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 Duststorms
cross NSW
Duststorms, dropping visibility to 100m in some areas, were reported today
in the NSW Central West. The dust was whipped up by strong winds accompanying
the same cold change that brought a major duststorm event to Victoria yesterday.
Coonamble, Coonabarabran, Dunedoo and Wellington all reported duststorms
reducing visibility below 500m during the day, with Dunedoo reporting severe
duststorms with 100m visibility at both its 9am and 3pm observations. The area
of dust raised in the Central West then drifted ESE over the Central and Southern
Tablelands to drop visibility in the Sydney, Illawarra and South Coast areas,
with Batemans Bay reporting visibility down to just 1km at 3pm.
Widespread
rain in TAS, gales in Bass Strait
Heavy rain fell in northern and western TAS overnight and moved over the rest
of the state today. The low pressure system that brought duststorms and heavy
rain to SE SA and VIC yesterday moved ESE across Bass Strait overnight to be
off Eddystone Point in Tasmania's northeast late this morning. There it hovered
through the day, before moving due south overnight into Friday (see story for
Friday). Conditions in the Strait as the 996hPa low
moved through were wild, with the Kingfish A oil platform, about 100km SE of
Sale VIC, reporting a wind gust of 128km/h soon after midnight, Wilsons Promontory
115km/h at 10.31am and Cape Grim 130km/h with a 10-minute average speed of
96km/h at midnight.
The heaviest rain to 9am was on the Central
Plateau, where Cradle Mountain in the north, Mt Read in the west and Lake
St Clair and Derwent Bridge in the south all recorded around 60mm in the
24 hours
to 9am. The east coast also recorded good falls, mostly in the last few hours
to 9am as the low approached, with Cullenswood near St Mary's recording 45.0mm,
Eddystone Point 34.0 (20mm between 6am and 9am), and Swansea and Scamander
26.8mm.
However, west
of a line from Devonport to Orford, virtually all locations recorded between
25
and 40mm
to
9am, with
Burnie
receiving
41.8mm,
Ulverstone
39.8, Smithton Aero 35.8, Orford 26.4, Tunbridge 25.2, Hobart City 22.8,
Dover 28.4 and Bothwell 29.0 being representative falls. As the low tracked
south
down the east coast, the rain contracted to the state's east and southeast
this afternoon, bringing falls in excess of 25mm to that part of the state.
Gales were reported south of the low, with the summit of Mt Wellington
recording a top gust of 115km/h and a 10-minute average wind of 95km/h
at 4.04pm.
NEWSBITS
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Good rainfall in SE QLD has
lifted the level of Baroon Pocket Dam from 50 to 100% in just 6 weeks.
The dam, which supplies water to Caloundra City and Maroochy Shire
north of Brisbane reached the lowest level last month since it was
built in 1988. 840mm has fallen in the catchment in the past six
weeks, bringing the dam to top water level today and removing the
threat of water restrictions that was facing the area just a month
ago. |
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Records set
this day (previous record and years of computerised record shown in brackets):
Highest daily rainfall for any month:
Casterton Showgrounds VIC: 83.2 (81.2, 46)
Highest
daily rainfall for March:
Robe SA: 67.6 (56.1, 138)
Coonawarra SA: 49.0 (44.8, 17)
Casterton Showgrounds VIC: 83.2 (54.6, 46) |
