About 17,000 Tasmanians are still without power this morning – and could be for days – after huge storms caused “unprecedented” damage to powerlines, trees and roads over the weekend. And it’s not over yet… Heavy winds and flood warnings are still in place across the state, with residents along parts of the Derwent River (the one that flows south to Hobart) urged to evacuate. Over the weekend, more than 30,000 homes and businesses were without power – that also impacted emergency service broadcasts from the ABC after its transmitter sites were cut off. Yesterday, Premier Jeremy Rockliff said there’s going to be “quite some damage” to deal with in the coming days, with the state government making emergency grants available for those who need them.

What’s happened?

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says it’s down to a “vigorous west to north-westerly airstream” hitting Tassie. That led to high winds and rain across the state’s north, northwest and west coast, with major flood warnings issued in parts of those regions. Some weather stations experienced their strongest gusts in decades… The conditions eased off briefly yesterday, but it’s not over yet as another cold front moves in across the western and northern coasts. BOM forecaster Michael Conway warned the front “will bump up the winds yet again, probably not as strong as [Saturday], but quite strong”. So with roads and some schools closed, flood warnings in place and ongoing power outages – and potentially more bad weather on the way – it’s going to be a big week for the state… 

What about elsewhere?

Good shout because there were wind warnings in place everywhere except Queensland and the Northern Territory yesterday. Overnight, Victoria’s coastal areas – from the South Australian border right around to the Gippsland region – recorded damaging winds of up to about 130km/h, and those gusty conditions are headed for eastern NSW today. Sydney’s already had some unusual weather after recording its hottest August day since 1995 with the weather gauge passing 30C. That capped off a record-breaking heatwave across the country, which climate scientists have labelled “gobsmacking”. As for what spring has in store for us, the BOM reckons it will be warmer than usual for much of the country. Time to get the Birks out…