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Temperature departures from normal today: mimumum (above) and
maximum (below). BoM  |
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 Cold
in the east, hot in the west
Snow
fell to low levels and October temperature records were set as a cold outbreak
continued
across southeastern states. Snow fell briefly in Cooma (778m asl)
around 9am, and around parts of Canberra (~600m asl) later in the day, the
first time snow
has fallen in the capital in October since 1998. Delegate had 2 to 4cm accumulation,
and the ABC reported light snow also in Bombala and Nimmitabel. Sleet was
also reported
from Tumbarumba
(645m asl) and light snow at Oberon during the morning, while there were a
few flurries in the Blue Mountains during the afternoon. Ski resorts in NSW
and VIC reported steady light to moderate falls overnight, bringing
the
ski season to a satisfactory if early close. In VIC, sleet was reported at
9am at Noojee (275m asl), and light snow seems likely to have
settled
down
to about the 600m level.
In TAS, light snow was reported by the observers
at Launceston Airport and Powranna, both around 170m asl, at the 9am observation.
Hail, sleet and sago snow occurred down to sea level. In the northeast,
Lake Leake (580m asl) reported 6.5cm of snow on the ground at 6am, while
Strathgordon
in the Southwest (322m asl) and Maydena (275m asl) also reported overnight
snow. 9am snow depths at Central Plateau stations were 19cm at Lake
St Clair,
15cm
at
Cradle
Mountain
airstrip and 14cm in Tarraleah Village. Overnight temperature
records fell again today, this time in NSW as the cold
air moved north. Brewarrina, Gulgong, Trangie and Wollongong all set new
October low minima, with both overnight and daytime temperatures 6 to 10
below average over a wide area. In the NSW, VIC and TAS high country, temperatures
stayed well below zero all day, with tops of only -3.9 at Mt Hotham and -3.0
at Thredbo.
In Adelaide, the Bureau statisticians have calculated that the average minimum
temperature in Adelaide for the first 10 days
of October 2003 was 7.8C, making it the coldest start to October since
1910 when it was 7.4. Daytime maxima have been not quite so cold, with the
average maximum temperature for the first 10 days 16.6, making it
the coldest start to October since 1966 when the average maximum for the
same period was 16.1°C.
It was different in the west, however, with a large part
of SW WA recording both minimum and maximum temperatures between 6 and 10 above
average. Medina, 30km south of Perth, managed a top for the day of 33, 10.5
above average.
 Storms
in SE QLD,
NE NSW
Widespread
storms this afternoon and evening produced a damaging hailstorm on
the NSW Mid North Coast and gave some heavy falls in SE QLD as
the cold southern air produced instability. The hailstorm caused more then
$1.5 million worth of damage to fruit, native flower and vegetable crops in
the
Wauchope, Port Macquarie and Stuarts Point
area. In SE QLD, the heaviest falls were
on the Sunshine Coast, where Tewantin reported 21.6mm in the hour to 1pm
and Baroon Pocket Dam had 29mm in a severe thunderstorm just before 3pm.
News sources: ABC, BoM, News.com, Bombala Times
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