Australian Weather News

Friday 10 March 2000

Today's weather extremes

Highest rainfall, 24 hours to 9am

Other heavy WA falls:
127.6 Murchison
112.0 Wooleen Murchison
108.8 Manfred Meekatharra
102.4 Wandana Nabawa
97.0 Telfer AP
96.1 Boolardy Yalgoo
96.0 Riverside Northampton
95.6 Milly Milly Murchison
95.0 Dartmoor Murchison
95.0 Nabawa
94.8 Yuna Nabawa
89.0 Eurardy Kalbarri

Other heavy NSW/S Qld falls:
129.0 Wee Waa PO NSW
118.0 Bega NSW
110.0 Kenilworth Qld
100.8 Bodalla NSW
92.0 Brogo Dam NSW
91.0 Rowena NSW
90.0 Narrabri West NSW
88.5 Pilliga NSW
88.2 Candelo NSW
86.0 Merimbula AP NSW

Heavy rain in the 24 hours (left) and week (right) to 9 this morning has lead to widespread flooding in WA and areas of flooding in NSW

Flooding ranging from local to severe occurred in most of western and northern WA today as TC Steve was downgraded from cyclone status, but continued moving SE through central southern WA bringing widespread falls of 50 to 150mm in the 24 hours to 9am. The worst flooding is in the Gascoyne River, where the river peak was moving towards the town of Carnarvon this evening. A peak similar to that of 1980, when the river reached 7.35m, is expected. Riverside properties in the town of 10,000 were inundated early this morning, and 100 people were evacuated as extensive sandbagging operations continued to support the town's substantial levee system. Local plantations have been hard hit, some losing their entire crops.

All river systems north from Carnarvon to the NT border are in flood, with moderate flooding now subsiding in the De Grey and Fortescue systems in the Pilbara, and lesser flooding extending into the Kimberley. Stations are coping with thousands of drowned livestock, exposure deaths of lambs, and hundreds of kilometres of ruined fencing as vast areas remain under a sea of brown water. Receding waters are revealing dead sheep hanging from trees and large water tanks floating down rivers. At Midalya station, 210km north of Carnarvon on the Minilya River, the floodwaters were higher than any other flood since records were first kept in 1911. Many properties are isolated and relying on SES food drops.

Travellers and trucks carrying provisions are stranded with main highways blocked and back roads impassable. A group of 28 tourists were stranded at Tunnel Creek, 100km NW of Fitzroy Crossing, when their vehicles became bogged. Some trucks bound for flood-bound Kununurra have been stuck at Halls Creek for 6 days and others for Darwin for 9 days, many with perishable food which is going off. Kununurra is fast running out of food and emergency supplies, with the Victoria River there 3.75m over the Victoria Bridge, and the flooded Ord and Denham Rivers making the town's isolation complete. Planes are being diverted from Broome, where the airport is short of aviation fuel. Mining operations have been curtailed by the weather, and the BHP rail link between Port Hedland and Yarrie was cut by floodwaters.

South from Carnarvon, torrential rainfalls of 100 to 200mm in the Wooramel and Murchison catchments are producing moderate flooding, while local or minor flooding is occurring in other mid and central western rivers and creeks. The rain area around ex-TC Steve has typically given 12 to 18 hours of steady moderate to heavy rain to any one location as the system has moved SE at about 25km/h. Some thunderstorms were reported with the rain. The highest 24 hour totals are given at left, together with some representative shorter-duration falls. Albany recorded its wettest day on record for March, and it is likely this rain event will break many more when a detailed assessment can be made.

Assuming it continues its SE track under the eastern states, TC Steve will be the first cyclone to have "gone the full loop" of Australia, and the first to have been upgraded to cyclone status by each of the three cyclone warning centres in Australia -- Brisbane, Darwin and Perth -- as it passed into their respective territories. Maximum sustained winds were never greater than 120km/h, and were mostly below 95km/h during the cyclone's two-week life, yet it maintained its circulation integrity during three land passages, and produced falls of 100 to 400mm along a track of around 5,000km. A Bureau of Meteorology analysis of severe tropical cyclone Steve is here.

Rain from Steve, with follow-up thunderstorms, have raised the level of the Daly River NT, 150km south of Darwin, to the point where the community of the same name is preparing to evacuate. The 400 residents have been cut off for days, and buildings are being progressively flooded as the river rises at about 12cm a day.

Somewhat overshadowed by events in the west, NSW has seen some extraordinary rainfall in the state's central north. Burren Junction, 80km WNW of Narrabri, registered 189.4mm for the 24 hours to 9am as moist northeasterlies feeding into a surface trough over NSW and western Qld interacted with colder upper air moving in from the west. Local flooding occurred in the Pilliga area and is expected to cause minor to moderate flooding as it drains into the Namoi system. Many properties in the area are now isolated.

Heavy overnight rain of 80 to 120mm on the NSW South Coast cut the main Princes Highway at Pambula where the bridge over the Pambula River has been badly damaged by floating debris. There were media reports of falls of 250 to 350 in the Pambula River catchment, possibly from State Forests gauges. Alternative routes were also closed, and a motorist was washed from his vehicle trying to cross a flooded bridge at Burragate, halfway between Eden and Bombala. In Victoria, a thunderstorm dumped 44mm on Rutherglen between 8 and 9am, more rain than the town has had in the past two months.

Highest & Lowest Temps

Greatest variations from normal

Flood peaks:
Gascoyne at Jimba Jimba WA: 9.26m at 7.15am
Georgina at Glenormiston Qld: 5.60 early this morning

Highest daily rainfall for March:
Kalbarri WA: 62.0mm. Previous record 55.2mm in 31 years
Jurien WA: 35.8mm. Previous record 33.5mm in 32 years
Albany AP WA: 66mm. Previous record 52.4 in 34 years
Telfer AP WA: 97.0mm. Previous record 91.2 in 27 years
Timber Creek NT: 82.6mm. Previous record 72.4 in 21 years
Lakes Entrance Vic: 48.8mm. Previous record 46.0 in 36 years.

• 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. TC Steve track map courtesy Tom Metcalf