The catastrophic Chile earthquake on Sunday 28th was followed by a Pacific tsunami warning being issued by Hawaiian control centre. The likelihood of a tsunami reaching our coastline was minimal but even so, as a precautionary measure, all east coast beaches were closed, especially to swimmers, surfers and anglers. However, despite all efforts by police and lifeguards it was difficult to enforce the order to the dismay of authorities and many swimmers and surfers were foolishly waiting for the ‘big one’.
The past week has again been the wet and muggy and we recorded 282mm of rain, with the heaviest falls occurring during the 48 hour period from 9am Monday when a total of 173 mm was measured. It has been an interesting week for meteorologists when three weather systems interacted with one another. The cause for some of our drenching was from a deep monsoonal low in a trough extending across southern Queensland bringing torrential rain and flash floods to the region. Winds were light and movement of the low was slow until Tuesday morning when an east coast low developed close to Fraser Island to intensify rainstorm activity. Winds increased to gale force due to the steep pressure gradient between the high in the Tasman Sea and the ‘east coast low’ off Fraser Island.
On Saturday 6th March we had another deluge when 109mm fell in a space of 18hours, causing flash flooding in many areas. The Baroon Pocket dam is full to capacity and closed to both swimmers and boaters.










