Australian Weather News -- 03 OCT 2002

Australian Weather News

Thursday, 03 OCT 2002

Bushfires blaze on NSW North and South Coasts
NEWSBITS: Useful rain in southern SA

A section 44 bushfire emergency was declared late yesterday for a fire that has burnt through 8,000ha of remote country in the Bellingen and Nambucca shires on the NSW North Coast. The declaration was made after a major fire in the Kalang Valley west of Bellingen joined another major blaze in the Nambucca Shire, exhausting the resources of local firefighters. Of 70 fires burning in the state, only 30 are under control, though milder weather today is assisting the battle. Other major fires are burning near Tenterfield, Glen Innes, Taree and Kyogle, while on the South Coast a fire that has burnt through 1000ha of the Deua National Park SW of Batemans Bay over the past week has now been contained.

NEWSBITS: Useful rain fell on the Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas and Kangaroo Island in South Australia. Falls were generally 10 to 20mm, though Stenhouse Bay on Yorke Peninsula registered 36mm. The rain has boosted wheat growers' hopes that their cropping season may be salvaged.

National weather extremes for today Data provided by the Bureau of Meteorology Last updated at 18:39 EST on 04/10/02
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. 36.0 STENHOUSE BAY Yorke Peninsula SA 26.6 PARNDANA Kangaroo Is SA 23.0 NEPTUNE ISLAND W Agricultural SA 20.0 CAPE BORDA AWS County Light SA 19.0 CORNY POINT Yorke Peninsula SA *SOUTH AUSTRALIA* W Agricultural 23.0 NEPTUNE ISLAND Yorke Peninsula 36.0 STENHOUSE BAY 19.0 CORNY POINT Kangaroo Is 26.6 PARNDANA County Light 20.0 CAPE BORDA AWS	High rainfall for periods of 6 hours or less. *NORTHERN TERRITORY* *Arnhem* GROOTE EYLANDT AIRPORT AWS 10.6mm in 1 hr to 16:00 10.6mm/h
Todays highest & lowest temperatures
Maximum	Minimum
40.0 WYNDHAM AERO N Kimberley WA 40.0 FITZROY CROSSING AERO W Kimberley WA 39.8 CURTIN AERO W Kimberley WA 38.9 DERBY AERO W Kimberley WA 38.8 WYNDHAM POST OFFICE N Kimberley WA 38.8 CADJEBUT W Kimberley WA	28.0 NORTHERN ENDEAVOUR Islands 26.0 MCCLUER ISLAND Darwin-Daly NT 26.0 DUM IN MIRRIE Darwin-Daly NT 26.0 WARRUWI Arnhem NT 24.6 BLACK POINT Darwin-Daly NT
6.2 MOUNT WELLINGTON Southeast TAS 9.7 MOUNT READ W Coast TAS 10.0 KUITPO FOREST RESERVE Mt Lofty Ranges SA 10.0 THREDBO (CRACKENBACK STATION) AWS Snowy Mtns NSW 11.0 TASMAN ISLAND Southeast TAS	-4.0 CHARLOTTE PASS (KOSCIUSKO CHALET) Snowy Mtns NSW -2.1 GOULBURN AIRPORT AWS Goulburn/Monaro NSW -2.0 MOUNT WELLINGTON Southeast TAS -1.4 WOOLBROOK (DANGLEMAH ROAD) NW Slopes S NSW -1.0 JARRAHWOOD SW & S Coast WA -1.0 WANDERING Gt Southern WA -1.0 NORSEMAN AERO Goldfields WA -1.0 SALMON GUMS RES.STN. Goldfields WA
Todays greatest temperature variations from normal
Maximum	Minimum
+9.7 33.0 GRIFFITH AIRPORT AWS Riverina W NSW +9.4 30.5 WAGGA WAGGA AMO SW Slopes S NSW +9.2 30.0 RUTHERGLEN RESEARCH Lower NE VIC +9.0 31.0 WOLLONGONG UNIVERSITY Illawarra NSW +8.9 29.9 WAGGA WAGGA RESEARCH CENTRE Riverina E NSW	+6.1 15.5 LAKES ENTRANCE E Gippsland VIC +5.9 7.0 MOUNT BULLER Upper NE VIC +5.8 16.7 POINT HICKS (LIGHTHOUSE) E Gippsland VIC +5.7 17.0 PEAK HILL POST OFFICE CW Plains S NSW +5.5 13.2 LAMEROO Upper SE SA
-8.7 21.3 KULGERA Alice Springs NT -8.4 16.7 KYANCUTTA W Agricultural SA -8.3 15.4 KIMBA W Agricultural SA -8.1 23.0 WARBURTON AIRFIELD Interior WA -7.7 22.1 MARLA POLICE STATION NW Pastoral SA	-12.6 11.7 TIMBER CREEK Victoria NT -11.4 11.0 VICTORIA RIVER DOWNS Victoria NT -10.1 11.0 ELLIOTT Barkly NT -10.1 8.7 ALI CURUNG Alice Springs NT -9.5 0.2 NORSEMAN Goldfields WA
Highest wind gusts above 89km/h or mean wind above 62km/h (gale force). Wind direction and mean windspeed shown in brackets. NEPTUNE ISLAND W Agricultural SA : 89 (230/ 70 ) at 03:18 CAPE WILLOUGHBY Kangaroo Is SA : 82 (220/ 63 ) at 10:04	Other extremes ..