Severe
storms hit Gladstone area QLD
Torrential rain fell from thunderstorms between Gladstone and Burnett
Heads early this morning yielding some totals of 200 to 300mm. At Burnett
Heads, 236.0mm was recorded for the 24 hours to 9am, the heaviest December
daily total in the station's 101 year history.
Severe thunderstorms hit coastal QLD from Gladstone south to Hervey
Bay late this afternoon. In Gladstone, large hail up to 7cm diameter accompanied
heavy rain damaging many
cars and requiring 100 SES callouts to stricken buildings, mostly with
hail damage. In all, 120 homes were seriously damaged. SES personnel described
it as the worst storm in the city in a decade, and damage was estimated
at between 1.5 and 2 million dollars. Powerlines were brought
down
and the Kin Kora shopping centre had to be evacuated after part of its
roof collapsed. SES crews had to be brought in from as far away as Rockhampton
to help with
mopping
up
operations. 54.2mm
fell at Gladstone Radar in 37 minutes to 5.30pm, while the airport recorded
49.0mm in the hour to 5.30pm. Town of 1770 recorded 41mm and Hervey
Bay Airport 53mm in late afternoon storms. An upper trough and continuing
moist surface
northeasterlies contributed to the storms.
Hail,
wind cause damage in Far North QLD
Golfball sized hail was reported from the Atherton area west of Cairns
QLD during the afternoon. Wind gusts associated with storms unroofed a
house near Charters Towers, SW of Townsville, during the evening.
SA,
VIC swelter
Temperatures were well above normal across southern SA and all but eastern
VIC today as warm northerlies flooded the area ahead of a cool change. Adelaide's
40° and Melbourne's 37 were both 13 above average, while the temperature
soared to 44.0 at Whyalla (a 20-year record for December) and 42.5 at Parafield
in Adelaide's northern suburbs. In Melbourne, ambulance crews treated 39 people
for heat
exhaustion.
Unusually
strong dust devil wreaks havoc in central SA
One unusual outcome of today's extreme heat in SA was the development
of extraordinarily powerful dust devils around the head of Spencer Gulf
SA. One or possibly more than one dust devils brought down trees, fences
and powerlines along a 2 to 3km path in Whyalla, and also tore part of
a roof from a house. Port Augusta airport reported an isolated strong
gust of 93km/h just after 1.30pm, also believed to have been caused by
a dust
devil. The weather at both locations was hot, dry and cloudless.
Cyclone
Jana brushes Cocos Islands
Southward moving TC Jana passed 280km east of Cocos Islands today. The
Cyclone, which developed from a tropical low on Sunday, reached category
3 status yesterday while tracking eastwards. Jana weakened during
the 10th due to increasing wind shear, and dropped below cyclone status
on the 11th.
News sources: ABC |