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Wednesday 19 January 2000

Today's weather extremes

 Hot weather moves into NSW, Vic
Storms cause damage in NSW  13Apr00

Highest rainfall, 24 hours to 9am

139.8 C Tribulation Store Qld
87.0 Cubbagudta Daintree Qld
77.0 Cape Fourcroy NT
71.0 Milyakburra Bickerton Island NT
 The hot air mass that has lingered over South Australia for the past nine days moved northeast today giving much of NSW and southern Queensland temperatures over the old century mark (38°). High temperatures continued in northern SA and the NT, but Adelaide and coastal SA enjoyed a reprieve from the heatwave as milder westerly winds around a tight low pressure system SW of Tasmania flushed out the hot air. Sydney and surrounds suffered worst, with hot northwesterlies mixing down through the atmosphere and blowing out cooler surface air and a developing sea breeze around the middle of the day, with temperatures in the western suburbs skyrocketing into the low 40s. Liverpool recorded a maximum of 42.7, just 0.1 short if its hottest January day in 38 years of record. Other high recordings were 42.8 at Homebush Olympic Centre, 42.2 at Horsley Park, 42.1 at Penrith and 41.9 at Parramatta and Prospect. Gosford and Nowra both recorded 41.0. Around 50,000 electricity consumers were without power on the Central Coast around 4pm when a 133,000 volt overhead line at Ourimbah sagged due to the heat, coming into contact with a tree. Coastal areas were spared thanks to a thin sea breeze, the mercury at Sydney's Observatory Hill only rising to 31.0.

Two lines of storms which formed in a weak trough moving slowly NE through NSW late afternoon caused damage from southern Sydney to the Hunter Valley and beyond. The most severe storms developed near the coast around 5pm and rode north on a southerly change. Strong winds in southern Sydney suburbs from Cronulla to Caringbah unroofed houses, brought down trees and powerlines and small hail was reported. Farther north, powerlines were torn down and houses damaged by an uprooted tree near Gosford, while in the Hunter Valley, 20 sheds and farmhouses suffered wind damage in the Mirannie locality, 20km NE of Singleton. The storm moved on to the Gloucester area, bringing 2cm hail and wind gusts to 130km/h. Buildings were unroofed, caravans tipped over, trees and powerlines brought down and cattle killed by the storm along a 1km wide path. Damage was also reported from Moree, where the airport reported an average 10 minute windspeed of 80km/h just before 6pm.

 

Highest & Lowest Temps

Maximum Minimum
46.2 Mt Dare SA
44.8 Tibooburra PO NSW
44.2 Thargomindah PO Qld
44.2 Gascoyne Jn WA		 32.0 Kilcowera Qld
32.0 Tibooburra AP NSW
31.6 Tibooburra PO NSW
14.2 Keoghs Pimple Hartz Mountains Tas 5.9 Lookout Hill Vic

Greatest variations from normal

Maximum Minimum
+15.2
41.0 Nowra AP NSW
+14.6
42.7 Liverpool NSW
+13.9
41.0 Narara Res Stn Gosford NSW		 +10.1
31.6 Tibooburra PO NSW
+9.4
30.7 Alice Springs AP NT
+9.3
27.0 Ivanhoe NSW
-7.3
21.9 Ravensthorpe WA		 -5.1
19.0 Mt Isa AP Qld
Other extreme readings
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Records set this day
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  • 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.