 Heat
continues in SA, NW Vic, NW WA |
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Heatwave conditions are developing over
South Australia and nearby parts of Victoria, NSW and WA. Top
temperatures today were over 40° over much of the continent away from
the coast, with temperatures in southern SA, northwestern Victoria and
southwestern NSW ranging between 10 and 17 above average. The 42°
maximum at Loxton south of Renmark was a new December record for
the station, while at Price on the Yorke Peninsula the mercury soared
to 43.7, 17.2 above the norm. After Price, the hottest place on the continent,
relative to average, was Adelaide. The airport, located near the
coast, recorded a top of 40.4, but inland stations on the Adelaide Plain
reported tops around 42°, 14 or 15 above normal. The WA Pilbara
continued its run of hot days, with tops of around 46 reported from Roebourne
and Marble Bar.
A feature of the buildup of heat over SA
and NW Victoria has been the lack of wind. Pressure gradients are
slack over the entire continent, with a gentle N to NE windfield moving
hot dry continental air from the tropics across the southern half of the
country. The light winds resulted in an unusually sharp temperature gradient
across SW Victoria today; while the Mallee and Wimmera were sweltering
in temperatures over 40°, cool air over Bass Strait invaded western
coastal areas and in particular the Otway Coast, reducing top temperatures
to the mid to high teens.
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National
weather extremes for today
Data provided by
the Bureau of Meteorology
Last updated at 06:44 UTC on 21/12/02 |
| 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 (previous record and years of computerised record shown in
brackets):
Highest daily maximum temperature for December:
Loxton Research Centre SA: 42.0 (41.6, 18) |
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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.
52.2 ST GEORGE AIRPORT Maranoa QLD
36.0 KIMBERLEY COASTAL CAMP N Kimberley WA
30.0 MENDOORAN POST OFFICE CW Slopes N NSW
23.4 MCMINNS LAGOON Darwin-Daly NT
23.4 BINNAWAY (WATTLE ST) CW Slopes N NSW
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
N Kimberley
36.0 KIMBERLEY COASTAL CAMP
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Darwin-Daly
23.4 MCMINNS LAGOON
QUEENSLAND
Maranoa
52.2 ST GEORGE AIRPORT
NEW SOUTH WALES
CW Slopes N
30.0 MENDOORAN POST OFFICE
23.4 BINNAWAY (WATTLE ST)
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High rainfall for periods of 6 hours or less.
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Darwin-Daly
JABIRU AIRPORT
11.6mm in 6 min to 21:34 116.0mm/h
21.8mm in 1 hr to 22:00 21.8mm/h
QUEENSLAND
N Coast--Barron
CAIRNS AERO
10.4mm in 30 min to 13:00 20.8mm/h
10.4mm in 1 hr to 13:00 10.4mm/h
11.8mm in 1 hr to 13:30 11.8mm/h
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Todays highest &
lowest temperatures |
| Maximum |
Minimum |
46.4 ROEBOURNE E Pilbara WA
46.0 ROEBOURNE AERO E Pilbara WA
46.0 MARBLE BAR E Pilbara WA
45.7 MARBLE BAR COMPARISON E Pilbara WA
45.0 FITZROY CROSSING AERO W Kimberley WA
45.0 PANNAWONICA W Pilbara WA
45.0 NEWMAN AERO E Gascoyne WA
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32.4 WITTENOOM W Pilbara WA
30.9 GILES METEOROLOGICAL OFFICE Interior WA
30.0 NORTHERN ENDEAVOUR Islands
29.6 ROEBOURNE E Pilbara WA
29.2 CADJEBUT W Kimberley WA
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12.4 MOUNT WELLINGTON Southeast TAS
15.1 MAATSUYKER ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE Southeast TAS
15.8 MOUNT READ W Coast TAS
17.0 CAPE OTWAY LIGHTHOUSE W Coast VIC
17.0 CAPE NELSON LIGHTHOUSE W Coast VIC
17.0 CAPE BRUNY LIGHTHOUSE Southeast TAS
17.0 CAPE BRUNY (CAPE BRUNY) Southeast TAS
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0.4 CRADLE MOUNTAIN AIRSTRIP Central Plateau TAS
1.5 PERISHER VALLEY SKI CENTRE Snowy Mtns NSW
3.3 MOUNT WELLINGTON Southeast TAS
3.6 MAYDENA (POST OFFICE) Derwent Valley TAS
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Todays greatest temperature variations from normal |
| Maximum |
Minimum |
+17.2
43.7 PRICE Yorke Peninsula SA
+14.9
40.4 ADELAIDE AIRPORT Adelaide Plains SA
+14.8
42.3 PARAFIELD AIRPORT Adelaide Plains SA
+14.2
42.0 EDINBURGH RAAF Adelaide Plains SA
+14.1
42.1 ROSEDALE (TURRETFIELD RESEARCH CENTRE) County Light SA
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+12.2
25.6 WALPEUP RESEARCH Mallee N VIC
+10.4
25.2 PARAFIELD AIRPORT Adelaide Plains SA
+10.0
23.6 OUYEN (POST OFFICE) Mallee N VIC
+9.6
23.1 ROSEDALE (TURRETFIELD RESEARCH CENTRE) County Light SA
+9.5
26.5 BROKEN HILL (PATTON STREET) Lower Darling NSW
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-3.3
26.2 GERALDTON AIRPORT Central West WA
-2.8
17.0 CAPE OTWAY LIGHTHOUSE W Coast VIC
-2.6
19.2 LAKES ENTRANCE E Gippsland VIC
-2.5
25.5 JURIEN Lower West WA
-2.3
29.0 CAIRNS AERO N Coast--Barron QLD
-2.3
21.5 MOORABBIN AIRPORT E Central VIC
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-6.9 5.4 PHILLIP ISLAND PENGUIN RESERVE E Central
VIC
-4.5
12.9 KALBARRI Central West WA
-4.3
10.4 PEARCE RAAF Lower West WA
-4.1
11.5 JURIEN Lower West WA
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Highest wind
gusts above 89km/h or mean wind above 62km/h (gale force). Wind direction and mean windspeed shown in brackets.
WYNDHAM AERO N Kimberley WA : 93 ( 60/ 48 ) at 17:20
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Other extremes
.. |