 |
 Maximum temperature variation from normal for
the 24 hours from 9am this morning. BoM |
 Severe
wintry weather in the south as heat
records
fall in QLD
It felt
like winter again in the southern half of the continent with
daytime temperatures 8 to 10 below average, gale force winds in the southeast
and snow in the Alps. A low pressure system deepened from 995 to 980hPa as
it moved
east through Bass Strait causing widespread wind gusts of 90km/h or more
across SA, NSW and VIC and swinging cold air northwards.
In SA, strong winds during the morning gusted to 95km/h at
Port Lincoln, Yunta in the northeast and Moonta on the Yorke Peninsula, while
the summit of Mt Lofty recorded 98km/h. Adelaide caught the full strength of
a secondary low pressure system embedded in the front as it crossed the coast
just south of the city around dawn bringing down trees and powerlines.
In NSW, winds gusted to 113km/h at Goulburn
and Bellambi, 109 at Mt Boyce in the Blue Mountains, and 100 at Moss Vale.
In Sydney, both
Fort Denison and North Head recorded gusts of 91km/h. Wind damage to houses,
trees and powerlines in Sydney and SE NSW produced over 500 calls for help
to the SES, with the worst winds during the late afternoon and evening. In
Sydney,
a Gordon house and a school at Padstow were extensively damaged by falling
trees,
windborne
scaffolding
from
building
sites
in Petersham
and
Kensington blocked roads, and a woman was trapped in a car when a tree was
blown onto it at Cremorne. An SES spokesman said some buildings had been
unroofed and awnings collapsed. Power was cut to thousands of homes, with around
1,500 still without power on Saturday morning.
Elsewhere in the state, 3 houses were damaged
in Lithgow as was a school at Mt Keira near Wollongong. Trees were blown
onto caravans at Easts Beach near Kiama and there were 60 reports of property
damage in the Illawarra. There were 53 calls for help mostly with downed trees
in the Central West, 25 alone
coming
from
Bathurst where the Orange SES had to be called in to assist local volunteers.
In Oberon, garden sheds were reported as "blown away" by the wind.
Around Lithgow, trees came down on high voltage power lines at seven locations,
cutting power
to 4,000 customers.
Maximum temperatures today were very cold for October right across the southern
half of the continent. South of a line drawn west from the NSW/QLD border,
the top temperatures recorded to 3pm were commonly 8 to 10 below average. In
WA, Southern Cross recorded 19, 10.6 below; in SA, Marla in the state's north
only reached 21, 12 below and top temperatures around Adelaide were 9 below;
in NSW, Cobar and Baradine reached 16, 13 below, while in VIC top temperatures
were commonly between 14 and 17°, up to 11 or 12 below. These departures
aren't reflected in the map above, which shows the maximum temperature for
the 24 hours from 9 this morning to 9am Saturday morning when, in most cases,
the temperature was higher than was recorded during today.
It was a different story in QLD, however, with October
high maximum temperature records falling for the
fifth day in a row. Today, it was the turn of central eastern QLD to rewrite
the record books, with Clermont,
Rolleston, Springsure and Baralaba all recording their warmest October
day since their computerised records began. The front pushing through
the southwest
of the state brought widespread raised dust and a few dust storms. Urandangie
reported visibility down to 800m at 6pm in a dust storm. Late afternoon
and evening thunderstorms brought some heavy falls and
strong winds. Gympie recorded 16.2mm in 9 minutes, Nambour 16.8 in 15
minutes, Brisbane Airport 11.0mm in 16 minutes
and Beerburrum Forestry 33.8mm in an hour. Houses were unroofed at Kingaroy,
Wondai and Mundubbera, and fallen trees blocked roads and damaged fences
from Wooroolin to Murgon.
 Unusually
high tides
in SA
Tides
in Spencer Gulf SA were as much as 1.4m above their forecast levels today,
possibly as a byproduct of the low pressure and the persistently strong wind
sweeping into the narrowing gulf. Both Port Pirie and Whyalla recorded well
above expected high and low tides, with the highest tide of the day at Whyalla
reaching 3.58m compared to the predicted 2.18m.
News sources: ABC, AAP, Western Advocate (Bathurst),
Lithgow Mercury, Whyalla News
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