| Heavy rain continued to fall
through Bass Strait overnight, giving Deal Island, about halfway
between Wilson's Promontory and Flinders Island, its heaviest August
24-hour total in over a century of records. In the two days to 9 this morning,
the island as registered 138.4mm, while Flinders Island Airport has recorded
111mm. During the morning, a weak low developed near Wilson's Promontory,
strengthening the already strong pressure gradient over Tasmania and leading
to 12 hours of gale force winds through Banks Strait, off Tasmania's northeast
coast, where the Swan Island lighthouse reported wind gusts over
90km/h for much of the day.
Moderate to heavy rain continued in Tasmania's
northeast highlands, with the heaviest snow for many years reported from
the Ben Lomond ski resort. 73mm of melted precipitation was recorded
there in the 3 days to 9am. The road into the tiny ski resort was blocked
by snow yesterday, reopened briefly today allowing stranded skiers off
the mountain, then closed again.
Over 2,000km to the northeast, moist winds
converging into the trough line still fanning out across the Tasman from
the low over southeastern Australia gave Norfolk Island 6 hours
of heavy showers. The island's airport recorded 90.6mm between 8pm and
2am Friday, giving a respectable 101mm for the 24 hours to 9am Friday.
Light snow was again reported from higher
parts of the NSW Central Tablelands early morning. Oberon recorded
3cm snow depth around dawn. The cold pool moved up the ranges, giving
several hours of heavy snow during the evening at Nullo Mountain, 1150m
above sea level in the upper Hunter Valley. Snow heavy enough to
briefly close the New England Highway was reported late evening in and
around Guyra, with light snow farther north around Glen Innes
continuing into Friday. Earlier in the day, a heavy dump of small
hail caused traffic problems on the Hume Highway near Hilltop, just north
of Mittagong, while wintry thunderstorms in the state's west caused
power blackouts at Quambone, 60km NW of Coonamble, and in the Gulgong
area.
Meanwhile, a by-product of the extensive
low over southeastern Australia has been to push high pressure into northern
Queensland. With clear skies and low humidity, Darwin sweltered
through its warmest late winter day in 30 years with a top of 35.3, the
earliest date for a 35+ degree day since 1969.
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as
new and corrected information becomes available, with updates underlined