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Wild winds top 100 km/h in four states

Wind gusts have topped 100 km/h in South Australia, Victoria, NSW and Tasmania this Tuesday morning as a cold front roars eastwards after delivering a 119 km/h gust to southwest WA on Monday.

The strongest wind gust readings in southeastern Australia as of 11am this Tuesday, July 8, were:

• NSW: 119km/h at Thredbo Top Station just before 11am.
• VIC: 107 km/h at Mount Buller just after at 9am.
• VIC: 106 km/h at Mt Hotham just before 11am.
• TAS: 104 km/h at Mount Read just after 10am.
• SA: 102 km/h at Cape Willoughby on Kangaroo Island at 1:45am.
• VIC: 102 km/h at the 1167m summit of Mt William, the highest point of the Grampians in western Victoria, just before 10am.

While the strongest winds whipped through South Australia early this morning, Victoria will experience its strongest winds from this weather system from mid-morning through to lunchtime this Tuesday.

New South Wales and Tasmanian winds have probably not peaked yet, with the strongest gusts in those states expected a little later today.

Image: A good illustration of how weather systems originating south of mainland Australia are often associated with strong northerly winds.

Why is it so windy today?

As mentioned at the top of this story, a cold front is approaching southeastern Australia. The strongest winds in such systems often occur ahead of the front.

In general terms, wind is caused by air moving from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure.

When a cold front approaches, a mass of cold air pushes underneath the warmer, less dense air ahead of it, causing the warm air to rise rapidly. This causes strong winds ahead of the front.

4pm update

As the wind increased on Tuesday afternoon:

• Mt Hotham in Victoria had a gust of 111 km/h at 2:19pm.
• Thredbo Top Station in NSW had a gust of 128 km/h at 3:15pm, as well as 90 minutes of sustained wind speeds of 100 km/h or slighty stronger leading up to midday.
• In the hour when the sustained wind speeds were at their strongest, ThredboTop Station's "feels like" temperature hovered around a bone-chilling –23°C.

Meanwhile with Australia’s alpine region copping the full fury of Tuesday’s windy weather, numerous chairlifts have been on wind-hold at the ski resorts.

Much-neded snow will top up the diminishing snow base later this Tuesday, with further snow on Thursday, but not before snow goers endured one of the more unpleasant weather days of the season to date today.

Don’t forget to check the Weatherzone snow page for the latest forecasts, cams and more throughout the 2025 winter season.