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Severe weather warnings in five states as wind gusts to 163 km/h in Tasmania

Wild winds on Friday morning have prompted severe weather warnings for damaging or destructive winds in SA, Vic, NSW, Tasmania and the ACT, as a cold front surges over southeastern Australia.

The engine driving the severe weather is a strong low pressure system over the Southern Ocean, and while the low is centred well south of Tasmania, the winds circulating it are still strong enough to lash that state and southeastern parts of the mainland.

• Not long after sunrise on Friday, a gust of 120 km/h was recorded at Mt William in Victoria’s Grampians,
• A short while later, a gust of 139 km/h was recorded at Scotts Peak in Tasmania's southwest, marking the sixth straight day when Scotts Peak’s strongest wind gust exceeded 100 km/h.
• Friday's strongest gust of 163 km/h came at 3:00pm (AEDT) at the notoriously windy Maatsuyker Island on the the southern tip of Tasmania.

Like Scotts Peak, Maatsuyker Island has also seen six days of remarkably strong winds, with a sequence of peak gusts from Sunday through to Friday morning of 139 km/h, 137 km/h, 133 km/h, 135 km/h, 113 km/h and 163 km/h.

Series of sliding cold fronts drawing a northwest cloud band across southern Australia this week. pic.twitter.com/sH2tksDWuo

— Andrew Miskelly (@andrewmiskelly) October 9, 2025

The relentless run of extreme winds is illustrated in the loop above, which shows the vigorous eastward progress of Southern Ocean cold fronts in what is a classic spring weather pattern.

As you’d expect with this sort of system, western Tasmania has received significant rainfall in addition to strong winds, with 7-day totals nudging 100mm at some spots.

Tasmania’s east coast tends to receive much less rain with westerly systems, but Hobart received 10.4mm overnight with rain continuing into Friday morning. Locals will likely appreciate the damp weather, as the city received just three quarters of its average rainfall over the first nine months of 2025.

Unfortunately for parts of Victoria, SA and NSW which need rain, the current system is bringing drying winds with the prospect of only light brief showers in most forecast districts.

Melbourne has endured below-average rainfall in all but two months of 2025 to date, and October has been relatively dry too, with just 8mm recorded so far. Friday is expected to stay mostly dry, although there’s the prospect of showers this weekend.