Hotham hit 94 km/h as alpine warning ends

Gale shifts to Tassie, VIC gale back Thursday

The front that ran across Victoria on Tuesday has done its dash, and the Bureau of Meteorology pulled the alpine damaging wind warning at 4:54am Wednesday.

Before it let go, the Bureau logged a 94 km/h (51 kt) gust at Mount Hotham AWS at 7:03pm Tuesday, then a 93 km/h (50 kt) gust at Mount Buller Airport at 10:06pm.

The Bureau said winds had eased over the alpine region overnight and that no further warnings would be issued for this event in Victoria.

The numbers tell the story on Port Phillip

The change is written all over the anemometers.

Bureau observations at Melbourne Olympic Park had a west-southwesterly at 13 km/h (7 kt) with a 24 km/h (13 kt) gust at 8:30am Wednesday, a world away from Tuesday's northerly.

Down the bay, the Bureau's Cerberus site was sitting on a westerly 13 km/h (7 kt), gusting 26 km/h (14 kt), with 2.6 mm in the gauge and 1015 hPa.

The high country still had leftover mongrel in it, with Bureau readings at Falls Creek showing a northwesterly 43 km/h (23 kt) and a 70 km/h (38 kt) gust at 8:30am.

Mount Hotham Airport was much quieter by 8:42am on Bureau figures, a northwesterly 28 km/h (15 kt) gusting 46 km/h (25 kt), with 1.4 mm recorded.

Pre-frontal heat first, then the ranges copped it

The interesting bit is that both halves of Tuesday came from the same weather map, and they looked nothing alike.

While the northwest airstream was still ahead of the front, the Bureau recorded 24.1 C at Bairnsdale, more than 6 C above the September average for the town.

Chris Kent of the Bureau of Meteorology said the warmth across the state was well out of the ordinary for early spring.

"These are temperatures we don't see very often."

The Bureau also had Melbourne reaching almost 22 C on Tuesday against a September average top of 17.3 C, part of one of the state's warmest starts to spring.

So the Gippsland coast got the warm northerly in daylight, and after dark the same airstream tightened over the ranges and produced those 90 km/h plus gusts.

If you sailed or fished the Gippsland Lakes on Tuesday afternoon and thought it was a cracking day, the alpine AWS network was having a very different one.

NSW alps get a second crack Wednesday

North of the border the story is not finished.

The Bureau's warning issued at 4:48am Wednesday says damaging winds averaging 80 to 90 km/h may redevelop above 1900 metres from Wednesday afternoon as the vigorous northwesterly persists.

Thredbo Top Station is named in that warning, and the Bureau observed 84 km/h mean winds there at both 4:50am and 10:30am on Tuesday.

At 8:30am Wednesday the Bureau had Thredbo Top Station at 3.4 C with a northwesterly 57 km/h (31 kt), gusting 82 km/h (44 kt), and 0.8 mm of rain.

NSW SES advice with that warning is to stay at least 8 metres away from fallen power lines, and the SES number for storm and flood help is 132 500.

The gale is Tasmania's problem now

The Bureau's Tasmanian marine warning issued at 7:50am Wednesday has a gale warning running for the South East Coast, South West Coast and Central West Coast.

Strong wind warnings cover the Derwent Estuary, Frederick Henry Bay and Norfolk Bay, Storm Bay, Far North West, Central North, Banks Strait and Franklin Sound, East of Flinders Island and Upper East Coast.

Thursday is the bigger day, with the Bureau forecasting gales for the Far North West, Central North, Banks Strait, East of Flinders Island, Upper East, Lower East, South East, South West and Central West coasts.

Hobart was already feeling the pressure fall, with Bureau observations at 8:30am showing 11.9 C, a north-northwesterly 20 km/h (11 kt) and 1005.4 hPa.

The Bureau also issued a sheep graziers warning at 2:36am Wednesday for the Upper Derwent Valley, flagging cold temperatures, showers and westerly winds for Thursday.

Thursday: Victoria gets served again

The Bureau's Victorian marine warning issued at 6:08am Wednesday has strong winds for the West Coast and Central Coast, and cancels the Central Gippsland Coast warning.

By Thursday the Bureau has gales on the Central Coast, Central Gippsland Coast and East Gippsland Coast, with strong winds on the West Coast.

The Bureau also has a strong wind warning for the NSW Eden Coast on Thursday, so the far south coast crews get a piece of it too.

In South Australia the Bureau has strong winds for South Central, Upper South East and Lower South East waters today, adding the Central Coast on Thursday.

West Australians get Ningaloo strong winds today, then Bunbury Geographe, Leeuwin, Albany and Esperance waters on Thursday under Bureau warnings.

Clean-up sense after a big blow

Victoria SES advice issued with the cancellation is worth a read before you go poking around.

Stay away from fallen powerlines and assume they are live, and avoid floodwater, mud, debris, damaged roads and fallen trees.

That matters if you are dragging a boat up a bush track to an alpine lake, or clearing a ramp car park after a night of 90 km/h gusts.

Keep the current picture handy through Seabreeze Victorian warnings and Tasmanian warnings before you commit to Thursday.

What were the highest gusts measured?

Bureau observations show 94 km/h at Mount Hotham AWS at 7:03pm Tuesday and 93 km/h at Mount Buller Airport at 10:06pm Tuesday.

Where is the strongest wind on Wednesday?

Tasmania's South East, South West and Central West coasts hold gale warnings, and the NSW alps above 1900 metres may see 80 to 90 km/h averages from the afternoon.