By Jonty Ralphsmith
A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued by the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) for large hailstones and heavy rainfall in the South East.
The Pakenham region is part of the warning area which encompasses central and western Gippsland and suburbs surrounding Port Phillip Bay, from Portsea to Geelong.
“A humid, unstable air mass lies over Victoria, with a low pressure trough moving slowly eastwards across the State today,” BOM stated on its website.
A thunderstorm hit the Pakenham area in the mid-morning of Friday 7 January, but when contacted at 11.40am, BOM senior forecaster Christie Johnson confirmed no reports had been made from the region, but warned more inclement weather may impact the region.
“It’s just going to be stormy on and off for the rest of the day, whether Pakenham gets hit again, it’s hard to say – the nature of storms is they tend to be hit and miss but there’s definitely potential,” Ms Johnson said.
With potential severe weather still around, Johnson outlined a series of precautions residents could take to keep themselves safe.
“Sometimes severe storms can pop up very quickly and become severe quickly so we’re just encouraging people to keep their eye out for warnings, keep an eye on the radar given there is the potential for large hail and heavy rainfall and damaging winds today,” Ms Johnson said.
“Perhaps consider parking the car undercover, not camping under trees, never drive into flood waters. Be aware that warnings can be issued very quickly.”
An updated BOM emergency notification is expected at 1.10pm. Residents are encouraged to regularly check the BOM website for warnings.
In comforting news for residents, the BOM does not anticipate the evening of Friday 7 January to be as “sticky” as previous nights which will lead into a cooler and more pleasant weekend with temperatures in the low 20s, as the storm risk pushes further east.
