was clear and sunny and that the lightning bolt appeared to come “out of nowhere”.
Lightning can strike up to ۳۰km from the centre of a storm cell.
Sunday was expected to be “another big storm day”, with “very dangerous and severe thunderstorms” likely for north-eastern NSW, said Sarah Scully, senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology.
Those storms could bring hail with a diameter greater than ۵cm, and winds in excess of ۱۲۰km/h.
“That’s being driven by a southerly change that’s pushing up the New South Wales coast,” Scully said. “It’s a potential trigger for these supercell high-end thunderstorms.”
Severe thunderstorms with ۲cm hail, wind gusts in excess of ۹۰km/h, heavy rainfall and flash flooding was possible on Sunday through a broader area of NSW extending down towards inland parts of the ranges to the east of Sydney, and pushing up into south-east and central parts of Queensland.
Storms were expected in Sydney on Sunday, but were likely to be less severe than further north, though rain was likely. The forecast temperature was ۲۳C. Showers and thunderstorms were expected in Brisbane with a top of ۳۱C.
The BoM expected to release more severe weather warnings throughout Sunday as the storms develop.
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On Monday, the risk of high-end severe thunderstorms would move into the NSW northern rivers and south-eastern parts of Queensland, including Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, again with the potential to bring giant hail, destructive winds, and intense rain that could lead to life-threatening flash flooding.
“That again is being driven by that trough that’s pushing up the coast combined with the very humid conditions that eastern Australia has been experiencing the last few days,” Scully said.
A coastal trough with a low-pressure system appeared to be developing off the north coast of NSW near the Queensland border, which had the potential to bring even more rain onto the coast.
“How much rainfall accumulates is highly dependent on how close that trough sits to the coast, and also how long it lingers there,” Scully said.
“At this state we’re only expecting moderate rainfall totals during tomorrow from that coastal trough, between ۳۰mm to ۷۰mm, easing into Tuesday morning. But we are watching it very closely as rainfall totals associated with these coastal troughs are notoriously challenging to predict. If they just move that little bit closer to the coast they can sometimes dump a whole lot of rain.”
Elsewhere, there were showers developing in Melbourne on Sunday with a forecast top of ۱۷C. There was a high chance of showers in Hobart, with ۱۳C expected, and cloudy in Adelaide with a mild ۲۰C forecast. It was partly cloudy in Canberra, where they were expecting ۲۴C, and in Perth, with an expected top of ۲۸C. Darwin was expecting ۳۴C and an afternoon storm.
