11-23-2008, 01:19 PM
November 23, 2008 - 10:28AM
Weather conditions across Australia's south-east appear to be easing after the region was battered over the weekend by gale force winds, flooding and snow.
State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers have been busy in NSW, Victoria and Queensland's south-east helping people after several days of ferocious storms brought down trees on cars, buildings and roads.
A severe weather warning and blizzard conditions in Alpine areas persisted in NSW on Sunday, but a low pressure system was expected to move east late on Sunday.
In NSW, gale force winds were most severe in Sydney's western suburbs with the SES responding to 380 calls for help.
At least 10cm of snow fell around the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, and a small number of roads were closed, including between Bathurst and Oberon.
SES Central West Region Controller, Craig Ronan, said the weather conditions were particularly unseasonable.
"It's very unusual the week before summer to have such weather conditions," Mr Ronan said.
An SES spokesman told AAP there had been no significant damage.
The flood threat has eased in Victoria's south-east and the SES says it is not predicting major flooding.
"We are keeping a watching brief on Gippsland but are only expecting minor to moderate flooding and don't predict major flooding at this stage," SES spokesman Allan Briggs said.
The SES received 387 calls for help in Victoria over the weekend, including 262 in Melbourne, mostly involving fallen trees damaging property.
Catchments received a good soaking with 60mm of rain falling across Melbourne's water storages, Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) senior forecaster Scott Williams said.
Snow fell in Victorian Alpine areas and forced road closures. Falls Creek resort spokesman Ian Talbot told AAP more than 20cm of snow had "blanketed the resort" Sunday morning.
"It was very cold overnight, it got down to minus six degrees celsius and residents said it looked like the middle of winter," he said.
"It's very rare to get enough for road closures at this time of year."
A 12-day adventure race involving an 800km trek over NSW and Victorian high country has been stalled due to the bad weather, with 120 people involved now holed up in the tiny Victorian Alpine town of Tintaldra.
In Queensland, a severe weather warning for the state's south-east corner was cancelled on Saturday evening after the latest storm in a week of wild weather passed.
Three women were hurt in separate accidents - one of whom was in a serious condition after being hit by a tree - as a result of ferocious winds battering the region on Saturday afternoon.
http://news.smh.com.au/national/gale-for...-6en3.html
Weather conditions across Australia's south-east appear to be easing after the region was battered over the weekend by gale force winds, flooding and snow.
State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers have been busy in NSW, Victoria and Queensland's south-east helping people after several days of ferocious storms brought down trees on cars, buildings and roads.
A severe weather warning and blizzard conditions in Alpine areas persisted in NSW on Sunday, but a low pressure system was expected to move east late on Sunday.
In NSW, gale force winds were most severe in Sydney's western suburbs with the SES responding to 380 calls for help.
At least 10cm of snow fell around the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, and a small number of roads were closed, including between Bathurst and Oberon.
SES Central West Region Controller, Craig Ronan, said the weather conditions were particularly unseasonable.
"It's very unusual the week before summer to have such weather conditions," Mr Ronan said.
An SES spokesman told AAP there had been no significant damage.
The flood threat has eased in Victoria's south-east and the SES says it is not predicting major flooding.
"We are keeping a watching brief on Gippsland but are only expecting minor to moderate flooding and don't predict major flooding at this stage," SES spokesman Allan Briggs said.
The SES received 387 calls for help in Victoria over the weekend, including 262 in Melbourne, mostly involving fallen trees damaging property.
Catchments received a good soaking with 60mm of rain falling across Melbourne's water storages, Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) senior forecaster Scott Williams said.
Snow fell in Victorian Alpine areas and forced road closures. Falls Creek resort spokesman Ian Talbot told AAP more than 20cm of snow had "blanketed the resort" Sunday morning.
"It was very cold overnight, it got down to minus six degrees celsius and residents said it looked like the middle of winter," he said.
"It's very rare to get enough for road closures at this time of year."
A 12-day adventure race involving an 800km trek over NSW and Victorian high country has been stalled due to the bad weather, with 120 people involved now holed up in the tiny Victorian Alpine town of Tintaldra.
In Queensland, a severe weather warning for the state's south-east corner was cancelled on Saturday evening after the latest storm in a week of wild weather passed.
Three women were hurt in separate accidents - one of whom was in a serious condition after being hit by a tree - as a result of ferocious winds battering the region on Saturday afternoon.
http://news.smh.com.au/national/gale-for...-6en3.html
