Heavy rain, strong winds in eastern NSW
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rainband that swept across Victoria and into eastern NSW today brought
useful rain to Victoria's parched southern areas. Falls of
20 to 50mm were common as the area of low pressure that brought wind
and rain to SA yesterday moved east up the Murray Valley during the
morning. Warrnambool, on the state's west coast, recorded 31mm
in 3 hours to 3am for a 24-hour total of 50mm, while Hunters Hill,
in the ranges about 30km west of Corryong, recorded 42mm in
3 hours to 9am, 14.4mm falling in a 10-minute downpour around 6.30am.
The 41 months from October 1996 to February 2000 have been very dry in an area extending from the southern Eyre Peninsula in South Australia to Sale in eastern Victoria, and also into the north-east of Tasmania. In some of these regions the rainfall has been lowest on record for the period. The maps at right show (top) rainfall for the 24 hours to 9am today, (centre) rainfall for the 24 hours to 9am Thursday, and (bottom) rainfall deciles (compared to average) over the 3 years ended March 2000. Click the maps to open full sized versions in separate windows. The rainfall deciles map shows that rainfall over much of southern Victoria for the past three years is in the lowest 10% ("very much below average") of recordings, with the Otway Ranges and a large area of West Gippsland the lowest in around 100 years of record. By comparison, a vast area of Western Australia is experiencing the wettest 3-year period since records began. Brief heavy rain and some thunderstorms occurred in eastern NSW as the low and its associated trough moved through. Canberra had an unusually heavy fall of 20mm in one hour to 6am, and other heavy short-duration recordings are given in the extremes box below. Strong southerly winds developed up the NSW south and central coasts as the low moved into the Tasman Sea and intensified during the late afternoon and evening. |
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