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Tuesday 4 January 2000 |
Gales
and heavy rain lash Tasmania Heavy storms in NE half of NSW ![]() Heat and bushfires in SW WA Minor flooding in 3 states |
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Highest rainfall, 24 hours to 9am |
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149.4
Eidsvold Qld 94.2 El Arish Bingil Bay Qld 90.6 Cardwell Qld 89.2 Meda Derby WA |
A
classic "bomb" low developed in eastern Bass Strait today bringing
gales, thunderstorms and torrential rain to Tasmania's northeast.
A broad area of low pressure with several centres formed in the Strait during
the morning in a troughline moving across southeastern states. At the same
time, a relatively small area of cold upper air moved through the area,
with temperatures as low as -24° at 500hPa (18,000 feet), about 6° colder
than over Hobart. The low rapidly deepened to around 996hPa by mid evening
in response to the increased instability, and easterly gales, storms and
heavy rain resulted on the exposed northeastern coast. Swan Island,
between Flinders Island and the Tasmanian mainland, recorded a record 48.4mm
in the 24 hours to 9 this morning. All of it fell in the 12 hours to 9am,
with a further 42mm falling in the following 12 hours to 9pm. Gray, a seriously
wet location at the top of the Elephant Pass near St Mary's recorded
168.2 and St Mary's itself 158.6 for the 24 hours to 9am Wednesday. Three
homes were evacuated in St Mary's as the local creek rose, and the Tasman
Highway was closed by floodwater near the town and south of Bicheno. In
Launceston, two houses were unroofed by the gales which also brought
down trees and powerlines, blocking roads and blacking out a wide area affecting
8000 consumers. Farther afield, powerlines brought down by falling trees
in the Lilydale-Lebrina area and around Mt Barrow NE of the city caused
power outages for over a day. At sea, a yacht, The Innkeeper, was dismasted
off Flinders Island and its crew of seven, with one man injured, was winched
off by helicopter in seas reportedly running to 20m. The wind and rain also
caused heavy losses for some cherry farmers. Gusts to 59km/h were recorded
at Launceston Airport and 94km/h at Eddystone Point on the far NE coast.
Cape Grim, in the far northwest, reported sustained winds above 90km/h
from 2pm until midnight. Some of the higher gusts and rainfalls are shown
at left. Moderate to heavy thunderstorms, rather rare events in Tasmania,
were reported from northeastern stations mid-morning. The cold pool and
heavy cloud made for an unusually cold day, with Hobart's top of
12.1 the lowest maximum in the city since the January record of 12.0 was
set in 1945. In Launceston, the maximum of 14 (rounded) is also possibly
the coldest January day in 55 years.
The same trough produced a line of heavy thunderstorms as it moved through the northeastern half of NSW during the afternoon and evening. Some of the heavier rainfalls are shown at left. At least five houses were damaged as a storm cut through a strip west of Port Macquarie during the evening, two with awnings torn off, two with roof damage, and one with a tree on its roof. Winds gusted to 93km/h at Port Macquarie Airport, and also at Bathurst, where large trees were blown down and a house damaged. A report on the Sydney area storms is at Australian Severe Weather Hot, seasonally dry weather along Western Australia's southwest coastal fringe has continued since 21 December with maximum temperatures 4 to 12 above normal. Today, a massive fire at Leeman, about 240km north of Perth, was brought under control after burning through 45,000 hectares of coastal bush since started by lightning on New Years Eve. In addition to strong river rises in the South Esk basin in Tasmania's northeast today, minor to moderate flooding from recent rain is continuing in NW Victoria and western Queensland. In Victoria, the Loddon and Avoca Rivers continue in minor flood south of Kerang. In western Queensland and far northwestern NSW, minor flooding is easing in the Paroo, Bulloo, Warrego, Lower Thompson, Georgina and Diamantina Rivers, and moderate flooding is easing on Coopers Creek around Windorah. |
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Highest & Lowest Temps |
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Maximum | Minimum | |
41.0 Camooweal PO Qld | 28.4 Centre Is NT | |
7.5 Lookout Hill Vic | 2.1 Mt Buller Vic | |
Greatest variations from normal |
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Maximum | Minimum | |
+9.6 34.5 Norah Head LH NSW |
+6.2 20.6 Balladonia WA |
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-12.3 16.3 Maryborough Vic |
-6.0 9.3 Maitland SA -6.0 18.1 Mt Isa AP Qld |
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Other extreme readings | ||
Rainfall Cardwell Qld 68mm in 3 hrs to 6am Moree AP NSW 13.0mm in 10 mins to 11.01pm Tamworth AP NSW 30.8mm in 21 mins to 8.47pm Port Macquarie AP NSW 38mm in 3 hrs to 9pm Logans Crossing NSW 27mm in 1 hr to 7.30pm Eddystone Pt Tas 84.4mm in 17 hrs to 8pm Wind gusts |
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Records set this day | ||
Swan
Island LH Tas: Heaviest January 24-hour rainfall in 93 years record
-- 48.4mm breaking previous record of 45.2mm
Lowest daily maximum temperature for
January: |
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