Thunderstorms and heavy winds have left more than half a million homes without power across Victoria and South Australia with the wild weather moving to NSW.
The Victoria State Emergency Service received more than 1,500 calls for help in the 24 hours to 8.30am on Friday, with the most affected areas including Ballarat, Bendigo and Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.
There were 1,100 reports of trees down and 216 reports of building damage, and those numbers are expected to rise as Victorians report more damage.
More than 500,000 households are without power.
The wild weather has also caused power outages for more than 30,000 homes and businesses in South Australia after heavy hail and winds battered the state on Thursday.
The storm is expected to move into parts of NSW and combine with a heat wave with the state set to hit 35C.
Thunderstorms and heavy winds have left hundreds of thousands of homes without power across Victoria and South Australia with the wild weather moving to NSW (pictured, fallen tree in west Melbourne)
The Victoria State Emergency Service received more than 1,500 calls for help in the 24 hours to 8.30am on Friday, with the most affected areas including Ballarat, Bendigo and Melbourne’s eastern suburbs
There were 1,100 reports of trees down and 216 reports of building damage, and those numbers are expected to rise as Victorians report more damage (pictured, crushed car in west Melbourne)
One caller told ABC Radio Melbourne she had never seen anything like the storms that hit Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula.
‘I’ve never seen so many trees down, trees ripped out of the ground, there’s just mess absolutely everywhere,’ she said.
An Ausnet official said they have 128,000 customers without power, and with the storm still moving through it is unsafe for crews to start restoration work in Victoria.
Powercor and Citipower have 183,000 customers out, with Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong and Terang badly hit.
Most metropolitan and regional train services have been suspended and dozens of major roads are closed, including the Eastern and Western Freeways.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds across much of Victoria.
Winds are expected to average 60 to 70 km/h and peak gusts of 100 km/h expected to develop along western and central Victorian coasts during the morning.
The winds will pass through Melbourne then extend to Gippsland in the middle of the day.
The highest wind gusts reported so far include 143 km/h at Mt William in the Grampians, 119 km/h at Melbourne Airport and 115 km/h at St Kilda.
More than 4,000 lightning strikes were detected within a 400km radius of Maryborough, about 168 km northwest of Melbourne
The Department of Transport said speeds have been reduced to 40km/h across the West Gate Bridge due to the high winds, while buses are replacing trains on the Glen Waverley line between Darling to Glen Waverley due to a fallen tree.
Due to power outages, many sets of traffic lights are out, while there is the potential for fallen powerlines.
The department is urging Victorians to drive with care through all intersections and should they encounter fallen power lines stay clear to call triple zero.
‘With high winds expected to continue this morning, drivers should be vigilant on the roads and ensure nothing distracts their focus from the road. Deferring your travel may be the best option,’ it said.
The storm also caused widespread damage in South Australia, leaving more than 30,000 homes and businesses in Adelaide without power.
The storm is expected to move into parts of NSW and combine with a heat wave with the state set to hit 35C (stock image)
Supercell storms create updrafts, stretching high into the atmosphere, which cause giant hail like those seen here form Adelaide on Thursday, as pellets of ice repeatedly cycle up and down through the clouds growing bigger every time
Hundreds of calls have been made to emergency services as wild winds ripped up trees across Melbourne on Friday
Australia is on killer tornado alert as supercell thunderstorms sweep across the south-east of the country bringing floods, giant hail, dust storms and land gales. (Pictured, Thursday’s devastating storm hits Adelaide)
The state’s emergency service is responding to 178 calls for help, mostly involving downed trees.
Australia is on killer tornado alert as supercell thunderstorms sweep across the country bringing floods, giant hail, dust storms, and high winds.
Urgent severe weather warnings were issued for South Australia, Victoria and parts of NSW as the dangerous storms grew overnight.
The Bureau of Meteorology warned the intense storms was a ‘very dynamic situation’.
South Australia was battered by storms earlier on Thursday with golfball-sized hail smashing Adelaide before the weather system began to move east.
Ice and sleet ran like rivers through the streets of Adelaide in what locals called ‘incredible, crazy weather’.
Up to 6,000 homes were without power, with Adelaide Hills among the areas worst hit and 2,500 families left in the dark by the devastating storm.
The storms are expected to reach their peak on Friday after building in strength through the night, with a severe fire danger warning for South Australia too.
The BoM warned of possible flooding in western and northern Victoria as well as possible dust storms, as high winds from the storm rips off dry topsoil.
Urgent severe weather warnings have been sent out for South Australia, Victoria and parts of NSW as the danger storms develop and grow overnight.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology warned the intense storms were a ‘very dynamic situation.’ (Pictured, the hail that smashed Adelaide on Thursday)
South Australia was battered by storms earlier on Thursday with golfball-sized hail (pictured) smashing Adelaide before the weather system began to move east
Ice and sleet ran like rivers through the streets of Adelaide (pictured) in what locals called ‘incredible, crazy weather’
‘Nature is throwing a mixed bag at south-east Australia today and tomorrow with heavy rain, land gales, severe fire dangers and severe thunderstorms,’ weatherman Jackson Browne said.
‘Severe storms affected large parts of South Australia overnight and also Adelaide this morning with multiple reports of large to giant hail.
‘With the system deepening rapidly today we’re seeing a broad scale pick up in winds across the southeast with severe weather warnings for damaging wind.’
Throughout Friday, the storms will batter a wide section of NSW as temperatures soar up to 35C, stretching from Sydney all the way up to the Queensland border.
Elsewhere, a deep low pressure over Tasmania will bring heavy rain and floods to the south of NSW, Tasmania, and Victoria, and sea fog to the NSW south coast.
‘We have is a cold front trough moving across the state,’ said BoM weatherman Hugh McDowell. ‘It’s already in the west of the state today.
‘Through tomorrow, that starts spreading further to the northeast and affecting half of the state.
‘It’s through the afternoon into the evening when we see the greatest risk of those storms. There could be severe storms – be aware and maybe be prepared.’
Weathermen fear the storms will develop into supercell thunderstorms which generate powerful updrafts.
Those updrafts, stretching high into the atmosphere, cause the giant hail, as pellets of ice repeatedly cycle up and down through the clouds growing bigger every time.
The Bureau of Meteorology described the hail which hit Adelaide (pictured) as ‘large to giant’
Up to 6,000 homes were without power, with Adelaide Hills among the areas worst hit and 2500 families left in the dark by the devastating storm (pictured)
The storm gathers in the skies above Adelaide (pictured)
And if those updrafts then start to rotate, it creates the tornados which have repeatedly pummelled Australia’s east coast this year, destroying homes and threatening lives.
But meteorologists admit they are still baffled by the sudden increase in this spring’s dangerous extreme weather.
‘We are seeing more severe thunderstorms just in this current season,’ admitted weatherman Dick Whittaker.
‘Whether that’s a long term trend or or whether it’s just the current season, we don’t really know at this stage.
The storms are expected to reach their peak on Friday after building in strength through the night, with a severe fire danger warning for South Australia too (pictured)
‘But there is little doubt it has brought increased tornadic activity.’
He said Australia had a long history of tornados in the past, including one in 1906 which wreaked havoc in North Sydney and another in 1918 which hit Brighton in Melbourne.
Usually though the tornados are in remote areas and rarely seen by humans, he said.
Increasing population – and the widespread use of mobile phones with cameras – meant tornadoes were now being seen and recorded more frequently.
But he said the signs were that Australia was currently enduring a worse tornado season than ever so far – and it could last until March or even April.
Backyards were turned into winter wonderlands in Adelaide on Thursday (pictured) and insurance companies are braced for thousands of claims for damage
Possible factors are climate change, which sees increasing surface temperatures potentially sparking more and potentially severe thunderstorms, leading to tornados.
Or else it could also be the developing La Nina weather activity, which is currently at alert level, with BoM estimating a 65 per cent chance of a full soaking La Nina for Australia this summer.
‘It’s one of the consequences of global warming that you do see an increase in severe thunderstorm activity,’ Mr Whittaker said.
‘Whether we’re seeing that now is not really clear yet, but certainly we are seeing an unusual number of of supercell storms for NSW and Victoria.
‘But the BoM are much better at predicting these than they ever were 30 or 40 years ago which is also why we are now seeing more dangerous storm and tornado warnings from them.’
