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 Rain,
storms lead to flooding in SE QLD but misses NSW dams
The trough that has brought widespread rain and thunderstorms to eastern
Australia moved just off the QLD coast this afternoon, bringing clearing
weather inland.
Another burst of heavy rain from thunderstorms accompanied the trough as it
crossed the Maranoa and Darling Downs early this morning. St George Airport
recorded 56.0mm between midnight and 3am, 48.2 falling in the hour to 2am.
Goondiwindi Airport recorded 85mm in 6 hours to 9am followed by a further 15mm
to noon.
Severe storms struck the Wide Bay and Burnett district. The Bureau of
Meteorology reported that a possible tornado hit the Rosedale area, 50km
NW of Bundaberg. Houses were unroofed, trees snapped and a shed was lifted
and carried about a kilometre. Boompa, 50km W of Maryborough, reported
7cm diameter hail, while 4cm hail damaged mango and avocado crops at
Childers, 40km S of Bundaberg.
The long list of high 24-hour totals below reflect
the storms this morning as well as storms yesterday afternoon and evening.
Goodooga in the NSW Upper Western district recorded 95mm for the 24 hours
to 9am, its highest one-day December total in 113 years of record. New
December one-day rainfall records were also set in QLD at Thangool and
Talwood (see records below).
There were rapid rises in the Weir River 100km southwest of Toowoomba overnight,
with the river at O'Connor peaking at 10.77 metres at 9 this evening with
moderate flooding before falling sharply. The flooding followed 221mm recorded
at O'Connor
between
6pm Thursday to 9am today, with general totals
of 100 to 150mm in the upper tributaries.
Despite the widespread rain, major water storages in northern NSW only rose
by about 1%. Pindari Dam is currently at 40% capacity, Copeton 14%, Keepit
16% and Chaffey 39%. There was better news on the NSW Mid North Coast, however,
where improved flows in the Manning, Hastings and other coastal rivers have
allowed planned tighter water restictions to be postponed.
Cold
in NSW, SE QLD
Cloud cover and the arrival of cooler southeasterlies kept daytime temperatures
as much as 14 below normal across NE NSW and SE Qld today. Mungindi NSW just
reached 20°, 14.4 below, while Bollon QLD and Casino, Collarenebri and
Murrurundi NSW all recorded maxima between 12 and 14 below the average. On
the NSW Northern and Central Tablelands, several towns just made double digits,
Guyra and Katoomba both recording tops of 11.0°. It was also an unusually
cold start to the day in the Snowy Mountains, where Kosciuszko
Chalet recorded an overnight low of -4.6, 8.2 below normal. Strong
winds cause blackouts in southern WA
Strong winds overnight brought down power poles in towns in the WA Wheatbelt
to the north and northeast of Perth including North Koorda, Calingiri and Wubin. 400
properties lost power for up to 12 hours.
Tropical
downpour
in NT
In a good Territorian storm, Bulman in eastern Arnhem Land registered 75.2mm
in the hour to 5pm.
News sources: ABC
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