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Saturday 1 January 2000 |
Torrential
rain in WA Kimberleys Heavy storms in SE Qld and NE NSW ![]() Cold in western NSW and Qld |
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Highest rainfall, 24 hours to 9am |
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300.0
Kimberley Coastal Camp Kalumburu WA 139.8 Doongan WA 131.2 Troughton Is WA 127.6 Theda Kalumburu WA |
Troughton
Island, about 250km NW of Wyndham on WA's Kimberley coast, recorded
a phenomenal 455mm between 3am and 9pm today. Nearly 300mm fell in 9 hours
between 9am and 6pm. The cause was a shallow off-shore low pressure system,
supported by colder air and strong divergence in the middle atmosphere which
produced a relatively localised area of vigorous uplift. The automatic raingauge
on the island recorded 50mm in 3 hours to 6am, a further 49 to 9am, 71 to
midday, 94 to 3pm, 132 to 6pm and 60 to 9pm. The station's 24 hour total
to 9am was 131.2mm, with a further 400mm falling to 9am Sunday -- breaking
the station's previous all-time 24 hour heavy fall in a record going back
to 1956. Doongan, 80km away on the mainland, recorded 140mm in the
24 hours to 9 this morning, with a further 76 between 9am and 3pm. Unrelated
thunderstorms at Nyang Station, 150km S of Onslow, started fires
from lightning strikes during the morning, then dropped 41mm on the property
in 3 hours to 6pm.
Heavy thunderstorms occurred from the NSW Northern Tablelands and North Coast into southeastern Queensland this afternoon and evening, with a particularly nasty storm unroofing a house and garage, and damaging a second home in Bundaberg, Qld. A confirmed tornado was responsible for at least part of the damage. Golfball size hail and strong winds were reported with this storm, while hail was also reported from Rockhampton. Hail and strong winds were also reported in a strip from west of Gympie to Tin Can Bay, with hail to golfball size damaging fruit and vegetable crops. A houseboat in Tin Can Bay was destroyed and many others damaged when strong winds caused them to drag anchors. Coastguard equipment measured wind gusts to more than 130km/h. In NSW, 20mm fell in a storm between 5 and 6pm at Armidale Airport accompanied by hail in the city, briefly closing the New England Highway. Some 50 buildings were damaged, and hail, described as being up to 4cm in diameter, also damaged hundreds of cars and plants in gardens and nurseries. Unmelted hailstones were still lying on the ground at noon, Sunday. See detailed report from Australian Severe Weather. Earlier, a line of storms which moved NE through the North Coast late on New Year's Eve and early this morning produced heavy rain, light hail and winds estimated at 80km/h. Details of other heavy falls are given at left. Both overnight and daytime temperatures across the western halves of NSW and Qld were 6 to 10 degrees below normal today, with a record cold night reported at Longreach, Qld. |
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Highest & Lowest Temps |
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Maximum | Minimum | |
41.4 Nyang WA | 30.0 Alyangula NT | |
8.0 Crackenback NSW | -1.3 Mt Wellington Tas | |
Greatest variations from normal |
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Maximum | Minimum | |
+9.3 34.4 C Naturaliste WA |
+7.2 25.5 Carnamah WA |
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-11.5 26.0 Warmun Halls Creek WA |
-9.7 13.4 Longreach AP Qld |
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Other extreme readings | ||
Rainfall Toolara Qld 16.8mm in 10 mins to 12.40pm Ballina AP NSW 11.8mm in 10 mins to 12.42am |
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Records set this day | ||
Longreach AP Qld: coldest January minimum temp in 33 years record -- 13.0 breaking previous record of 13.4 |
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