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Maximum temperatures today (above)
and their departures from normal (below). BoM  |
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| Below: Minimum temperature departures from normal this morning.
BoM |
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 WA
heatwave intensifies
A
brace of new November high temperature records were set today in
Central West and Southwest WA. Much of this area
recorded top temperatures above 42° today. At least
14 wheatbelt shires banned the use and movement of harvest
machinery to minimise
the risk of fire. In Perth, almost 10,000 homes were blacked
out by power outages caused by mass use of air conditioners.
The day
followed an uncomfortably warm night in the Central West,
with
Eneabba,
250km north of Perth, recording a low of 25.5, 11.8 above
normal.
Perth Airport
was one of at least 11 Bureau stations that broke sometimes long-standing
records when the mercury rose to 40.8, the highest November
temperature at the Airport in 59 years of record. Perth Metro recorded
a top of 40.3 equalling the highest temperature recorded in November
back in 1923, though this was at a different location and not strictly
comparable.
Geraldton's 43.8 was 16.8 above the November average, and
broke the previous November record of 43.2 set last year. Geraldton's
records
go back 61 years. Carnamah and Mullewa, where
new records were set yesterday, both broke those records afresh
today with tops of 43.1 and 43.2. The state's highest temperature,
45.2 at Eneabba, was also a new record,
exceeding the town's previous November high by nearly 2°. Details
of other records set are below.
Thunderstorms that developed around Perth during the evening
produced strong winds but little rain. Scattered properties
in southern and southeastern suburbs reported minor damage.
 Unusually
cold day
in central western NT
While
WA sweltered, it was an exceptionally cold day in an area
to the NW of Alice Springs in the NT. The blue blob
in the central map at right shows the area where top temperatures
only made it into
the mid 20s due to heavy cloud cover and possibly cool air
brought to the surface by thunderstorm downdraughts. At Yuendumu,
the maximum
recorded to 3pm was only 23°, 12 below average, though
the official maximum for the 24 hours was 24.4, recorded at
9am on Wednesday.
Storm
causes damage
in Gunnedah NSW
Thunderstorms
developed in a broad trough moving across NE NSW mid afternoon bringing
heavy rain, hail and strong wind gusts as they moved NE over the
next 6 hours. Gunnedah was worst affected, with hail and flash
flooding combining to flood main street businesses and some homes,
and strong wind gusts bringing down trees and powerlines. A shop
awning collapsed during the 20 minute storm which occurred about
4.30pm and produced 13 calls for assistance to the SES. The official
gauge at the swimming pool recorded 17.4mm while the airport, 3km
north of town recorded only 6.4 (4.2 falling in 6 minutes) highlighting
the variability of the rainfall and the fact that it may have been
considerably
higher
across short distances. Farmers around Tamworth reported falls
of up to 30mm from the same system.
Heavy
rain from
pre-wet season storms in the NT
The
thunderstorm season that precedes The Wet across the NT Top End
has been getting into gear over the past few days, producing
the type of torrential downpour almost unknown in southern Australia.
These heavy storm falls are reported routinely in the downpours section
of the national weather extremes below, but are not usually commented
upon up here because they are normal weather for the time of year.
Storms were widespread across the Top End overnight and this morning,
with some heavy 24-hour totals reported east of Katherine, where
Upper 17 Mile Creek registered a 24-hour total of 90.6, 17 Mile
Creek
72mm and Tandangle Hill 51.2. A new station to the south of
these, Maranboy Hill, reported 205mm, though it is not yet confirmed
whether this is a reliable figure.
News sources: ABC, Northern Daily Leader (Tamworth), Sunday
Times (Perth)
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