2010 - The year that was
WA |
NT |
QLD |
NSW |
ACT |
VIC |
TAS |
SA
Western Australia
* On Monday 22nd March, a super-cell thunderstorm struck Perth, producing destructive winds, flash flooding and golf ball sized hail. The storm produced widespread damage across the city and early estimates put the insurance cost in excess of $100 million. Large hail in Perth is a highly unusual event.
Northern Territory
* Heavy rain across the Northern Territory occurred during Wednesday and Thursday 6th and 7th January producing 72-hour totals in excess of 100mm. The Todd River began to flow through the Alice Springs area.
* On Sunday March 28, tropical cyclone “Paul” formed off the east coast of the Northern Territory – over the Gulf of Carpentaria. Over the next few days tropical cyclone “Paul” generated strong winds, heavy flood rains and high tides along the adjacent coastline. Bulman, over eastern Arnhem Land, recorded a 24-hour fall in excess of 440 mm during this period.
* The maximum temperature in Alice Springs on Tuesday 6th July was only 6.4C – the coldest day on record. Over 30 mm of rain was recorded in the area during the day.
* On Sunday morning, 25th July, Darwin experienced a minimum temperature of 26C, which is the warmest July morning since records commenced at that location in 1941.
Queensland
* Tropical Cyclone “Olga” struck southwards into central Queensland on Saturday 29th January and became a rain depression.Heavy falls resulted across large parts of Queensland on Monday 1st February producing some of the best rain in 30 years for the Central West area.
* Record rainfall drenched south-eastern Queensland on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th February, with Canungra and Mount Tamborine receiving over 350 mm in the 24 hours ending at 9 am Sunday. These were the heaviest falls in over 90 years of records. Widespread flooding resulted across the local area.
* A tropical low dumped huge rainfall totals over southern Queensland from Monday 1st March, to Thursday 4th March, generating totals in excess of 250 mm in four days over parts of the Maranoa Warrego district. This generated massive flooding across the area with St. George and Charleville in particular suffering major inundation. Record river heights of around 14 m were registered on the Balonne River.
* Tropical cyclone “Ului” that formed near Vanuatu on Friday 12th March commenced a slow movement towards the Queensland coastline. The cyclone re-intensified into a severe category 3 system before crossing the Queensland coast near Airlie Beach early on Sunday morning, 21st March. Wind gusts to 200 kph were reported from Hamilton Island and 9.5 m waves were recorded off Mackay.
* Abnormally cold daytime temperatures were recorded across inland parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory during Thursday 16th and Friday 17th September because of cloud cover and rain across the area. Charleville’s temperature reached only 13C on Friday, its coldest September day in 68 years, while Boulia’s temperature peaked at 14C, the lowest ever September maximum temperature recorded there.
* Rain and thunderstorm activity extended to inland Queensland during the afternoon of the 19th September, producing some of the highest rainfall totals in years around Longreach and also some of the lowest maximum temperatures on record for September. Cunnamulla recorded a top temperature of only 12 degrees, its coldest day in more than 100 years.
* Mackay received 122 mm in the 24-hour period ending 9 am on Monday September 20, easily eclipsing the previous 24-hour September record of 36 mm set in 1959. Many surrounding areas also recorded record September totals in what is normally one of the drier months across the area.
* A deluge of rain hit southeast Queensland during Sunday night, 10th October with totals in the 100-200mm range across the region. Flash flooding occurred, especially around the suburbs of Brisbane. Coolangatta racked up record October rainfall across the weekend of 9th and 10th October with the monthly total climbing 367mm by Monday morning, which is more than 4 times the monthly average. This was all generated by a deepening low pressure trough located just off the coast. Extremely strong winds of over 90km/h were recorded along exposed parts of the coast, which whipped up large waves of 3-4 metres in the surf zone. Maximum wave heights approached 8 metres on the Gold Coast wave buoy.
* Several thunderstorm events lashed northeast NSW and southeast Queensland during the third week of December, with severe thunderstorm warnings issued on four consecutive days, from Wednesday 15th to Saturday 18th December, inclusive.
NSW
* The Darling River produced significant flooding over northern inland NSW on Friday 1st January and this continued into the weekend of 2nd and 3rd January. Significant flooding was also reported from along the Castlereagh River with major floods developing around Coonamble.
* A series of severe thunderstorms then swept across the Riverina and Southwest Slopes districts of NSW on Sunday 7th March, dumping huge rainfall totals across the area. Wagga Wagga recorded 110 mm of rain, the highest 24 total there since records commenced. Widespread flash flooding followed in many local areas.
* During Wednesday June 2nd and Thursday June 3rd a low-pressure cell spun up off the north coast of NSW producing heavy rain and strong winds for the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast area. A tornado smashed across the small township of Lennox Head on the morning of Thursday 3rd June producing extensive damage across the area.
* On the morning of Wednesday 30th June Sydney recorded 4.3C – the coldest June morning in 61 years. Richmond’s temperature fell to – 5C, the coldest June temperature yet recorded on site.
* A tornado associated with severe thunderstorm activity ploughed through the township of Moama, near Echuca, on the evening of Tuesday August 10th, producing minor damage across the area.
* Accumulated rainfall during the first week of December resulted in the development of major flood warnings across central and southern inland areas of NSW with several inland rivers in major flood. These included the Murrumbidgee River around Wagga, the Lachlan, Castlereagh and Macquarie Rivers. This is possibly the most widespread flooding event since 1974.
ACT
* Heavy rain fell across the ACT during the first week of December, with a total of 138.8 mm being recorded in Canberra from the 1st to 5th inclusive.
* In the 24 hours ending at 9am on 3rd December, 87 mm was recorded and then again, 32 mm was recorded in the 24 hours ending at 9 am on 9th December.
* Falling on top of an already saturated catchment, and combining with heavier falls from surrounding areas, theon the 8th and flooded across the surrounding countryside, producing significant inundation in Queanbeyan itself. It was estimated that this was a one in twenty year event.
Victoria
* Melbourne’s temperature peaked at 43.6C on Monday 11thJanuary.Many rural parts of Victoria experienced their highest temperatures since Black Saturday 7th February 2009, and several of these were January records.
* A severe thunderstorm struck Melbourne on the afternoon of Saturday 7th March, producing wind gusts in excess of 100 kph, flash flooding and large hailstones. Widespread damage was reported throughout the city and nearby suburbs with reports of transport and power dislocation.
* Widespread flooding occurred across much of Victoria during 4th to 12th September, mainly as a result of heavy rains across the state on Saturday 4th September. More than twenty separate rivers were in flood including major levels generated along the Goulburn and Avoca rivers. Flood peaks also travelled down the Murray River for the first time in several years. Further floods occurred around the Shepparton area during the first week of December.
Tasmania
* A powerful cold front swept across Tasmania on Thursday 16th September, producing snowfalls down to 300 metres, destructive winds and massive seas. Widespread power outages were reported across the state as wind gusts up to 120 kph brought down trees and powerlines. The wave rider buoy at Cape Sorell, on Tasmania’s west coast recorded a maximum wave height of 18.4 metres – believed to have been an Australian record.
South Australia
* Adelaide experienced 4 days in a row above 40C from Friday 8th to Monday 11th January
* A powerful cold front swept across south-eastern Australia on Sunday 1st August, producing a burst of strong and cold westerly winds, showers, thunderstorms and significant snowfalls. A destructive tornado was generated at Penola in South Australia by thunderstorm activity embedded in the front on the evening of Saturday 31st July.
* The Birdsville races were delayed on Saturday September 4th because of flooding from widespread rains across the area.
* A large line of thunderstorms blazed across South Australia on the afternoon of Tuesday 7th December, producing large hail, strong winds and flash flooding. Adelaide was battered with high intensity rainfall and received 70 mm of rain. This was a December record for a 24-hour rainfall, beating the previous mark of 61.5 mm set on 23rd December 1913.