Flood watch for Friday

Bureau of Meteorology, Tasmania

Initial Flood Watch for the Eastern half of Tasmania

Note: This Flood Watch is a "heads up" for possible future flooding and is NOT a Flood Warning.

Issued at 11:50 am EST on Wednesday 9 May 2018

Flood Watch Number: 1

Initial Flood Watch for catchments in the north, northeast, east coast, central and southeast of Tasmania and the Furneaux Islands.

A complex low pressure system is approaching southeast Australia. Significant rainfall is likely during Thursday and Friday across the eastern half of Tasmania.

Catchments are dry in the central and eastern parts of the State. The North Esk and Huon catchments are relatively wet from antecedent rainfall.

Southern and eastern Tasmania are expected to receive 30-60 mm of rainfall on Thursday, falling as snow above 1000 m.

Friday is likely to see the highest rainfall totals, with widespread 50-100 mm forecast across eastern and central parts of the State. Higher rainfall totals up to 120 mm are possible in elevated areas.

Due to the nature of the complex low there is uncertainty in the forecast rainfall. These amounts may change in the coming days as the position of the low becomes more certain.

River rises are expected in response to the forecast rainfall. Flooding may develop in some catchments from Friday onwards, with the severity depending on the rainfall totals. Further catchment specific warnings will be issued if and when required.

Strong and dangerous flows are expected in small creeks and low-lying areas in locations that receive heavy rainfall.

Catchments likely to be affected include:

Derwent River 

Furneaux Islands

North Esk River

      South Esk River

Meander River

        Macquarie River

East Coastal Rivers (north of Bicheno)

Ringarooma River

   North Coastal Rivers

Tamar (Launceston)

Huon River

Channel Coastal Rivers (South East Cape to Gordon)

Jordan River

                   Coal River

East Coastal Rivers (south of Bicheno)

South East

Note: This Flood Watch is a "heads up" for possible future flooding and is NOT a Flood Warning. The Bureau of Meteorology does not provide a flood warning service for all of the catchments covered by this flood watch.  For more information on the Flood Watch Service: www.bom.gov.au/water/floods/floodWarningServices.shtml

For the latest warnings see www.bom.gov.au/tas/warnings

For the latest rainfall and river level information see www.bom.gov.au/tas/flood

For the latest weather forecast see www.bom.gov.au/tas/forecasts

Flood Safety Advice:

• FloodSafe advice is available at www.ses.tas.gov.au
• Road closure information is available at www.police.tas.gov.au
• For emergency assistance call the SES on telephone number 132 500.
• For life threatening situations, call 000 immediately.

Next Issue:

The next Flood Watch will be issued by 10am on Thursday 10 May 2018.