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 Bushfires
blaze in NT Top End
Four major blazes in the NT Top End threatened homes and damaged property
today. Fanned by gusty, dry southeasterlies, the fires raced through
tinder-dry grass in Darwin's east, on Cox Peninsula to the west of the
city and near Litchfield National Park to the south.
Two fires burnt out of control for several hours at Marlows Lagoon and Virginia
in Darwin's eastern suburbs, threatening 30 homes and several businesses, and
destroying half a home in Virginia. Fires were also reported on Cox Peninsula,
west of Darwin, and at Twin Hills Station near Litchfield National Park, about
120km south of Darwin.
Cold
pool brings hail, snow and storms to NSW
An upper cold pool moved slowly NE through central VIC into the NSW
SW Slopes and Southern Tablelands today bringing storms, hail, snow and unusually
cold daytime temperatures. Both Cootamundra and Young in NSW reported
midday temperatures of just 5.0°. Heavy but small hail was reported widely
across the state's southeast, with accumulations of up to 2cm. The hail is
thought to have been responsible for a 15-car pile-up on the Hume Freeway
between Mittagong and Marulan. Heavy snow was reported falling late afternoon
on Mt Canobolas near Orange and at Oberon. Snow was also reported late evening
at Cooma and on Mt Gibraltar, Mittagong. Thunderstorms were reported throughout
the day from the NSW South Coast north to the QLD Central Coast in a broad
low pressure trough. At Beerburrum, 60km north of Brisbane, 24.4mm was recorded
in the two hours to 6pm.
Low
temperature continues in NT
Cold temperatures, both by day and night, continued to dominate NT
weather. Most of the Territory away from the north coast recorded
both miminum and maximum temperatures 6° or more below average, with
many locations reporting minima around 10 below. Ali Curung, 150km south
of Tennant Creek, broke the new September record for cold that it set 3 nights
ago with a reading of 4.6, while Tindal RAAF, near Katherine, comprehensively
demolished its admittedly short 13-year record September low of 11.5 with
a reading of 8.7. |
