Damaging to destructive winds lash southeastern Australia

The first in a series of cold fronts has been sweeping across South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania today, bringing wind gusts up to 145km/h at some locations, downing trees and powerlines and leaving many residents without power.

The effects were first felt in South Australia this morning as wind gusts clocked up to 117km/h in the Adelaide Hills, and 90-100km/h in and around Adelaide, causing more than 5000 homes to lose power.

By midday, winds had significantly strengthened over western Victoria, with gusts reaching 111km/h at Horsham, 102km/h at Nhill and 119km/h at Mount Gellibrand, bringing down trees and powerlines.

Further south in Tasmania, winds also reached dangerous speeds around midday, with gusts recorded as strong as 98km/h at Hobart and 145km/h at Mount Wellington.

Melbourne was hit by the front during the mid-to-late afternoon, accompanied by showers, thunderstorms and small hail. Widespread wind gusts of 80-90km/h were recorded across the metropolitan area and surrounds, with wind gusts reaching as strong as 126km/h in the Bay.

Strong winds were also felt in southern parts of NSW, although most places didn't record gusts above 90km/h (defined as 'damaging'), apart from alpine areas which saw gusts to 120km/h.

Winds will ease later this evening, however another front will cause another burst of strong winds tomorrow, particularly over Tasmania and southern areas of South Australia and Victoria.

Image: Bureau of Meteorology Mean Sea Level Pressure (MSLP) Chart at 10am Tuesday 17th July, showing the cold front crossing southeastern Australia