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DON’T even think about going into the sea today if you’re anywhere along the coast of southern Queensland or NSW. That’s the stark advice as monster 4m-high waves fuelled by Tropical Cyclone Gita smash down from Fraser Island in Queensland to Eden in the south of NSW.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued multiple hazardous surf warnings for much of the east coast, including Bondi, Byron, and the Gold and Sunshine coasts, with the dangerous conditions set to last until at least Tuesday.
On the weekend, more than 150 people had to be recused from wild seas with one man still missing.
Even if you’re away from the beach, it’s time to fish out the brolley as a low pressure trough brings heavy rain and thunderstorms to banish away the last of the heatwave.
That is except in Adelaide where the mercury will push 37C this week.
Over on the west coast, Tropical Cyclone Kelvin is petering out. But the rain it’s brought with it has been so intense, Broome has had its second wettest year on record — and it’s only February.
Sky News meteorologist Rob Sharpe said the rain in Western Australia had been “staggering” with 1.5m recorded in parts of the state’s northeast since New Year.
Southern NSW was lashed with rain on Monday morning with the deluge set to creep up towards Sydney and into Queensland over the coming days.
“We’ve got a low pressure trough causing showers and thunderstorms across the NSW south coast and Snowy Mountains with severe thunderstorm warnings,” said Mr Sharpe.
“Moruya Airport (in southern NSW) saw 59mm since 6am Monday with 11mm falling in just 10 minutes. Typically, in the tropics rain rates of 5mm in 10 minutes is often enough for flash flooding, so that’s double that rate.
The same trough will edge northwards bringing heavy rain to Sydney and then tomorrow will weaken a bit as it heads through the north coast,” he said.
Tuesday should see Queensland break its run of sun. “This trough will move all the way up into Queensland and that will cool the state down. It will bring showers and thunderstorms across the Ranges so it’s not just coastal areas that will be affected.”
Mr Sharpe said he expected more severe storm warnings to be issued by the Bureau of Meteorology as the system heads through NSW and the ACT towards Queensland.
Huge waves have been a feature of the weekend in NSW, as anyone who went to the beach will attest to. Gnarly seas tossed surfers and swimmers around close to shore. Police are continuing to search for a 22-year-old man who became stuck in a rip and was swept out to sea at Nambucca in northern NSW on Saturday.
Large swell and dangerous conditions hampered search efforts on Sunday, AAP reported.
“The waves have been huge across the NSW and Queensland coast. Yesterday waves got as high a 4.2m offshore of Sydney and this morning we’re still seeing maximum wave heights above 3m. These are hazardous surf conditions across the entire NSW and southern Queensland coast.”
Mr Sharpe said because of the way wave heights are measured, above flat sea conditions, they can actually appear far larger from the shore.
“From the beach, offshore waves in the order of 6-foot (1.8m) are almost double person height, basically 12-foot (3.6m), so it’s huge.
“The reason why we have such massive surf is because of Tropical Cyclone Gita which is making its way towards New Zealand. It’s been around for almost two weeks and it has powerful winds rotating round that system that have been whipping up surf over a very large area.
“The surf is deceptively powerful because there is a long period between waves, almost double what we would usually see, and that means each wave has a lot more water and energy behind it.”
In Western Australia, Tropical Cyclone Kelvin is weakening and is now a category one storm crossing the Pilbara, he said.
“At some point on Monday it will probably be downgraded to an ex-tropical cyclone. It’s biggest impact has been the rainfall. Broome has been inundated — they have recorded close to 1.5m of rain (since January 1) and that makes 2018 the second wettest year on record and it’s only February.
“That’s a staggering amount of rainfall which has occurred because WA has been impacted by three weather systems.”
HAZARDOUS SURF CONDITIONS
Surf and swell conditions are expected to be hazardous for rock fishing, boating, and swimming on both Monday and Tuesday in the following areas of NSW: Byron Coast, Coffs Coast, Macquarie Coast, Hunter Coast, Sydney Coast, Illawarra Coast, Batemans Coast and Eden Coast.
In Queensland, stay on shore on Monday in the following areas: Fraser Island Coast, Sunshine Coast Waters and Gold Coast Waters.
AROUND THE CAPITALS
27C on Monday falling to 22C on Tuesday before steadily rising towards 31C on Saturday. A high chance of rain and storms later on Monday evening with showers continuing into Tuesday. Partly cloudy for much of the week.
A wet Monday with showers in the afternoon and a high of 24C. The hottest day this week will be Saturday with a high of 33C. Partly cloudy with some showers.
33C and sunny on Monday ahead of the cloudy, wet weather and slightly cooler temperatures of Tuesday where a maximum of 30C is forecast. For much of the rest of the week it will be 27C and cloudy with the odd shower before brightening up for the weekend.
It’s business as usual in the Top End which will stick around 31C all week with afternoon downpours.
WA’s capital will be sunny with temperatures bumping around 30C all week, getting as high as 34C on Saturday.
A scorcher of a week for Adelaide. 30C on Monday rising to a maximum 35C on Tuesday and then 37C on Friday. Partly cloudy with little or any rain.
A summery week, with highs of up to 30C with rain here and there. Should cool down on Sunday.
Tassie will see 18C on Monday rising to a high of 26C on Friday. Mostly sunny with little chance of rain.