NSW
bushfires ease around Sydney but continue elsewhere
Queensland
storms lead to flooding
Central
and N Qld gradually recover from cyclone, stormsA
morning of heavy rain in Tasmania as Low takes unusual track |
| The situation at 850hPa, or about 1.5km, at 11pm 6 January 2002 EDT. The red temperature lines show a tongue of above 18° air reaching down into Bass Strait. 18° at 850hPa translates to about 28° at sea level. The medium grey hatched area shows humidity between 70 and 90% extending well down into eastern NSW. The advancing thermal trough has dropped the temperature over Adelaide to around 6°, accompanied by a small area of high humidity which subsequently shifted southeast over Tasmania. Strong and converging winds over southern Queensland and central NSW coupled with the moisture band and increasingly cold air aloft to produce classic instability and heavy thunderstorms. FNMOC |
In NSW, between 40 and 90mm was recorded in an area bounded roughly by Tamworth, Orange and the Blue Mountains. Both the intensification of the system and the quantity of moisture drawn down from the north exceeded forecast expectations. A succession of storms moved across the area from early yesterday evening to late this morning giving continuing thunder and some heavy falls. Yeovil, a tiny town 70km NW of Orange that was battling bushfires 2 weeks ago, recorded the highest 24-hour registration of 87.5mm. Powerline and tree damage was reported from the area between Orange and Dubbo, with power outages around Oberon, Blayney, Bathurst and Coonamble. The storms weakened as they arrived over the Sydney basin around daybreak, but still dropped around 40mm on two major fires burning in the Hawkesbury and Lower Blue Mountains regions west of the city. Firefighters battling blazes on the Illawarra and South Coasts were not so lucky, scoring only a millimetre or two. Falls across metropolitan Sydney were in the 20 to 40mm range, bringing to an end an 18-day dry spell for the city.
In Queensland there was a repeat of Saturday's large, slow-moving area of thunderstorms scenario, but this time farther to the south. Thunderstorms continued for much of the night across the Warrego and Maranoa, with Charleville recording a January record 103.8mm for the 24 hours to 9am, though all of it fell after 9 last night. Heaviest report for the 24 hours to 9am was 136mm at Tomoo, 150km SE of Charleville. Blackall reported 193mm for the 3 days ended 9am, of which 66mm fell between 6 and 9am, and their rain for the 12 hours to midday was 116mm. The widespread heavy falls led to rapid rises in the Bulloo River around Quilpie, the Barcoo around Blackall, the Warrego, Ward and Langlo Rivers around Charleville, the Thomson around Longreach, and the Paroo around Humeburn. Minor to moderate flooding was expected downstream over the next few days.
Farther north in Queensland, floodwaters were subsiding slowly in the Longreach area after rising rapidly with Saturday's storms. The Landsborough Highway to Barcaldine and other roads in the area had reopened by today. Rolleston, in the Central Highlands 450km ESE of Longreach, remained effectively isolated however, with the Dawson Highway flooded to the east and west. Fresh food was being taken to the town by boat, and some food drops were organised. Senior Constable Steve Andrews said "Current level on the flood markers is 4.15 metres, which is the highest I've seen it in my time here in Rolleston, almost three years." Farther north again, flooding continues to isolate Burketown and the settlement of Doomadgee, 100km to its west. Roads in the area are expected to remain inundated for about 2 weeks.
Tasmania doesn't often appear in the National Weather Extremes heavy short-duration rainfall section below, but the low pressure system that crossed the state between about 6 and 9am gave unusually heavy falls to the NE, E and SE of the island, and gales as well. This was in part due to the unusual movement of the low itself. Up to 11pm last night it had been moving steadily ESE and looked likely to pass under the island with little more than a blow and some rain. Between 11pm and 5am, the system slowed dramatically and deepened from 999 to 988hPa, possibly in response to an energy boost from the arriving moist warm air from the north. It then became complex, with centres near King Island, just west and south of the island, but a dominant analysed low developed off the East Coast near Friendly Beaches along the trough line which extended NNE towards Sydney. By 5pm, the southern low had again become dominant with central pressure of 983hPa about 200km S of Hobart, and moved only slowly NE over the next 12 hours to be 981hPa about 200km E of Hobart at 5am Tuesday.
The heaviest rain fell on and near the Tasman Peninsula, east of Hobart, as the short-lived East Coast low hovered to the north bringing in strong, moist and unstable easterly winds. Palmers Lookout, just behind Port Arthur, recorded 75.6mm for the 24 hours to 9am Tuesday, but 31 of that fell between 9am and noon today. During the same period, Swan Island in the state's northeast recorded 51mm as the King Island centre passed along the North Coast. The rain caused rapid stream rises down the east coast, and lead to local flooding just below minor flood level in the Huon River south of Hobart. The strongest winds over the state were reported in the evening and on Tuesday morning as the low consolidated SE of Hobart, with the strongest gust of 102km/h reported from Swan Island. Gust and rain information are below, and in the National Extremes for Tuesday.