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 NSW, VIC, TAS:
Cold, wind and wet as change moves through
A front followed by a cold airmass and a sharp upper trough crossed southeastern
states today bringing a taste of wintry weather with snow on the high country,
temperatures much lower than yesterday, hail showers and widespread squally
winds. Dust was raised in some inland areas and there was general light rain
across SE SA, VIC, TAS and much of
NSW.
Highest Gusts and Gales
and Gusts below show that wind gusts to gale or storm force were
widely spread across TAS, VIC and NSW, mostly with or soon after the passage
of the front. Highest gusts were around Bass Strait, with Wilsons Promontory
reaching 139km/h, nearby Hogan Island 128km/h and Cape Grim 113km/h mid-afternoon.
Away from the coast it was the NSW Snowy Mountains and South Coast that
received a battering, with gusts of 108km/h at Thredbo Top Station, 102
at Cabramurra and 89 at Nowra. At Bermagui, on the coast 35km NE of Bega,
a woman was seriously injured when wind snapped a 25cm diameter branch
off a tree and blew it onto her tent at about 5pm. Nearby Montague Island
and Green Cape both recorded wind gusts to 100km/h during the afternoon.
By late this evening, temperatures at the 850hPa (about 1,400m) level ranged
from 2C along a line from Adelaide to Sydney to -1 across southern Tasmania.
Light snow and hail was reported from the NSW Snowy Mountains, the VIC Alps
and the TAS highlands. Wintry hail showers were reported along the VIC coast
during the afternoon, while dust whipped up by the wind was reported from Ouyen
and Swan Hill in VIC and Cowra and Sydney in NSW. Maximum temperatures ahead
of the change in NE NSW and SE QLD were 6 to 9 above average, while across
TAS, VIC and southern NSW they were 6 to 11 below -- Morwell in the VIC Latrobe
Valley only reached 13.0 for the day, 11 under the average.
A band of light to moderate rain ahead of the front moved across SE SA
and western VIC overnight and cleared eastern VIC late afternoon. Scattered
storms developed in the band in eastern VIC, enhancing rainfall there, but
falls in the south and east of the state were still only between 5 and 20mm.
Brief heavy rain in Melbourne coincided with the start of the Formula 3 races,
part of the Australian Grand Prix, causing competitors some anxious moments.
Heavy spray from wet roads led to an incident involving two cars and red-flagging
of the race. A separate rainband crossed southern NSW overnight and during
the morning, clearing the state
early evening after producing some thunderstorms in
the Hunter and Mid North Coast. One of these gave Williamtown 19.8mm in 30
minutes. Most locations, however, only received an hour or two of light rain
giving totals mostly below
10mm.
The
exceptions
were
in
Alpine
areas; 48 hour totals to 9am Sunday included Kosciuszko Chalet 60.5, Thredbo
Top Station 41.0 and Mt Buller 39.0. Tasmania's West Coast also benefited from
pre- and post-frontal rain, with 68.8mm over 3 days to 9am Sunday recorded
atop Mt Read east of Zeehan.
QLD,
NT: Heavier monsoonal falls in the far north
Monsoonal rain areas gave heavy falls across the QLD Cape York
Peninsula overnight: Lockhart River recorded 78mm between 3 and 9am. During
the day, storms across the NT Top End resulted in some moderate falls (see downpours). |
