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Friday 10 March 2000 |
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Today's weather extremes |
Widespread
floods in WA ![]() Flooding on NSW South Coast ![]() NT flooding forces evacuations |
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Highest rainfall, 24 hours to 9am |
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189.4
Burren Junction NSW 152.0 Mount Narryer Murchison WA 132.6 Bidyadanga Broome WA 129.6 Larrimah NT Other heavy WA falls: Other heavy NSW/S Qld falls: |
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.
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. |
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Highest & Lowest Temps |
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Maximum | Minimum | |||||
38.0
Eucla AP WA 38.0 Red Rocks Point Eucla WA 38.0 Nullarbor Roadhouse SA |
27.3 Normanton Qld | |||||
12.0 Crackenback NSW | 4.8 Tarraleah Tas | |||||
Greatest variations from normal |
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Maximum | Minimum | |||||
+13.0 38.0 Eucla AP WA |
+8.9 21.0 Wandering WA |
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-13.2 22.4 Urandangie Qld -12.4 22.0 Windorah PO Qld -11.9 21.0 Thargomindah Qld |
-5.8 13.8 Yuendumu NT |
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Other extreme readings | ||||||
Rainfall: Dalwallinu WA: 40mm in 6h to noon Albany AP WA: 46mm in 6h to 3am Leonora WA: 27mm in 6h to midnight Leinster WA: 38mm in 6h to 9pm Southern Cross Town: 32mm in 6h to midnight Coconut Is Qld: 110mm in 6h to noon Richmond AP Qld: 78mm in 3h to 6pm, of which 34.6mm in 10m to 5.03pm Bedourie Qld: 47mm in 6h to 9am Thargomindah Qld: 71mm in 6h to 3pm Ivanhoe PO NSW: 35mm in 3h to 6pm Nyngan NSW: 41mm in 6h to 9pm Flood peaks: |
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Records set this day | ||||||
All
time highest daily rainfall: Nabawa WA: 95.0mm. Previous record 78.4mm in 94 years Highest daily rainfall for March: |
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