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Friday 25 February 2000 |
Today's weather extremes |
Flooding
continues in western Qld and NSW Downpours cause disruption on Qld North Coast Heavy showers in alpine NSW, Vic ![]() |
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Highest rainfall, 24 hours to 9am |
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147.4
Cardwell Qld 138.6 Lucinda PO Qld 137.0 Gairloch Herbert River Qld 131.4 Home Hill PO Qld |
The
Thomson River stopped well short of a record when it peaked at
Longreach overnight at 5.62m, some 37cm shy of the 1974 record. However,
major flooding continues, and 23 homes had to be evacuated and a further
120 had water on their property. Swarms of sandflies and mosquitoes are
making life in the area unpleasant. On the Qld/NT border, the Georgina
River is still blocking the main highway into the NT, while flooding
is occurring in the Flinders and other rivers that drain into the
southern Gulf of Carpentaria.
Large areas of western NSW have been declared natural disasters, including the country around White Cliffs, Wilcannia, Tilpa and the Paroo following record rain earlier this week. With moderate to major flood peaks now on their way down the Bulloo and Paroo systems expected to put many thousands of square kilometres of additional country under water, graziers are moving livestock to safer areas. Thousands of sheep and cattle have already been lost, with many sheep in full wool which makes rescue difficult. Heavy overnight rain made life unpleasant on the Queensland North Coast between Townsville and Cardwell this morning, with flooding and blocked roads and railway lines. In Townsville, where 102mm fell in 6 hours between 3 and 9am, schools were closed for the day as police appealed to people to stay at home. The Haughton River south of the city developed moderate flooding late in the day. The Bruce Highway was closed at the Herbert River bridge south of Ingham as moderate flooding developed in the system. On the Gulf of Carpentaria coast, Burketown recorded 117mm in 6 hours from a pre-dawn thunderstorm followed by heavy rain. Heavy thunderstorms and showers occurred in Victoria and southeastern NSW today as instability and moisture in the inland heat trough combined to produce storms and shower areas. The heaviest were confined to alpine areas in the two states with falls of 20 to 50mm. Mt Buller reported 60mm for the 24 hours to 9am Saturday, most of which fell today. However, showers were heavy enough at Werribee, west of Melbourne, to cause flash flooding during the afternoon. |
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Highest & Lowest Temps |
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Maximum | Minimum | |
40.8 Gascoyne Jn WA | 29.0 Barrow Is AP WA | |
16.1 Falls Creek Vic | 2.0 Lake St Clair Tas | |
Greatest variations from normal |
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Maximum | Minimum | |
+11.7 33.3 Cape Northumberland SA |
+8.9 26.5 Port Pirie BHAS Site SA |
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-13.3 22.7 Yeelirrie WA -11.3 26.3 Three Rivers WA -11.2 25.4 Wiluna WA |
-4.5 11.6 Wokalup Ag Res Stn Harvey WA |
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Other extreme readings | ||
Rainfall: Burketown Qld: 117mm in 6hrs to 9am Cardwell Qld: 135mm in 12hrs to 3am Townsville AP Qld: 102mm in 6hrs to 9am Mingela Woolshed Qld: 88mm in 6hrs to 10am Cabramurra NSW: 22mm in 1hr to 3pm Mt Buller Vic: 48mm in 6hrs to 3pm Flood peaks: |
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Records set this day | ||
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