|
 Heavy
rain eases on North QLD Coast
The rain event that has given parts of the QLD North Coast 500mm
in the past 4 days appeared to be easing today, with little rain
of significance falling after midday in the most-affected Tully/Innisfail
area. The totals in the 24 hours to 9am given below mostly reflect
the heavy rain that fell from late yesterday afternoon into the evening.
Tully McQuillan Street reported the top fall of 160mm.
Several hours of heavy rain around midday gave a further 50+mm around
Innisfail, with the town's inner western and southwestern areas the
wettest. In this area, McEvoy Bridge recorded 68mm and Sweeney Creek
76 between 10am and 2pm, while the Innisfail weather station reported
74mm 9am to 3pm.
The highest totals over the past 4 days have been in the Tully River
Valley where little or no rain fell after 9 this morning. In the
4 days ended 9am, Jarra Creek Alert recorded 588mm, Tully Town and
Bulgun Creek 567, Euramo Alert 436 and Bolinda Estate 420. Totals
across the catchment were pretty variable between 100 and 400mm.
In the Johnstone River Valley to the south, the rain in the 4.5 days
to 9 this evening showed a similar spread between 100 and 400mm,
with the rain tailing off in the west of the catchment where Malanda
only recorded 83mm. The heaviest 4.5 day totals were Tung Oil Alert
480mm, Marco Street 467, and the Central and Mourilyan Mills and
South Johnstone Experimental Station all reporting between 410 and
420. Innisfail weather station registered 376mm.
The heavy rain has caused problems for bushwalkers "enjoying" Easter
on Hinchinbrook Island, 50km SE of Tully. Over 30 have become stranded
by flooded streams, and police are monitoring the situation.
The Bureau of Meteorology's map
of the area shows the location of stations mentioned above.
 Late-season
WA heat close to a record
WA's mid-autumn heatwave entered its third day today, with the warm
air moving west to give coastal areas a late taste of summer. The
maximum temperature at Geraldton reached 38.1°, 10.5 above the
April average and just 1.3 below the town's hottest April
day in 60 years of records. Farther down the coast, Jurien Bay reached
37 and Lancelin 36, both nearly 11 above average, while in Perth
the temperature reached 33 at both the airport and the metro weather
station.
The cause of the unusually late heatwave is the exceptionally strong
High near Tasmania, which has now been stationary for a week and
maintaining
central
pressures
in the
mid
to high 1030s. Winds around the High have been blowing warm, dry and
steady from the NE, giving Geraldton a mid-afternoon relative humidity
of 8% to accompany its near-record temperature. |
