Australian Weather News -- 18 AUG 2002

Australian Weather News

Sunday, 18 AUG 2002

NEWSBITS: Showers bring some respite to a dry NSW coast; Storms develop in central Queensland; Unusual temperatures and low humidity continue in NT Top End

NEWSBITS: The best rain in a month fell on parts of the NSW North and Central Coasts today, though falls were patchy and confined to areas very near the coastal fringe. On the North Coast, Ballina Town recorded 50mm for the 48 hours to 9am Monday, while Dorrigo recorded 26mm for the same period. Heavy showers, mostly this morning, gave Sydney's northeastern suburbs upwards of 20mm over the 48 hours, with Belrose recording 48mm. Most centres along the coast, however, recorded 5mm or less.

A developing trough west of the ranges in Queensland is drawing moist northeasterlies into the system which, combined with cold air aloft, led to widespread thunderstorms today though only scattered rain.

Today's diurnal temperature range at Darwin Airport of 17.7° (maximum 32.7, minimum 15.0 was the sixth highest on record for any month and the highest since 1942. Blair Trewin writes: "The top 5, and 17 of the top 22, are all from late July and early August, 1942 - including the record of 21.2, set on 29 July when Darwin had its lowest min on record, 10.4. I'm suspicious that there might have been a temporary station relocation, perhaps because of war damage, but there is no documentary evidence of this. The dewpoint of -9.9 at 3pm is not a record (-18.0 at 0600 on 2 September 1986), but it is the lowest since 1991."

National weather extremes for today Data provided by the Bureau of Meteorology Last updated at 17:44 EST on 19/08/02
Quality control note: Data is complete, and has been visually checked by AWN for gross errors. Less obvious errors may remain. See Explanation of Extremes Pages for more information
Records set this day (none known)
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. 36.8 BELROSE (GLEN STREET) Sydney--east NSW 30.0 FRENCHS FOREST (FRENCHS FOREST RD) Sydney--east NSW 26.0 BALLINA (CROWLEY VILLAGE) North Coast NSW 24.0 DORRIGO (OLD CORAMBA RD) MidNorth Coast N NSW 23.2 DORRIGO POST OFFICE MidNorth Coast N NSW *NEW SOUTH WALES* North Coast 26.0 BALLINA (CROWLEY VILLAGE) MidNorth Coast N 24.0 DORRIGO (OLD CORAMBA RD) 23.2 DORRIGO POST OFFICE Sydney--east 36.8 BELROSE (GLEN STREET) 30.0 FRENCHS FOREST (FRENCHS FOREST RD)	High rainfall for periods of 6 hours or less. *QUEENSLAND* *Upper Carpentaria* RICHMOND AIRPORT 11.0mm in 43 min to 16:00 15.3mm/h 15.8mm in 1 hr to 16:00 15.8mm/h *NEW SOUTH WALES* *Hunter Valley* NEWCASTLE NOBBYS SIGNAL STATION 10.8mm in 1 hr to 12:00 10.8mm/h
Todays highest & lowest temperatures
Maximum	Minimum
33.3 WEIPA AERO N Peninsula QLD 33.1 OENPELLI Darwin-Daly NT 33.0 WYNDHAM AERO N Kimberley WA 33.0 KALUMBURU N Kimberley WA 33.0 MIDDLE POINT AWS N Rivers NT 33.0 JABIRU AIRPORT Darwin-Daly NT 33.0 PORT KEATS AERO Darwin-Daly NT	25.0 NORTHERN ENDEAVOUR Islands 24.5 HORN ISLAND N Peninsula QLD 24.0 MCCLUER ISLAND Darwin-Daly NT 24.0 COCONUT ISLAND N Peninsula QLD 23.0 HOLMES REEF Islands
1.0 THREDBO (CRACKENBACK STATION) AWS Snowy Mtns NSW 1.1 MT HOTHAM Upper NE VIC 3.0 MOUNT BULLER Upper NE VIC 3.5 CHARLOTTE PASS (KOSCIUSKO CHALET) Snowy Mtns NSW 4.4 MOUNT READ W Coast TAS	-10.5 CHARLOTTE PASS (KOSCIUSKO CHALET) Snowy Mtns NSW -6.0 PERISHER VALLEY SKI CENTRE Snowy Mtns NSW -5.2 FALLS CREEK Upper NE VIC -4.2 MT HOTHAM Upper NE VIC -4.0 THREDBO (CRACKENBACK STATION) AWS Snowy Mtns NSW -4.0 ARARAT PRISON Western Plains VIC
Todays greatest temperature variations from normal
Maximum	Minimum
+4.7 20.0 PEMBERTON SW & S Coast WA +4.5 20.0 DWELLINGUP FORESTRY SW & S Coast WA +4.4 25.6 CUNNAMULLA POST OFFICE Warrego QLD +4.3 26.2 KALBARRI Central West WA +4.1 19.0 MANJIMUP SW & S Coast WA +4.1 17.0 BUSHY PARK (BUSHY PARK ESTATES) Derwent Valley TAS	+7.7 12.7 TAMBO POST OFFICE Central Highlands QLD +6.7 14.9 CLERMONT POST OFFICE Central Highlands QLD +6.6 14.5 ISISFORD POST OFFICE Central West QLD +6.5 13.7 SPRINGSURE DAME ST Central Highlands QLD +6.0 16.1 RICHMOND POST OFFICE Upper Carpentaria QLD
-4.8 22.6 ALI CURUNG Alice Springs NT -4.8 19.7 WATARRKA Alice Springs NT -4.3 17.5 KULGERA Alice Springs NT -4.0 23.6 TENNANT CREEK AIRPORT Barkly NT -3.9 21.0 JERVOIS Alice Springs NT	-10.2 -3.8 EYRE Eucla WA -8.2 6.9 KATHERINE AVIATION MUSEUM Darwin-Daly NT -7.9 -4.0 ARARAT PRISON Western Plains VIC -7.7 -1.0 KULGERA Alice Springs NT -7.5 6.0 DALY WATERS AWS Roper-McArthur NT -7.5 9.0 TIMBER CREEK Victoria NT
Highest wind gusts above 89km/h or mean wind above 62km/h (gale force). Wind direction and mean windspeed shown in brackets. MAATSUYKER ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE Southeast TAS: 72 (310/ 69 ) at 23:36	Other extremes ..