Maleny Weather

The outlook is for thickening high cloud to develop from the west during Monday ahead of a developing upper level trough with the possibility of some light showers.

The upper trough is likely to intensify on Tuesday bringing a belt of rain and isolated thunderstorms across the southern parts of the state. Also it is possible for the upper trough to produce significant rain areas over south-eastern Queensland from Tuesday through towards the end of the week. Eventually, a surface low is likely to develop during Wednesday near the southern Queensland coast. This could lead to areas of much heavier rainfall with strong winds along the coast and nearby inland, along with increasing swells and dangerous beach conditions.

Two high pressure systems, one in The Bight and the other in north Tasman Sea were responsible for the light winds and dry conditions on the Range. Lack of cloud cover overnight to trap the warmth of the day meant cooler nights and duvet weather. An upper level trough moved through the region with a little high level cloud that soon dissipated in the dry stable air conditions. An inland surface trough that could have brought a little precipitation to our region moved farther north. There has been no rain recorded at Maleny for ten days.

Unusually powerful mudslides and avalanches have killed at least 18 people, including seven children, in the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan this month, according to official reports. Tajikistan, is a former Soviet republic which plunged into civil war almost as soon as it became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Landslides happen every year in Tajikistan but they were stronger than usual this spring due to very heavy rainfall. That has added hardship to the mountainous nation of seven million already hit hard by the global economic downturn.

One such mudslide swept through the central streets of the capital, Dushanbe, last week, causing panic but no casualties

Somalia is undergoing its worst drought in a decade, with cattle dying from lack of water and growing numbers of children being propelled into near-famine conditions. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia said yesterday that some 3.2 million Somalis—some 45 per cent of the population—and 24 per cent of children under five, in some parts, are suffering from malnutrition.

An estimated 19 million people in the Horn of Africa are in urgent need of food aid. Drought and high local food prices have left 12 million people in Ethiopia and another 3.5 million in Kenya short of food supplies.