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Sunday 27 February 2000

Today's weather extremes

 Tropical Cyclone Steve crosses Qld coast at Cairns 11 Mar 2000

Highest rainfall, 24 hours to 9am

153.0 Willis Island MO Qld
136.6 Gorrie Station NT
115.7 Hamilton Island Qld
115.0 Centre Island NT		 A weak low south of Willis Island in the Coral Sea developed into TC Steve late this morning, then moved westward to pass directly over Cairns around 7pm. Gale to storm force winds accompanied the passage of the cyclone, with the eye, about 30km across, passing over the city between 7 and 8pm. The maximum ten-minute sustained wind reported at the airport was 104km/h from the ESE at 6.51pm when the barometer stood at 992.9hPa. There are press reports of a top windspeed of 143km/h at the airport and 170km/h on Green Island.

The automatic weather station on Green Island, 28km NE of the city of Cairns, recorded gales for a little over an hour before the passage of the eye, which occurred between about 5.45 and 7pm. Top windspeeds before the eye were 98km/h sustained and 115km/h gust at 4.56pm from the SSE, and after the eye 115km/h sustained from the NNE at 6.30pm, with several gusts to 157km/h between 6.30 and 6.34pm. The lowest pressure was 985.8hPa at 5.36pm, and winds dropped to below gale force soon after 7pm. Rainfall with the cyclone was relatively meagre, only 55mm falling at Cairns AP between 3 and 9pm, but heavier rain developed later (see report for 28 Feb for details of damage). The Environmental Protection Agency's wave rider buoy recorded a peak height of 4.96m inside the reef NE of Double Island, about 20km north of Cairns. It is the highest wave recorded since the buoy was commissioned in 1975.

Highest & Lowest Temps

Maximum Minimum
38.6 Eneabba PO WA
38.6 Marree PO SA
38.6 Streaky Bay SA		 28.0 Carnarvon AP WA
11.1 Mt Wellington Tas 1.9 Liawenee Tas

Greatest variations from normal

Maximum Minimum
+9.6
35.0 Eucla AP WA
+9.6
38.6 Streaky Bay SA		 +6.9
24.5 Port Pirie BHAS Site SA
-12.0
22.4 Cashmere Downs WA		 -7.1
9.0 Wokalup Ag Res Stn Harvey WA
Other extreme readings
Rainfall:
Kununurra AP WA: 40mm in 3hrs to 6am
Centre Island NT: 78mm in 3hrs to 3am
Cairns AP Qld: 55mm in 6hrs to 9pm
Hamilton Is Qld: 77mm in 9hrs to 6am
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.