Australian Weather News -- 06 JAN 2002

Australian Weather News

Sunday, 06 JAN 2002

NSW bushfires continue
Hot in Victoria, western NSW
Record cold in WA
Storms in SW Qld

See special report on the NSW bushfires.

Daytime temperatures were 8 to 11 above normal in a band from the central Victorian coast to NW NSW today as hot dry winds were ducted southeastwards ahead of an active frontal/trough system. Wilcannia in NW NSW recorded the top temperature of 44°, while it reached 36° in central Melbourne.

In southern WA it was a different story. A secondary low that skirted the southern coastline yesterday drew cold but dry air up from about 50°S, dropping the freezing level to 6,000 feet across the state's southwest overnight. Clear skies and light winds under a ridge that nudged in behind the front dropped overnight temperatures 6 to 9° below average and set new January minimum temperature records at Dwellingup and Cunderdin (see below), though these have yet to be confirmed.

An area of thunderstorms approximately 400km in diameter developed in SW Queensland this afternoon ahead of the same advancing trough. It persisted for the next 18 hours, moving only very slowly northwards. Heavy thunderstorms gave Mitchell 26mm in 6 hours to 3pm and Cunnamulla 33 and Quilpie 26mm in the 6 hours to 9pm.

National weather extremes for today Data provided by the Bureau of Meteorology Last updated at 17:32 EDST on 07/01/02
Quality control note: Data is final. It includes late-received rainfall data and has been subject to BoM and AWN quality control checks. See Explanation of Extremes Pages for more information
Records set this day (previous record and years of computerised record shown in brackets): Lowest daily minimum temperature for January: Dwellingup Forestry WA: 6.0 (6.4, 41) Cunderdin WA: 7.1 (8.8, 45)
Todays highest rainfall totals for the 24 hours to 9am. It includes the top 5 totals received, and/or all reported falls of 50mm or more. 132.0 DILLALAH Warrego QLD 107.0 RUTHERGLEN Warrego QLD 105.0 WERRINA Warrego QLD 94.0 LOWAN HILLS Warrego QLD 88.0 ETON STATE WATER DEPOT Central Coast E QLD *WESTERN AUSTRALIA* *N Kimberley* 57.0 DOONGAN *NORTHERN TERRITORY* Roper-McArthur 73.6 BENMARA *QUEENSLAND* N Peninsula 53.0 DIXIE Central Coast E 88.0 ETON STATE WATER DEPOT 79.4 HAMILTON ISLAND AIRPORT 61.2 WILSON BEACH 58.8 MOUNT ABERDEEN 56.0 MT DANGAR ALERT 54.0 MOUNT JUKES 53.0 MOUNT DANGAR Central Highlands 67.3 FAIRBAIRN DAM 67.0 GILLESPIE 55.4 MT PLAYFAIR Central West 54.0 ABERFOYLE Darling Downs E 58.4 WARRA-KOGAN ROAD BRIDGE Darling Downs W 58.8 SHELBOURNE Warrego 132.0 DILLALAH 107.0 RUTHERGLEN 105.0 WERRINA 94.0 LOWAN HILLS 70.8 MORVEN POST OFFICE 66.0 EVERSFIELD Far SW 60.0 SOUTH COMONGIN *NEW SOUTH WALES* Upper Darling 61.0 WALGETT (DUNGALEAR) CW Plains S 50.0 ALECTOWN (GOONAHRA) C Tablelands S 57.0 WATTLE FLAT (KAINGA)	High rainfall for periods of 6 hours or less. *QUEENSLAND* *N Peninsula* COEN AIRPORT 36.0mm in 3 hr to 18:00 12.0mm/h WEIPA AERO 19.0mm in 3 hr to 03:00 6.3mm/h 15.0mm in 3 hr to 06:00 5.0mm/h *S Peninsula* LOCKHART RIVER AIRPORT 18.0mm in 3 hr to 15:00 6.0mm/h *Upper Carpentaria* HUGHENDEN AIRPORT 21.0mm in 3 hr to 21:00 7.0mm/h *Central Coast E* AYR DPI RESEARCH STN 17.0mm in 3 hr to 03:00 5.7mm/h *Maranoa* ST GEORGE AIRPORT 8.4mm in 34 min to 16:00 14.8mm/h *Warrego* CHARLEVILLE AERO 12.4mm in 1 hr to 23:30 12.4mm/h *Far SW* QUILPIE AIRPORT 17.0mm in 3 hr to 21:00 5.7mm/h *NEW SOUTH WALES* *North Coast* CASINO AIRPORT AWS 13.0mm in 40 min to 15:00 19.5mm/h 17.8mm in 1 hr to 15:00 17.8mm/h 18.0mm in 3 hr to 15:00 6.0mm/h
Todays highest & lowest temperatures
Maximum	Minimum
44.0 WILCANNIA AERODROME AWS Far Northwest NSW 43.7 TELFER AERO Interior WA 43.5 IVANHOE POST OFFICE Southwest Plains NSW 43.2 WILCANNIA (REID ST) Far Northwest NSW 43.1 MARREE NE Pastoral SA	29.0 DUM IN MIRRIE Darwin-Daly NT 29.0 BEDOURIE POLICE STATION Channel Country QLD 29.0 NORTHERN ENDEAVOUR Islands 28.2 BIRDSVILLE AIRPORT Channel Country QLD 28.0 NARAWILLI Arnhem NT 28.0 COCONUT ISLAND N Peninsula QLD 28.0 BIRDSVILLE POLICE STATION Channel Country QLD 28.0 KURI BAY N Kimberley WA 28.0 CAPE FOURCROY Islands
14.9 MOUNT READ W Coast TAS 16.6 STRATHGORDON VILLAGE W Coast TAS 16.7 MOOGARA (UXBRIDGE BACK ROAD) Derwent Valley TAS 16.7 CRADLE MOUNTAIN AIRSTRIP Central Plateau TAS 16.8 TARRALEAH CHALET Derwent Valley TAS	1.4 LAKE ST CLAIR NATIONAL PARK Central Plateau TAS 2.2 LIAWENEE AWS Central Plateau TAS 2.7 WARATAH (WILLIAM STREET) W Coast TAS 3.0 FINGAL (FORESTRY LEGGE STREET) E Coast TAS 3.0 TUNNACK FIRE STATION Southeast TAS
Todays greatest temperature variations from normal
Maximum	Minimum
+11.4 37.0 LAVERTON RAAF W Central VIC +11.0 34.1 PHILLIP ISLAND PENGUIN RESERVE E Central VIC +10.3 35.9 MOORABBIN AIRPORT E Central VIC +10.2 36.0 MELBOURNE REGIONAL OFFICE E Central VIC +10.0 36.0 MELBOURNE AIRPORT E Central VIC	+8.1 27.0 COONAMBLE COMPARISON CW Plains N NSW +6.7 23.0 EDINBURGH RAAF Adelaide Plains SA +6.5 26.9 BREWARRINA HOSPITAL Upper Darling NSW +6.0 24.4 TEXAS POST OFFICE Darling Downs E QLD +5.6 18.8 LAMEROO Upper SE SA +5.6 21.9 BARRABA POST OFFICE NW Slopes N NSW
-8.2 21.0 RAVENSTHORPE Gt Southern WA -7.9 22.6 KADINA Yorke Peninsula SA -7.7 26.2 KELLERBERRIN Cent Wheatbelt WA -7.6 25.3 KYANCUTTA W Agricultural SA -7.5 23.8 KIMBA W Agricultural SA	-10.3 7.1 CUNDERDIN Cent Wheatbelt WA -9.7 6.8 MEDINA RESEARCH CENTRE Lower West WA -9.5 3.7 FLINDERS ISLAND AIRPORT Flinders Is/Bass St TAS -8.9 8.1 KELLERBERRIN Cent Wheatbelt WA -8.2 6.0 DWELLINGUP FORESTRY SW & S Coast WA
Highest wind gusts above 89km/h or mean wind above 62km/h (gale force). Wind direction and mean windspeed shown in brackets. DENILIQUIN AIRPORT AWS Riverina E NSW: 80 (240/ 63 ) at 20:05 YANAC CFA AWS Wimmera N VIC: 89 (300/ 63 ) at 19:06 MT HOTHAM AIRPORT Upper NE VIC: 109 (320/ 19 ) at 17:00 CAPE GRIM B.A.P.S. N Coast TAS: 78 (100/ 65 ) at 17:00	Other extremes ..