00:01We're expecting thunderstorms could occur across much of Victoria today.
00:05Most of the state has a chance of thunderstorms, but the area where it's really looking most
00:09likely through Victoria this afternoon is the north and northwest.
00:14So think areas around the Mallee, the Wimmera and the north central parts of Victoria, from
00:18about Echuca and Bendigo right across to the South Australia border, where we could see
00:22thunderstorms really bubbling up probably in the next three or four hours.
00:26Because storms in this area could turn severe and bring some regions of damaging wind or
00:31heavy rain or even some big hailstones.
00:33And we know that at this time of year in parts of Victoria, when those thunderstorms really
00:38do get going, they can exacerbate those asthma-like symptoms.
00:41So definitely one to keep an eye on today.
00:43Other parts of Victoria could also see a thunderstorm, including through the capital.
00:47It's raining there at the moment just in time for lunch, but perhaps not bringing that same
00:51risk of those more intense weather hazards.
00:53So it is going to be a chopping and changing around the country a fair bit.
00:57So if we just stay in Victoria first, then storm day today potentially, a much more subdued
01:03day tomorrow, not expecting that same risk of storms or thunderstorm bringing asthma-like
01:08symptoms as well.
01:09But Wednesday is another day where we could see some showers and storms sweep across the
01:13state and then it subsides once again.
01:15So Monday and Wednesday for Victoria.
01:17If we shift our focus now to eastern Australia, a really big storm day on the cards for Tuesday
01:23for northern New South Wales and southeast Queensland.
01:27This is most areas north of Sydney, so from about Newcastle right up to the Queensland border
01:32and then across the border through the southeast, including Brisbane, up to about as far north
01:36as Bundaberg and then some inland areas like the Highlands and the Darling Downs.
01:40So a big region lining up for severe thunderstorms tomorrow, damaging wind looking possible, maybe
01:45even some destructive wind could bring down some big trees.
01:48We could see some large or even giant hailstones.
01:52That means hailstones five centimetres across.
01:54If you can imagine something of this size, you don't want to get caught out in the middle
01:57of that, as well as some areas of heavy rainfall.
02:00So for the eastern seaboard of the country, Tuesday is the big day this week and then things
02:05should settle down beyond that.
02:06I don't think I quite can get right down into the nitty gritty, but essentially there's
02:10certain types of pollen, and I believe it's certain types of grass pollen, which are pretty
02:14commonly found through parts of northern Victoria and parts of eastern South Australia, which
02:19obviously get whipped around and blown into the atmosphere at this time of year as we're
02:23heading into those warmer months.
02:24And then when thunderstorms form, what happens inside a thunderstorm is you get these big vertical
02:29columns of air where the air rushes upwards, and if some of that pollen gets caught
02:34in that upwards moving air, it gets pulled into high and cold parts of the atmosphere.
02:38It can then freeze up in these cold parts of the atmosphere, and I believe inside a thunderstorm
02:43these frozen bits of pollen then shatter into these tiny little filaments, these tiny
02:48little splinters, which then come down through the thunderstorm with all the rainfall, and
02:53it's those tiny little bits of pollen that can get caught in people's throat or lungs
02:56and can really exacerbate that asthma.
