Maleny Weather

The Storm

9 – 14 April 2009

The complex synoptic pattern that brought The Storm to the region moved out to sea on Tuesday. It caused extensive flooding and damage to properties in low lying areas and left behind a big increase in major dam levels

The Storm filled MWS rain gauges with 162.8 mm of rain, bringing the month’s total to 421.8 mm. and well above the 117 year average of 180 mm.  

Maleny Weather

6 – 12 April 2009

Another wet week with very little change in the synoptic pattern we have been having over the past few weeks. An extensive high passing slowly through The Bight and a persistent trough line lingering inland continue to bring widespread humid south-easterly showers to the Ranges. Total rainfall for the week was 67.8 mm, bringing the month’s total to 307.6 mm, already well above the April average of 180 mm. The maximum April rainfall ever recorded at Maleny was in 1989 with 1052 mm. This was a month when rain depressions associated with ex-TC “Aivu”, brought flash flooding to the area and carried away Little Yabba Bridge on the Maleny / Kenilworth Road.

 Incidentally, the maximum daily April rainfall officially recorded at Maleny was 394 mm on April 19^th 1928

The Bureau of Meteorology’s New Director.

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Arts, the Hon Peter Garret, MP has announced the appointment of Dr. Greg Ayers as the Bureau’s new Director.

Dr, Greg Ayers will take up his new appointment on 25^th March 2009. Currently he is Chief of CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research managing a staff of 550 people, and has worked closely with the BOM on many research matters.

Recent heavy rain in the catchment areas has filled dams to 50 per cent capacity. The highest levels for four years.

The results of a cloud-seeding trial to break drought in south-east Queensland will be known by next month. Scientists are analysing the results of two seasons of cloud-seeding, which first started in December 2007. It involved 64 research flights to seed small storm clouds, in an effort to increase the amount of rain they produce. The $7.6m trial was run by the Climate Change Centre of Excellence, part of  the State Government’s Environmental Protection Agency. An EPA spokeswoman said about 130 clouds were seeded over Somerset and Wivenhoe dams catchment areas, two of Brisbane’s major water supplies.

An ice shelf the size of Jamaica is close to wrenching itself away from Antarctica in a disturbing effect of climate change, according to scientists. The European Space Agency said a century-old ice ‘bridge’ linking the massive ice-shelf to the continent appears to be on the verge of collapse. The ice umbilical cord tying the Wilkins Ice Shelf to two islands on the Antarctic Peninsular looks set to collapse, the ESA report said

Hot nights across south-east Queensland have been quietly setting records as the heavy rainfall takes all the news

Maleny Weather

// Evaporation tank overflows

The weather and its consequences has captured media headlines and been the major topic of conversation all week. Three different weather systems came together to give the south-east of the state an abnormal drenching. With an upper level trough overhead, an onshore moist airflow from the Coral Sea and a surface trough extending from a cold frontal system over NSW combined to bring greater instability in the atmosphere.

Worse hit areas were the low-lying areas around Coolum and Kin Kin, northwest of Noosa, where flash flooding caused devastation on the roads and surged through the township flooding properties.

A 78-year-old Kin Kin woman’s submerged car was found 500 metres downstream from Six mile Creek Crossing, near Kin Kin, where she had tried to drive through the crossing that had been washed away by a  metre deep floodwater. Her body was recovered the following day. The woman had been returning home after visiting her sick husband in hospital.

The highest official week’s rainfall was 504 mm at Pomona, and Maleny was in 9^th position with 254 mm.

The creeks are in full spate following  continuous rainfall that started at 3.00am on Thursday 2nd . Heaviest deluge was during a thunderstorm between 1.00pm to 1.30pm, when the rain gauges measured 64.8 mm. Rate of Fall peaked at 1.30pm with 199 mm/hour. Total rainfall at 7.30pm  is 134.4 mm and it is still raining.

March Summary 2009

The beginning of the month was hot and humid with little relief at night. Humidity was around 90 cent and temperatures in the high twenties and low thirties.  At times the Heat Exhaustion Index reached as high as 41ºC, dangerously high for the young and elderly. TC “Hamish” travelled down parallel to the coast at 17 kilometres an hour and by the 10^th while off Fraser Island became a tropical low. Fraser Island and low lying areas of coastline were evacuated as a precaution. Heavy seas and dangerous beach conditions prevailed along our coastline causing considerable erosion. The main casualty of the cyclone was a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship ‘Pacific Adventurer’. Heavy seas resulted in several of her upper deck containers full of ammonia nitrate being lost overboard. The containers pierced the side of the ship as they were washed overboard and released a considerable quantity of light and heavy oil into the sea. A big beach clean-up operation was necessary..

(This brings to mind the super tanker Torrrey Canyon disaster when she went aground in 1967 on the Seven Sisters reef, off Lands End, England. Over 100,000 tons of crude oil spilt into the sea, ending up on 100 miles of coastline on both sides of the English Channel)

 In the latter weeks of the month there was little change in the weather on the Range. A high of 1025hPa in the Tasman Sea and a deep low in the Coral Sea, for a short while became TC “Jaspin”and brought southerly maritime trade winds on to our shores. Days were dry and humid with temperatures in the mid twenties. It was not until Saturday that winds strengthened from an interaction between the high in the Tasman Sea and the ex-TC Jaspin and sunshine and showers, heavy at times, were the order of the day.

The month’s total rainfall was 224 mm, representing 69 mm below the 116 year March average. The all-time maximum was recorded in 1898 with 1289 mm, and the minimum in 1915 with 6.3 mm.