State left to count cost of wild weather

TREES blocked roads, a caravan was flipped on the highway and police were called to multiple crashes as wild winds lashed much of the state on Sunday.

The day started out pleasant, with the mercury reaching a top of 21.6C just before 11am in Hobart — about 9C higher than average.

But from around midday the predicted northwesterly winds started to wreak havoc.

Wind gusts peaked at 132kmh on kunanyi/Mt Wellington, while Maatsuyker Island reached 130kmh and Scotts Peak experienced 115kmh.

There were 12 known power outages affecting more than 4300 properties across the state in the early afternoon, with TasNetworks working to restore the majority of connections into the evening.

Affected areas included Blackmans Bay, Bonnet Hill, Kingston, Kingston Beach, Bagdad, Kempton, Queenstown, Strahan, Cremorne,

Lauderdale, Rokeby and Sandford.

Emergency crews worked to remove trees 15km from Scottsdale at the Sidling in the morning and the Huon Highway was blocked at Kingston in the afternoon after a tree fell on the road.

Glen Huon Road was closed between Watsons Road and Sunny Hills Road from about 2.30pm due to a tree that had fallen across the road.

The severe winds also forced an early closure of Hobart’s Farmgate Market.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicted the northwesterly blast would ease overnight, while the southwesterly onslaught would continue into Monday morning.

Later in the week is likely to see windy weather redevelop across the state as a series of lows and fronts approach from the southwest.

The State Emergency Service recommended being mindful of damaged trees and powerlines and to take care on the roads.