Big dry ends in hail, lightning and torrential rain: [1 All-round Country Edition]
Brendan O’Keefe, Additional reporting: Selina Mitchell, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 01 Mar 2007: 7.
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Abstract
Lightning strikes stopped trains on the South Coast line and forced the closure of a pedestrian bridge. More than a dozen international flights were delayed for more than an hour at Sydney airport when a storm hit shortly after 2pm. Just as congestion at the airport was clearing a second alert went out shortly before 5pm, causing more delays.
The storm arrived in Sydney after shutting down Canberra’s central business district with hailstones the size of golf balls and burying parts of the city in hail drifts up to two metres.
National Climate Centre climatologist Blair Trewin said the towns of Orbost and Sale had falls in the 70mm to 85mm range in the 24 hours to 9am yesterday.
Full Text
A SUMMER that brought 50 consecutive bushfire days in eastern Victoria ended with a flood watch for the same region yesterday as storms in southeastern Australia all but broke the big dry.
The storm system swept through Sydney yesterday afternoon, causing flash flooding and delays for people trying to travel by road, rail and air.
At Campbelltown, in the city’s southwest, a 52-year-old man was taken to hospital after being hit by lightning, while numerous cars were damaged and 19,000 homes and businesses were blacked out as thunderstorms dumped heavy rain on the city.
Lightning strikes stopped trains on the South Coast line and forced the closure of a pedestrian bridge. More than a dozen international flights were delayed for more than an hour at Sydney airport when a storm hit shortly after 2pm. Just as congestion at the airport was clearing a second alert went out shortly before 5pm, causing more delays.
The storm arrived in Sydney after shutting down Canberra’s central business district with hailstones the size of golf balls and burying parts of the city in hail drifts up to two metres.
Falls of 50mm to 100mm overnight Tuesday in Gippsland prompted flood watch advice from the weather bureau as flash floods sprung up in fire-cleared hillsides.
National Climate Centre climatologist Blair Trewin said the towns of Orbost and Sale had falls in the 70mm to 85mm range in the 24 hours to 9am yesterday.
Canberra received about 70mm in less than an hour, shutting down the Australian National University, the major shopping precinct and National Botanic Gardens, but only a few millimetres fell in the catchment area.
Sydney weather bureau forecaster Kenn Batt said rainfall for February was double the average for the month and said yesterday’s supercell was the “mother of all thunderstorms”.
Weatherwatch spokesman Anthony Cornelius said cooler air in the upper levels across southern Australia had led to higher storm activity than usual because rising hot air was hitting a cold ceiling, leading to heavy rainfall.
Nationwide, preliminary figures show it was the 10th warmest summer on record for maximum temperatures, Dr Trewin said.
Maximum temperatures were 0.6C above the normal of 34.3C.