Australian Weather News |
Sunday, 08 JUL 2001 |
About Australian Weather News |
Heavy
rain, gales in far SE NSW and Victoria Widespread rain in SW WA Continuing cold in NSW, Qld |
A small low, which moved slowly
up the NSW South Coast yesterday before drifting eastwards, brought 50 to
100mm of rain to far southeastern NSW the Snowy Mountains over the
3 day period to 9am Monday. The marginally drought-stricken Monaro area
has seen big stock sales recently as declining stock water supplies resulted
in graziers putting sheep on the market rather than keeping them through
winter. Some of the heavier 3 day totals are Eden 106, Cathcart 108.8, Bombala
PO 82.4 and Nimmitabel 113. The heaviest falls were overnight into this
morning. In the Snowy Mountains resorts, jubilation turned to despair as
the first moderate snowfalls of the season on Friday and Saturday turned
to wet snow and sleet last night as warmer Tasman Sea air, circulating around
the south of the low, arrived in the mountains. Despite recording 150mm
of melted precipitation at Perisher Valley and 97.2 at Charlotte Pass for
the 3 days to 9am Monday, the resorts were only reporting 20 to 30cm snow
depth.
The tight pressure gradient to the west of the low brought strong to gale force winds to the Victorian coast and high country. Gusts reached 106km/h at Falls Creek and 102km/h on the summit of Mt Hotham, while in the Otways west of Melbourne Cape Otway recorded 76 and Mt Gellibrand 83km/h. Meanwhile, several days of moderate and widespread rain has given some hope to farmers in drought-ravaged southwest WA. Most of the southwest, from about 200km north of Perth to about 200km east of Esperance, has had record low rainfall over the past 9 months, with parts of the southern wheat belt recording less than 200mm in the past 12 months. Rain has fallen generally over the southwestern third of the state in the 3 days to 9am Monday, with 25 to 60mm around the west and south coasts, and 10 to 25mm inland. The heaviest falls were today, as a wave developed on an active cold front just west of Perth mid morning, then unusually tracked due east across land to regain the Southern Ocean near Esperance around midnight tonight. 34.4mm fell in one hour to 7.30am at Jandakot Airport, 20km south of the Perth CBD, while Rottnest Island, offshore from Perth, recorded 28mm in the hour to 5.30am. North Island in the Abrolhos Group, 120km NW of Geraldton, recorded a wind gust of 89km/h at 7.40am as the front passed through. Cold days continued in central and northeastern NSW as a stagnant cold pool dominated the area's weather. Light snow was reported during the day at Oberon on the Central Tablelands and Guyra on the Northern Tablelands. Southeast Queensland and much of the state's north again experienced a very cold night, with minima 4 to 10 below normal. Amberley Airport in Brisbane's west recorded -2.0, 7.5 below the average, while Georgetown, 250km WSW of Cairns, was 10° below with a minimum of 2. |
National
weather extremes for today |
|
Quality control note: Data is complete, and has been visually checked by AWN for gross errors. Less obvious errors may remain. See Explanation of Extremes Pages for more information | |
Records set this day: none known | |
Todays highest rainfall totals for the 24 hours to 9am. It includes the top 5 totals received, and/or all reported falls of 50mm or more. 80.8 NIMMITABEL (COTTESLOE) Goulburn/Monaro
NSW |
High rainfall for periods of 6 hours or less. |
Todays highest & lowest temperatures |
|
Maximum | Minimum |
33.5 BIDYADANGA W Kimberley WA 33.3 WEST ROEBUCK W Kimberley WA 33.2 CURTIN AERO W Kimberley WA 33.0 JABIRU AIRPORT Darwin-Daly NT 33.0 BRADSHAW Darwin-Daly NT |
26.0 NORTHERN ENDEAVOUR Islands 24.4 TROUGHTON ISLAND N Kimberley WA 24.0 COCONUT ISLAND N Peninsula QLD 23.6 KURI BAY N Kimberley WA 23.0 WYNDHAM AERO N Kimberley WA 23.0 MCCLUER ISLAND Darwin-Daly NT |
-1.0 THREDBO (CRACKENBACK STATION) AWS Snowy Mtns NSW 0.9 CHARLOTTE PASS (KOSCIUSKO CHALET) Snowy Mtns NSW 1.3 MT HOTHAM Upper NE VIC 1.5 PERISHER VALLEY SKI CENTRE Snowy Mtns NSW 2.3 FALLS CREEK Upper NE VIC |
-4.0 OAKEY AERO Darling Downs E QLD -3.9 WARWICK Darling Downs E QLD -2.5 BOMBALA POST OFFICE Goulburn/Monaro NSW -2.0 AMBERLEY AMO Brisbane/SE Coast QLD -2.0 JIMNA FORESTRY Brisbane/SE Coast QLD -2.0 KINGAROY AIRPORT Brisbane/SE Coast QLD -2.0 MILES CONSTANCE STREET Darling Downs W QLD -2.0 THREDBO (CRACKENBACK STATION) AWS Snowy Mtns NSW -2.0 PERISHER VALLEY SKI CENTRE Snowy Mtns NSW -2.0 WARATAH (WILLIAM STREET) W Coast TAS |
Todays greatest temperature variations from normal |
Maximum | Minimum |
+6.1 22.8 GOOMALLING Cent Wheatbelt WA +5.7 26.0 WARBURTON AIRFIELD Interior WA +5.3 21.6 ELLISTON W Agricultural SA +4.9 30.0 TELFER AERO Interior WA +4.8 12.0 WARATAH (WILLIAM STREET) W Coast TAS |
+8.3 20.8 WARMUN E Kimberley WA +8.2 12.4 SCAMANDER E Coast TAS +8.0 22.0 KALUMBURU MISSION N Kimberley WA +8.0 11.5 SWANSEA POST OFFICE E Coast TAS +7.8 11.0 EAST SALE AIRPORT W Gippsland VIC |
-8.2 20.1 ELLIOTT Barkly NT -6.9 10.1 COONAMBLE COMPARISON CW Plains N NSW -6.7 8.1 COONABARABRAN (NAMOI STREET) CW Slopes N NSW -6.6 10.7 JERRYS PLAINS POST OFFICE Hunter Valley NSW -6.2 8.9 PEAK HILL POST OFFICE CW Plains S NSW -6.2 9.0 TRANGIE RESEARCH STATION AWS CW Plains N NSW -6.2 6.0 GLEN INNES AG RESEARCH STN N Tablelands W NSW -6.2 8.9 WELLINGTON (ZOUCH ST) CW Slopes S NSW |
-10.1 2.0 GEORGETOWN POST OFFICE Upper Carpentaria
QLD -8.1 10.1 COOKTOWN MISSION STRIP N Coast--Barron QLD -7.5 -2.0 AMBERLEY AMO Brisbane/SE Coast QLD -7.1 10.1 COEN AIRPORT N Peninsula QLD -7.1 2.2 COLLINSVILLE POST OFFICE Central Coast E QLD |
Highest wind gusts above 89km/h or mean wind above 62km/h (gale force). Wind direction and mean windspeed shown in brackets. NORTH ISLAND Central West WA
: 89 (260/ 74 ) at 07:40 |
Other extremes .. |