Australian Weather News -- February 2000

Australian Weather News

Go to the main news page	Find a place on a map	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
Highest rainfall, 24 hours to 9am
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.
Highest & Lowest Temps
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
Maximum	Minimum
+11.7 33.3 Cape Northumberland SA	+8.9 26.5 Port Pirie BHAS Site SA
-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
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: Georgina River at Glenormiston Qld: 5.10m at 7am with moderate flooding Barcoo River at Retreat Qld: 5.15m during the evening with moderate to major flooding Herbert River at Gairloch Qld: 11.2m at 8pm with moderate flooding
Records set this day
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Times stated are the clock time in force in the relevant state or territory
Stories, including those in the archives, are as new and corrected information becomes available, with updates underlined
Australian Weather News gratefully acknowledges the Bureau of Meteorology as the collector and main source of meteorological data in Australia, along with the thousands of observers who record the weather and rainfall daily. I also thank Don White and the many contributors to the Aussie Weather mailing list who routinely provide much appreciated information.