| A deep low close to the South
Australian coast today brought heavy rain, gale force winds and unusually
low temperatures across much of the southeast mainland today. 30
to 40mm of rain fell in the Adelaide Hills, much of it in heavy showers
around dawn, causing local flooding, and inducing a mud slide that closed
the main rail link to Melbourne between Belair and Blackwood. Adelaide,
the northern and northeastern suburbs were worst hit by flash flooding and
wind damage. Houses under construction in Greenwith and Ingle Farm, several
houses at Hope Valley, and the police station at Parks were flooded. The
roofs of 13 houses at Para Vista were damaged by strong winds. The low
moved only slowly all day, staying close to the coast, and with central
pressure around 985hPa. With barometer readings 25hPa higher across central
SA, the strong pressure gradient produced continuing squally westerly winds.
Mt Lofty recorded a gust of 117km/h early afternoon, and strong wind
gusts brought down a tree in the Adelaide Hills, killing a person, and caused
damage in Adelaide's northern suburbs.
A trough line associated with the low moved
rapidly east from central SA into western Victoria, NSW and
southwest Queensland, bringing brief gale to storm force winds and
dust storms. At Oodnadatta, the anemometer averaged over 75km/h for around
30 minutes late last night, with one 10 minute average of 94km/h. Cold
air wrapping around the low swept across Victoria and southern and central
NSW, and combined with heavy cloud cover to produce an unusually cold
day. Kerang, on the Victorian/NSW border north of Bendigo, had
a top temperature to 3pm of only 10°, close to its record lowest for September.
Canberra, with a top of 9°, had its coldest September day in 15
years. Storms both accompanied and followed the trough, with one at Temora
in southern NSW producing large hail and winds strong enough to down powerlines
during the evening.
|
20Sep00