Australian Weather News |
Thursday, 20 DEC 2001 |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Hot, windy weather with exceptionally
low humidity developed across central NSW today, allowing new fires
to start and ones already burning to worsen. The weather observation from
Trangie at 3pm was fairly typical, with a temperature of 41.5°, dew point
-3.3, relative humidity 6% and the wind from the WNW at 41km/h. Maximum
temperatures across the area were around 10° above average today. A large
fire broke out near Eugowra this morning, burning 4 farmhouses, killing
thousands of sheep and burning 500ha of grazing land. The fire in the Goobang
National Park NE of Parkes has now burnt through 3000ha of the park and
some surrounding properties. Late today it was threatening the town of Yeoval,
where the hospital was being evacuated. A fire north of Grenfell has burnt
1500ha and damaged some stock and crops, while another south of Oberon is
burning in inaccessible country. Another blaze, west of Cumnock in the Central
West, has burnt 300ha.
The rain across central Queensland earlier this week has produced flood peaks that are moving down the Thomson and Barcoo rivers in the state's southwest. A number of roads in the Barcoo and Aramac shires remain impassable, with the councils saying they are likely to stay closed for at least another week. Thunderstorms brought heavy falls to Cape York Peninsula Qld overnight, with Musgrave reporting 94.2mm in 15 hours to 6am. In the far south, a front crossing Tasmania this morning gave Mt Read, behind Zeehan on the west coast, 53mm in 12 hours to 3pm. |
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. 100.0 ARCHER RIVER ROADHOUSE N
Peninsula QLD |
High rainfall for periods of 6 hours or less. |
Todays highest & lowest temperatures |
|
Maximum | Minimum |
46.0 BIRDSVILLE POLICE STATION Channel Country QLD 44.9 PANNAWONICA W Pilbara WA 44.5 BIRDSVILLE AIRPORT Channel Country QLD 44.0 BEDOURIE POLICE STATION Channel Country QLD 44.0 WALGETT AIRPORT NW Plains W NSW |
30.6 WITTENOOM W Pilbara WA 29.0 NARAWILLI Arnhem NT 29.0 NORTHERN ENDEAVOUR Islands 28.7 CENTRE ISLAND Roper-McArthur NT 28.7 SWEERS ISLAND Gulf Country QLD |
9.6 MOUNT READ W Coast TAS 11.2 MOUNT WELLINGTON Southeast TAS 13.1 HARTZ MOUNTAIN(KEOGHS PIMPLE) Southeast TAS 13.5 CRADLE MOUNTAIN AIRSTRIP Central Plateau TAS 14.1 STRATHGORDON VILLAGE W Coast TAS |
5.8 THREDBO VILLAGE Snowy Mtns NSW 6.0 MOUNT WELLINGTON Southeast TAS 6.6 EYRE Eucla WA 6.7 GINGIN AERO Lower West WA 7.0 BRIDGETOWN SW & S Coast WA 7.0 SALMON GUMS RES.STN. Goldfields WA 7.0 MOUNT READ W Coast TAS |
Todays greatest temperature variations from normal |
Maximum | Minimum |
+11.1 43.0 TRANGIE RESEARCH STATION AWS CW Plains
N NSW +10.3 34.2 TARALGA POST OFFICE Goulburn/Monaro NSW +10.3 42.0 CONDOBOLIN AG RESEARCH STN CW Plains S NSW +10.0 35.6 GOULBURN PROGRESS ST Goulburn/Monaro NSW +9.9 42.8 NYNGAN AIRPORT CW Plains N NSW +9.9 39.8 COWRA AIRPORT CW Slopes S NSW |
+11.5 28.0 NELSON BAY (NELSON HEAD) Hunter Valley
NSW +8.3 17.8 HAMILTON AIRPORT W Coast VIC +7.9 22.7 HAY (MILLER STREET) Riverina W NSW +7.7 22.4 MILDURA AIRPORT Mallee N VIC +7.5 24.5 PEAK HILL POST OFFICE CW Plains S NSW |
-6.2 21.0 CEDUNA AMO W Agricultural SA -5.1 27.0 BADGINGARRA RESEARCH STN Lower West WA -5.0 23.2 MEDINA RESEARCH CENTRE Lower West WA -4.8 23.0 EDINBURGH RAAF Adelaide Plains SA -4.8 22.4 MURRAY BRIDGE Lower Murray SA |
-10.1 11.0 WILUNA Interior WA -7.5 6.6 EYRE Eucla WA -6.7 8.1 PERTH AIRPORT Lower West WA -6.3 8.4 PEARCE RAAF Lower West WA -5.9 10.5 ENEABBA Central West WA |
Highest wind gusts above 89km/h or mean wind above 62km/h (gale force). Wind direction and mean windspeed shown in brackets. BORROLOOLA Roper-McArthur NT
: 115 ( 90/ 80 ) at 15:48 |
Other extremes .. |