Australian Weather News -- January 2000

Australian Weather News

Go to the main news page	Find a place on a map	Friday 14 January 2000
*Today's weather extremes*		Torrential rain, storms and floods in WA07May00 Flooding in NE NSW Heatwave and fires continue in SE
Highest rainfall, 24 hours to 9am
181.0 West Roebuck Broome WA 179.0 Alstonville NSW 171.4 Wollongbar NSW 170.2 Kirby Gardens Broome WA		Torrential rain continued to fall in parts of Western Australia's north this morning, while the south of the state experienced severe thunderstorms, gale force winds and flooding during the afternoon and evening. Over 100mm fell in around 6 hours in the Broome area of northern WA this morning. Broome Airport recorded 47mm between 4 and 4.30am for a total of 109mm in 12 hours to 9am. West Roebuck, just east of the town, recorded 181mm for the 24 hours to 9am. Houses were flooded, roads closed, and phone and power lines cut as a result of the downpour. In southern WA, a mass of colder air sweeping across the region interacted with warm, moist northerlies to produce a cocktail of storms, hail, gales, floods and daytime temperatures up to 13° below average. In Perth, a cluster of storms moved south and southeast over the City soon after midday, blacking out about 4,000 homes as trees brought down power lines, partly unroofing a home in Bicton, and causing roof or flood damage to several others. Hail to about 2cm diameter covered the ground in some southern suburbs, while winds gusted to 90km/h on Rottnest Island and at Gooseberry Hill in the city's east. Heavy storm falls and wind gusts continued to be reported across the state's south during the afternoon (see left). The town of Ravensthorpe was isolated by floodwaters during the evening after falls of up to 140mm in the district. Monte Vista Station recorded 140mm for the 24 hours to 9am Saturday, Truro, 50km NW of Ravensthorpe, recorded 82mm, while Hopetoun North, south of the town, recorded 71mm. Hail was reported with storms at Narembeen and Hyden, and given the nature of the storms, is likely to have been more widespread. The supercell structure of some of the storms spreading into the state's southeast is also likely to have spawned unreported tornadoes. In Kalgoorlie, about 10 homes were flooded as the second severe storm in 4 days dumped 51mm at the airport in 3 hours to 3pm. Farther east, severe thunderstorms raked the Eucla district for the third day in a row. Deleta Station, 185km north of Laverton, recorded 140mm for the 24 hours to 9am Saturday. Average January rainfall over much of southern WA is between 10 and 25mm, highlighting the unusual nature of this event. Up to 200mm of rain around Lismore in NE NSW produced minor flooding in the area today. Alstonville, 15km east of Lismore, recorded 179mm for the 24 hours to 9 this morning. Lismore itself recorded 119.4mm for a 48 hour total of 192.8, and Mullumbimby, south of Brunswick Heads, 118 for a 48 hour total of 190. Evans Head, on the coast SE of Lismore, has recorded 261mm in the 3 days ended 9 this morning. Local flooding occurred between Tweed Heads and Maclean with some road closures. The Wilsons River, which flows through Lismore, peaked this evening with minor flooding. Storms late in the day brought down power lines, blacking out 2000 homes in Lismore and others to the city's east and southeast. Heatwave conditions continued in southern SA, western Victoria and western Tasmania today (see temperature anomalies at left). A fire in the Hambidge Conservation Park in the centre of Eyre Peninsula has burnt through about 10,000 hectares of scrub, and continues to burn.
Highest & Lowest Temps
Maximum	Minimum
40.2 Yulara AP NT	29.0 =McCluer Is NT, Dum In Mirrie NT
16.0 Crackenback NSW	2.9 Charlotte Pass NSW
Greatest variations from normal
Maximum	Minimum
+13.3 34.6 Cashmore AP Portland Vic	+13.0 25.0 Naracoorte SA
-13.2 20.4 Hyden WA	-6.3 15.3 Charleville AP Qld
Other extreme readings
Rainfall: Broome AP WA 71mm in 3hrs to 6am West Roebuck Broome WA 146.4mm in 10hrs to 4.30am Bullsbrook WA 17.8mm in 11mins to 1.03pm 33mm in 3hrs to 3pm Jandakot AP WA 27mm in 3hrs to 3pm Hyden WA 35mm in 6hrs to 3pm Hopetoun WA 29.6mm in 3hrs to 8pm Kalgoorlie AP WA 13.4mm in 10mins to 2pm Leinster WA 24mm in 3hrs to 6pm Lockhart River Qld 46mm in 3hrs to 6am Goonengerry NSW 204mm in 48hrs to 9.15am Repentance NSW 205mm in 48hrs to 5pm Evans Head NSW 58.6mm in 4hrs to 8am Taree AP NSW 28mm in 3hrs to noon Wind gusts: Gin Gin AP WA 106km/h at 12.05pm, 12.09pm and 12.15pm Rottnest Island WA 91km/h at 12.53pm, 4.40pm and 5pm Badgingarra WA 91km/h at 3.46pm Flood peaks: Wilsons River at Lismore NSW 4.93m around midnight this evening with minor flooding
Records set this day
Lowest Daily minimum temperature for January: Low Isles LH Qld: 21.6. Previous record 21.7 in 33 years record.

Times stated are the clock time in force in the relevant state or territory
Stories, including those in the archives, are as new and corrected information becomes available, with updates underlined
Australian Weather News gratefully acknowledges the Bureau of Meteorology as the collector and main source of meteorological data in Australia, along with the thousands of observers who record the weather and rainfall daily. I also thank Don White and the many contributors to the Aussie Weather mailing list who routinely provide much appreciated information.