|
 Front
brings heat, storms and dust to SE AUS
A cold front and preceding trough swept across TAS, VIC and southern
NSW today raising dust and bringing widespread thunderstorms. An
area of storms developed around dawn to the west of Deniliquin, then intensified
and propagated to the east and north, dying out mid evening between Broken
Hill and Cobar. Lightning with a storm that passed through Wodonga VIC shortly
after 11am caused a
freak house fire. The lightning fused a saddle stored in the roof of the
house to a gas main, puncturing the main, igniting the gas and causing
a fire in the roof cavity. Two children sleeping alone in the house while
their father drove the mother to work were awoken by a smoke detector and
left the house before four CFA fire appliances arrived to extinguish the
blaze. Brief heavy falls of rain accompanied some of the storms, Tocumwal
Airport recording 27mm in 45 minutes just before 9am. Blowing dust
ahead of a storm at Grenfell reduced visibility in the town to 500m at 3pm.
Overnight temperatures ahead of the front were
8 to 12 above average in a band a few hundred kilometres wide from
western VIC through NSW to SW QLD. Strathbogie in the NE Victorian
highlands recorded
a minimum of 17.2, 11.7 above average, while Ivanhoe in western NSW reported
21.7, 11.6 above. The front brought cooler air across VIC south
of the divide, but temperatures remained high to the north with northwestern
VIC, western NSW, eastern SA and SW QLD reporting maxima 8 to 10 above average. Fog
grounds planes in Sydney
An unforecast and unusual fog descended on the Sydney basin early
this morning. Autumn is the season for morning fogs in Sydney, usually
forming on clear nights with a light breeze following a period of rain. Rain
did fall over most of Sydney yesterday, including torrential falls in the
south, but skies remained cloudy to overcast overnight with even a little
rain reported between midnight and 3 this morning -- Observatory Hill gauged
0.8mm. Consequently, the fog was unexpected when it formed across much of
the metro area around
3am
reducing visibility to 200m or less by 6am. Sydney Airport was closed delaying
inbound and outbound flights. Nine flights, including 2 international 747s,
were diverted to Canberra Airport where the cross runway
had to be closed to allow the extra planes to park. Ferry services on the
harbour were disrupted and road traffic slowed, particularly on the M4 and
Anzac Bridge.
Heavy
showers clear the NSW coast
Showers cleared the NSW north coast late today, giving a few heavy
falls. The rain influence that gave the Illawarra torrential rain
on Sunday and Monday weakened and moved north of the Hunter, giving Smoky
Cape Lighthouse near Kempsey 43mm between 3 and 6am and Wauchope 52.2mm
for the 24 hours to 9am. The showers continued along most of the coast north
to the QLD Sunshine Coast during today, dying out during the early hours
of Wednesday morning. Murwillumbah NSW recorded 58mm and Tewantin QLD 45
for the 24 hours to 9am Wednesday. |
