Strong winds forecast for east coast on Saturday

• Gusty north/north-westerly winds are expected Saturday afternoon ahead of an approaching cold front with the area between Bicheno and Dunalley expected to see wind gusts reaching up to 90 km/h.

• The west coast, central plateau and south east may also experience wind gusts of around 75-85 km/h.

• Rain will develop in the west early Saturday morning before spreading across the state; 30-40mm expected in the west and elevated areas of the north; 15-25mm for remaining areas of the north, 5-10mm for the rest of the state excluding Flinders Island, east coast and south east coasts where less than 5mm will fall.

• Isolated thunderstorms are possible for western maritime late Saturday afternoon.

• The following warnings are currently in place for Saturday:
• Gale Warning for the south west and central west coasts
• Strong Wind Warning for far north west coast, central north coast, upper and lower east coast, and south east coast.
• Small Craft Alert for the central plateau and south west lakes.
Details on warnings are updated daily at: www.bom.gov.au/tas/warnings/

Sunday …

• The strong winds will ease back Saturday night and the front will pass by Sunday morning.

• Showers clearing in the south east on Sunday morning and north east by the afternoon; 20-30mm expected along the west coast, and 5-10 mm in the north west and north east.
Kelly McNeill