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 Severe
storms traverse length of NSW coast
An area of severe thunderstorms caused serious destruction in the
town of Murwillumbah early this evening, and more general damage in the state's
northeast corner. The event was the culmination of an unusual situation
in which a sequence of storms traversed the full length of the NSW coast
over an 18 hour period  ,
riding ahead of a very weak surface front but with serious support aloft.
An isolated but intense thunderstorm formed off the NSW far South Coast late
yesterday evening, moving NNE mostly offshore until dissipating off Wollongong
mid-morning. During its run up the coast, however, it extended over land from
south of Bodalla to around Batemans Bay, giving some torrential falls. Bodalla
reported
49.2, Narooma 32 and Moruya Airport 25 for the 24 hours to 9am, all falling
in the storm, however an unofficial report of "about 100mm" was received from
Bingie, on the coast SE of Moruya. Point Perpendicular Lighthouse on Jervis
Bay recorded 26.2mm between 4 and 6am.
As this storm cell was dissipating soon after dawn, a second was forming over
the NSW Central Coast, and proceeded to track NNE up the Hunter and Mid North
Coasts
during
the late morning and early afternoon. This cell gave a wind gust of 96km/h
at Norah Head at 8.05am as well as 9am to 3pm falls of 36mm at Nelson Bay,
43 at Forster and 32 at Mt Seaview. Waterspouts were reported off the coast
near Newcastle.
Both storms were intensified by the passage of a strong upper trough  up
the coast. As the trough moved into warmer, moister air in the state's northeast,
it also came underneath the entrance to a strong jetstream  ,
resulting in a widespread outbreak of storms, some severe, from around midday  .
The Richmond and Tweed Valleys bore the brunt of these storms with flash flooding
closing roads around Lismore where 30.4mm was recorded at the airport
in 19 minutes. Wind caused extensive house and tree damage, particularly
in Murwillumbah. Of 99 calls for help received by the SES, 86 were
from the town where over 50 houses were damaged and several destroyed.
Over a dozen homes were partially or wholly unroofed in Byangum
Road which runs for about 2km west from the town centre. Violent
winds also downed trees and power poles over a wide area from Lismore
to Kyogle and northeast to Murwillumbah. Over 120 SES personnel
spent Friday mopping up the damage. Bray Park, 2km SW of the town,
recorded 72.8mm for the 24 hours to 9am Friday.
The storms dissipated during the early evening as they moved across
the border into QLD, though not before giving some heavy falls along
the Gold and Sunshine Coasts and as far west as Oakey on the western
Darling Downs.
Late in April, natural disaster relief was made available to affected
farmers through the NSW Rural Assistance Authority. Damage to banana
and zucchini crops, fences, shade houses and hail netting was estimated
at $200,000.
Tropical low brings heavy rain, flooding to Far North QLD
A developing low in the monsoon trough is bringing ever-heavier rain
onto the Far North QLD coast. The low, which was located 100km NNE
of Cooktown at 6pm, directed strengthening SE winds and heavy showers onto
the mountain-backed coast from Ingham to Cooktown today. Top falls to 9am
were 163mm at Copperlode Dam 13km SW of Cairns, 161 at Jarra Creek 10km NW
of Tully, and 156 at Topaz, on the eastern edge of the Atherton Tableland
about 25km west of Innisfail. Most North Coast rainfall stations recorded
over 50mm and about half recorded over 100mm (details
below), giving many stations totals for the week to this morning of 300
to 500mm. During the day, rain eased somewhat, but heavy showers continued
on the Daintree
coast,
offshore
from
which Low Isles Lighthouse recorded 88mm between 9am and 9pm. Moderate flooding
in the Daintree River was worsening tonight, while the Mulgrave River at
Gordonvale was in moderate flood and the Tully and Murray Rivers were in
minor flood. A cyclone watch was declared at 3.40pm from Cape Melville to
Lucinda.
Tropical
Cyclone Fay threatens WA north coast
Tropical Cyclone Fay continued to sit just off the northern
tip of the WA Kimberley coast today as it deepened to 972hPa by 8pm. Now
rated at category 2, the cyclone was estimated to be producing 120km winds
along the nearby coast, with a highest measured gust of 93km/h at 11pm at
Troughton Island. Rain from the cyclone in the admittedly sparse rain gauge
network over the Kimberley diminished during the day.
Heavy
storms and showers in NT Top End
The late-season resurgence of the monsoon trough has brought heavy
showers and thunderstorms across the NT Top End. About a dozen stations
reported 24 hour totals between 50 and 110mm to 9 this morning, and the same
number reported between 50 and 90mm to 9am Friday.
Record
cold March morning in western VIC
There was an unusually localised cold start to the day in western
VIC this morning. In the Horsham area, the Polkemmet station, 11km
NW of the town, recorded 1.5°, 9.8 below average and a new March record
in 43 years at the site. Longerenong, 10km ENE of the town recorded 1.6,
a new March record in 39 years. The relatively
new airport AWS, 5km NNW of the town, recorded a rounded reading of 1°.
Nhill, 65km to the northwest, has the distinction of a 102-year computerised
temperature record; its minimum of 2.4 was 8.6 below the norm, but 3.0° above
its record for March.
QLD's
January floods reach Lake Eyre SA
Flooding rain that fell in western QLD two months ago has arrived
in Lake Eyre. The water, which has flowed slowly down the Diamantina River, then the
Warburton Creek and through the Warburton Groove into the lake, is producing
a fairly shallow lake in the middle of the vast saltpan, much smaller than
the major filling of 2000. The water is not visible from the "shore" of the
salt, but local rangers report that pelicans, ducks and gulls are flocking
to the newly-arrived water to feed on the brine shrimp and breed. |
