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| Minimum (above) and maximum (below) temperature departures from normal
today. BoM |
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 Heat
in SE Australia gives Melbourne hottest December
in a century
After a warm and muggy night across much of SA, NSW, VIC and TAS,
today was another scorcher with VIC feeling the greatest heat relative to
normal. Much of the state, including Melbourne, reported top temperatures
between 39 and 41C, which in coastal areas and around Melbourne were up to
18 above average. Avalon Airport, 20km NE of Geelong, was
the hottest
spot in the state with a top of 42.1, while nearby Laverton RAAF Base recorded
41.7, 17.7 above normal. Other high maxima were Essendon Airport 41.0, Orbost
40.4 and Bairnsdale 40.2, all around 17 above. Central Melbourne reached 40.3,
15 above.
The day helped Melbourne's official central city weather
station to a new monthly minimum temperature record. Melbourne's average minimum
temperature
for December 2003 finished up at 15.9, the highest in 148 years of record.
The previous record was 15.5 in
1994 and the normal is
13.7. The average maximum temperature for the month of 27.2 (normal 24.1) is
the second highest on record, exceeded only by 27.3 in 1873.
Adelaide also recorded unusual December heat, with the city's
average maximum temperature of 29.0 the highest in 50 years, and the average
minimum of 16.9 the highest in 28 years.
In TAS, Hobart City registered a top of 35.8 today, 15.6
up on the average, while Swansea in the state's NE topscored with 36.6. SA experienced
an exceptionally hot night, with minimum temperatures in the Central North
and Northeast districts 10
to 13 up on normal. Marree Airport recorded
a low of 32.7 while the Marree Town thermometer went on to record the state's
highest maximum today at 44.1. Over the border in NSW, Broken
Hill's minimum was 29.0 and the highest state maximum was 45.4 at Menindee.
Fires,
storms in VIC
Two bushfires occurred in VIC today in occasionally fresh
and gusty hot NW winds,, both believed to have been started by harvesting
equipment. One burnt
out 100 hectares of grass and scrub at Smeaton near Daylesford in central VIC,
while a second north of Horsham in the state's west burnt out 81ha of grassland.
An isolated but energetic thunderstorm caused mayhem in Bendigo between
about 7.30 and 8.30pm. Wind, which gusted to 91km/h at the airport, brought
down
at least 5 trees on busy main roads. The SES was called to about 35
jobs, of which half a dozen were trees on houses and the rest were
trees and powerlines on driveways or roads. 1,620 homes were blacked
out in Bendigo, White Hills and Epsom. 22mm was recorded in one hour at
the airport during the
storm, while north of Kyneton, 60km SSE of Bendigo, heavy rain caused
flash flooding and strong winds brought tree damage. A detailed
report is available on Australian
Sky & Weather.
Heavy
rain in WA, NT, QLD
Heavy rain and thunderstorms formed a prelude to a developing monsoon
across the far north of WA, NT and QLD overnight and today. Of several
heavy totals for the 24 hours to 9am in the North and East Kimberley of
WA, Ord River Dam's 171mm was by far the highest. In the NT, overnight thunderstorms
produced some downpours, including 63.6mm in 2 hours to 3am at Ngayawili,
130km west of Gove. A flood alert remains in force for most rivers in Top
End. In QLD, totals of 50 to 100mm to 9am were again widespread on the coast
from Townsville
north
to
Cooktown
and
inland
to the
Gulf Country.
Cooktown topscored with 150.2mm.
Easing
drought brings locust swarms to QLD, NSW
A farmer's lot is seldom a happy one. While recent rain has eased
drought conditions across much of inland QLD and NSW, the Australian Plague
Locust
Commission is warning of imminent swarms in both states. There have
been sightings of Australian plague locust hatchlings around Tambo and Morven
in
central QLD
as well as in the Blackall and Roma
regions of the state. The Commission also reports massings of the same breed
of locust through much of northern NSW. Aerial spraying of insecticides will
begin soon, with bands of nymphs likely to take to the air in the next few
weeks, and the Commission is warning that the Central Western Slopes and Plains
of NSW could be the worst affected as the nymphs migrate south and mature into
adults. A one-kilometre swarm of adult locusts can eat up to 10 tonnes of vegetation
per day.
News sources: AAP, Advertiser (Bendigo)
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