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Wind, rain, snow to smash SE Australia … again

Strong winds, rain and snow will smash southeast Australia once again as a cold front grips the country.

A deep freeze is set to hit South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, while New South Wales will feel it most with severe weather warnings issued.

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The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) expects damaging winds in the southeast and possible blizzards in the alpine areas of NSW from Monday.

Winds averaging 60 to 70 km/h with gusts in excess of 90km/h are likely in Alpine areas above 1200 metres, while areas above 1800 metres can expect an average 80km/h, peaking at 120km/h.

Thredbo, Perisher, Nowra, Batemans Bay, Moruya Heads, Cooma and Bombala have been issued warning of a potential blizzard as a result.

Gusts in excess of 90km/h may also extend to other parts of the southeast during Monday afternoon.

BoM forecaster Katarina Kovacevic said it won’t be “outrageously cold”, but does expect the cold front to compare to the chilling storm of July, 2015.

“It definitely will be a cold outbreak, it will be fairly comparable to what we saw this time last year,” she said.

“We had a cold outbreak in July, 2015 that saw snow over parts of the Central Tablelands and parts of the Northern Tablelands. It’s of a similar temperature to that cold outbreak.”

Ms Kovacevic said the central coast will remain in the low teens for most of the week, with a minimum on 9C on Wednesday before rising to a possible 16C on Thursday.

Winter wonder to hit Melbourne

Meanwhile, the BoM has warned that a deep low-pressure system across Victoria will bring cold, wintry conditions and high winds for the next three days.

Snow is also expected to fall as low as 200-300 metres on Tuesday covering Mt Macedon, Mt Dandenong and possibly the Otway Ranges by Wednesday morning.

It’s the same system that brought down trees in South Australia on Sunday.

It will also be cold, with temperatures hovering around 10C or 11C for the next few days.

North-eastern parts of the Victoria had the highest rainfall totals of 30mm to 40mm, while Melbourne only received 4mm.

Strong wind gusts of up to 100km/h brought down trees in the north-east of the state and in parts of Melbourne.

Windy conditions will stay around through Tuesday when the next cold front moves past, BoM senior forecaster Rod Dixon said.

“We’ll see wind gusts up around the 90-100km/h mark with showers developing, local hail and thunder and even some snow developing about the Dandenong Ranges overnight Tuesday into Wednesday,” he said.

“Areas such as the Otways and Ballarat, and even the Strezlecki Ranges in west and south Gippsland could receive a light dusting of snow.”

Conditions to improve later in the week

The State Emergency Service (SES) responded to about 170 calls for help in Melbourne overnight, mainly for fallen trees, duty officer Brad Dalgleish said.

“We do ask residents, during these windy conditions, to stow any loose items such as outdoor settings, umbrellas and trampolines,” he said.

“And ensure that they do check things like gutters, downpipes and drains to ensure that they’re not blocked.”

Weather conditions should improve on Wednesday as the next high moves in over New South Wales, Mr Dixon said.

“We should see temperatures return to the mid-teens by the weekend and we should have a mostly sunny weekend,” he said.

“But we’re going to se a couple of days with temperatures hovering around 10, 11 this week.”

Flood warnings for Tasmania and South Australia

Flood warnings are in place for northern Tasmania with up to 80mm of rain forecast in some regions.

Latrobe in Tasmania's north which was flooded in last month's floods. Photo: ABC News

Latrobe in Tasmania’s north after in last month’s floods. Photo: ABC News

North and north west of the state will see heavy rain on Monday with more forecast for Tuesday.

The rain could lead to rises in the Mersey River, North Esk and Meander catchments on Monday, and the South Esk’s upper reaches on Tuesday.

The State Emergency Service advises that people do not try to drive, walk, swim or cycle through floodwaters, beware of damaged trees and powerlines, and secure outdoor items.

Farmers and graziers on low-lying areas should move stock and equipment to higher ground.

South Australia has its own flood warning with rapidly rising water levels and flooding in creeks and watercourses a possibility, according to BoM.

Adelaide is expecting heavy rain and possible thunderstorms developing on Monday night and persist into Tuesday.

Rainfall totals in the Mid North is forecasting 10-30mm, while Mount Lofty Ranges totals are likely to be in the range of 40mm to 80mm.

The ‘monster low’ circling the southeast will weaken as it heads north, but is predicted to take the cold front to the Darling Downs and Granite Belt regions in Queensland.

Showers are forecasted up until Sunday afternoon for Toowoomba, with the strongest possibility on Wednesday.

Temperatures will drop to 13C before rising again on Saturday.

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