A widespread and dynamic thunderstorm outbreak continues to lash eastern New South Wales and Victoria on Thursday evening, while in the state’s southwest, extremely heavy rainfall along a section of the Great Ocean Road and adjacent ranges caused afternoon flash flooding.
Flash flooding and storms in eastern Victoria
The flash flooding occurred at the small town of Wye River on the Great Ocean Road, about 160km southwest of Melbourne, with vision emerging of multiple vehicles submerged and some being carried out into the breaking waves.
BREAKING: Cars have been swept out to sea by flash flooding in Victoria. Dramatic video shared with 7NEWS showed multiple vehicles at the mercy of the swollen Wye River being pushed towards the beach. ???? DETAILS: https://t.co/Qg0jIHtz6B #flood #flashfood #greatoceanroad #victoria… pic.twitter.com/INm5rStZvm
— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) January 15, 2026
It came after a nearby weather station at Mt Cowley recorded intense rainfall totalling 175.4mm in the six hours to 3pm.
Later on Thursday afternoon, the Victorian extreme weather focus turned to the state's east and high country.
At 4pm, the BoM issued a severe thunderstorm warning for heavy, locally intense rainfall, large hailstones, and damaging winds in the East Gippsland forecast district, as well as in parts of the North Central, North East, West and South Gippsland and Central forecast districts.
High rainfall totals in within very brief periods (indicative of thunderstorm downpours) were recorded during the mid-afternoon at several Victorian locations, including:
53.4mm at Mt Cann Fire Tower in the 30 minutes to 3:57pm.
59.8mm at the tiny town of Licola in one hour up to 3:337pm.
And as mentioned, 175.4mm fell at Mt Cowley in the six hours to 3pm, where storms were particularly slow-moving due to weak steering winds.
Storms in eastern NSW
At 4:16pm, the BoM’s NSW office issued a severe weather warning for thunderstorms that are likely to produce damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding into the evening.
The ACT was also included in the original warning area, although a supercell thunderstorm appeared to track just north of Canberra, and the severe weather warning for Canberra was cancelled soon afterwards.
Supercell (featuring rotating updraughts) thunderstorms north of Canberra on Thursday. https://t.co/vTCrLo1V4i pic.twitter.com/QsLdaiwiNs
— Andrew Miskelly (@andrewmiskelly) January 15, 2026
Just after 6pm, the BoM issued an updated and more detailed severe thunderstorm warning, warning of the chance of giant hailstones, damaging winds and heavy rainfall for people in parts of the Blue Mountains/Hawkesbury, Gosford/Wyong, Sydney, Wollondilly/Wingecarribee and Greater Wollongong areas.
A more general severe thunderstorm warning is also current for the Hunter, Illawarra, South Coast and parts of the Mid North Coast, Metropolitan, Central Tablelands, Southern Tablelands, North West Slopes and Plains, Snowy Mountains, Australian Capital Territory, Northern Tablelands, Central West Slopes and Plains and Upper Western districts.
For Sydney, any storms that develop will likely arrive close to dark or even after dark.
Just like in Victoria, high rainfall totals have been recorded within a short time frame in parts of eastern NSW, especially in the Snowy Mountains and South Coast areas.
A downpour of 67mm in 60 minutes was also recorded at Brogo Dam on the South Coast.
Image: Thunderstorm development in the SE corner of mainland Australia on the afternoon of Thursday, January 15, 2026.
What is causing this severe thunderstorm outbreak?
According to Weatherzone meteorologist Joel Pippard, an upper level trough crossing the southeast of the mainland has helped promote convection (rising moist warm air).
So even though daytime maximums were only in the mid-20s in many of the areas mentioned, severe storms were able to form and are still developing as darkness approaches.