Rain is falling right across Tasmania this Wednesday as a cloudband ahead of a cold front covers the entire state.

The six-hour radar loop below shows areas of rain in all Tasmanian districts on Wednesday morning, as cloud streams across from the northwest.

As you'd expect with a system pushing in from the northwest, the heaviest recorded falls in the 24 hours to 9am Wednesday were in the state's west, northwest, and highlands, with a high reading of 25.4mm at Narcissus River at the southern end of Tasmania's famous (and often very wet) Overland Track.

How badly does Tasmania need rain at present?

Any statewide rainfall event at present would be good news for most Tasmanians.

Rainfall was 17% below average statewide in February 2026

Rainfall was 26% below average statewide over the duration of the 2025/26 summer

The image below shows the rainfall deciles for the 2025/26 summer. As you can see, most of the state saw below-average rainfall.

Image: Tasmanian rainfall deciles for summer 2025/26. Source: BoM.

Hobart in particular had a dry summer, receiving 72.2mm, which was just over 51% of its seasonal average rainfall of 140.4mm.

To date in March, Hobart had recorded just 16.2mm to 9am Wednesday, including a modest 4.2mm overnight when, as mentioned, some parts of the state saw significantly more.

However, rain continues this Wednesday, with a further 4.4mm falling between 9am and 11am.

Cold front pushes through late on Wednesday night

By Thursday morning, the northwesterlies will have turned to much cooler westerlies and southwesterlies, with the first light snowfalls of autumn likely above 1000 metres.

Precipitation in the form of rain or snow tends to be heaviest in Tasmania’s west during such events, with only light showers in eastern locations like Hobart.

The front will roar through quite quickly, bringing a brief burst of strong winds. In its wake, virtually the whole state should return to dry, relatively calm conditions for the period from the end of the working week into the weekend.