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SIGNIFICANT WEATHER - NOVEMBER 2001
Many places in Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and the Northern Territory recorded their highest monthly rainfalls on record with many stations reporting highest daily rainfalls on record. A number of places reported severe thunderstorms, damaging winds and hail. Seasonal bushfires continued to burn in the Northern Territory with fires in parts of Queensland near the Gulf fuelled by heavy growth over several year making it one of the worst fire seasons in memory.
Western Australia An Indian Ocean low was named tropical cyclone Bessi on the 27th near 8oS 94oE about 560 kilometres northwest of Cocos Island. Bessi moved in a general southwesterly direction and did not affect any island communities. Bessi moved west of 90oE on the 30th entering the Mauritius/La Reunion area of responsibility and was renamed tropical cyclone Bako.
Queensland On the 7th a squall line developed east of an inland trough and moved across the Southeast Coast and southern Wide Bay and Burnett districts. A 93 km/h wind gust was recorded at Oakey and a tornado was observed near Grandchester. Damage included a house which was unroofed at Jimboomba and several small 5 metre trees brought down in Ipswich. On the 9th a band of rain and thunderstorms moved across the eastern Darling Downs and the Southeast Coast district. A storm which produced 50mm of rain in an hour at Oakey went on to produce 80mm of rain in 30 minutes at Crow's Nest. A mini-tornado was reported to have unroofed a shed and caused other building damage at Clifton in the eastern Darling Downs. On the 11th widespread storms developed across all three districts east of a surface trough over eastern Queensland and in the wake of a clearing rain band. The most intense storms occurred in the Capricornia district, with separate large supercells affecting areas just west of Biloela (at about 3:30pm) and Gladstone (at about 6pm) respectively. Hail 3cm in diameter and wind damage was reported from the Marlborough area. Wind damage mostly to trees and heavy rainfall also occurred in the Southeast Coast district. Some building damage occurred near Warwick in the southeastern Darling Downs. On the 16th a line of storms produced a 106 km/h wind gust at Cannington Mine AWS (in the North West district, about 150 km southeast of Mt Isa). On the 18th storms formed east of a trough over the Maranoa and Warrego district and moved into eastern Queensland. Most of the stronger storms occurred near the southeast border where trees were uprooted, buildings unroofed, and walls blown over at a farm near Maroon. Also on the same day a 90 km/h wind gust was recorded at Roma during the evening. On the 19th widespread showers and storms developed over eastern Queensland as the trough system from the previous day continued its eastward movement, while a strong southerly change moved northward from New South Wales. The strongest storms occurred in the Capricornia district which affected the Rockhampton and Gladstone areas. Trees were uprooted, power lines brought down, and minor building damage was sustained in Rockhampton, Gracemere, and Gladstone. On the 26th storms developed east of an inland trough over the Darling Downs and southern border ranges. Worst affected were the Maryvale and Gatton areas respectively. Heavy rain occurred in Maryvale and there were reports of minor flooding in the Deverton/Gatton area. Minor tree damage was also reported from Crow's Nest. On the 27th afternoon and evening storms occurred across eastern Queensland which moved up the coast from northern New South Wales. A strong storm developed on the southern border ranges and moved northeast towards Beaudesert, eventually merging with a line of storms moving east from the Darling Downs to form a squall line which moved northeast across the Southeast Coast district. The line continued to develop northwards and ultimately moved through both the Wide Bay and Capricornia districts as well. Gusty winds and heavy rainfall were the predominant effects of the storms, hail up to 10 cent piece size was reported from some Brisbane suburbs and the Nanango area. Tree and power line damage was reported from northern Brisbane suburbs, and some tree and building damage from Rockhampton. Minor flooding was also fairly widespread in the Brisbane area. New South Wales On the 7th just south of Minnie Water (Northern Rivers) very heavy rain occurred which flooded carports. At Graman Peak (near Delungra, North Western Slopes) 5cm hail was reported. On the 18 th at Wisemans Ferry (Hunter) 3cm hail was reported. At Narrabri (North Western Slopes) a 150km/h gust was recorded and 3cm hail occurred at Bundarra. At Careel Bay (Metropolitan) a tornado was reported near Avalon. At Nelson Bay (Hunter) strong winds and a tornado damaged homes and trees in the Nelson Bay area. At Penrith,Richmond and Horsley Park (Metropolitan) severe winds damaged homes across Western Sydney. At Mudgee (Central Tablelands) a 135km/h gust was recorded at Mudgee. At Ben Lomond (Northern Tablelands) 2cm hail was reported. In Canberra small hail fell in the northern suburbs on the afternoon of the 18th. On 19th at Lismore (Northern Rivers) 2cm hail was reported in the area. On the 23rd at Gunnedah (North Western Slopes) 2cm hail was reported in Gunnedah area. On the 24th at Walcha (Northern Tablelands) and Tamworth (North Western Slopes) 5cm hail was reported. On the 26th at Ultimo (Metropolitan) 2.5cm hail was reported in Sydney Metro area. On the 30th at Coonabarabran (Central Western Slopes) 4cm hail occurred. Victoria On the 12th a tornado was observed near Port Melbourne. Tree damage was reported and 2 cars were damaged by a light pole. On the 13th a tornado was observed at Aspendale. Damage occurred to over 20 buildings. Tasmania Thunderstorms in and around Hobart on the 24th caused power disruptions and flash flooding. Western Australia On the 7th a severe thunderstorm producing golf-ball size hail caused damage to the northern Goldfields town of Laverton. Hail to the size of a ten cent piece stripped trees in a 4 kilometre wide path through scrubland on the Gascoyne property of Yarrabubba southeast of Meekatharra. On the 16th severe thunderstorms caused damaging hail the size of golf balls at Hyden and Narembeen in the Wheatbelt flattening crops and causing significant property damage. On the 18th severe thunderstorms in the evening struck many parts of the northern and central Wheatbelt with marble to golfball size hail destroying crops from as far north as Eneabba, Carnamah and Wubin south to Wongan Hills and Dowerin. On the 18th/19th thunderstorms in the Perth metropolitan area overnight caused power outages and property damage. The worst affected area was in the northern suburb of Ridgewood where damaging localised winds affected more then 25 houses. On the 30th severe thunderstorms produced golf-ball sized hail and damaging winds that flattened crops and damaged sheds, silos and houses near the northern wheatbelt town of Mukinbudin. Northern Territory On the 1st a 107 km/h wind gust was recorded at Howard Springs (25 km east of Darwin) in an afternoon thunderstorm downburst. The storm felled trees and fences and produced 1cm in diameter hail at Palmerston. On the 2nd, a 122 km/h wind gust was recorded at Noonamah (35 km southeast of Darwin) in an afternoon thunderstorm downburst. Boats were rolled along the beach by wind squalls at Bynoe Harbour, causing five thousand dollars worth of damage to boat motors. Also on the 2nd, a 106 km/h wind gust was recorded at Yulara in an afternoon thunderstorm squall line. On the 4th, a late afternoon thunderstorm downburst at Geriatric Park, near Finniss River produced wind gusts estimated at 120-140 km/h, with 5-13mm in diameter hail resulting in damage. An early evening squall line produced wind gusts of 102 km/h in Darwin Harbour, 91 km/h at Lee Point and gusts estimated at 100 km/h at Bynoe Harbour. Many boats broke moorings in Darwin Harbour. Two yachts were thrown onto rocks, an Indonesian fishing boat sank and the Darwin Duchess ferry ran aground. Trees were uprooted, shade cloths torn down and power blackouts of 1 to 2 hours were reported in many Darwin suburbs. On the 6th, an evening supercell thunderstorm produced hail 25mm in diameter on the ground at Bulla on Bond Springs Station (northwest of Alice Springs) and winds felled trees at the station homestead. On the 7th, an evening supercell thunderstorm passed just south of Alice Springs, felling trees at Orange Creek Station and an 87 km/h wind gust was recorded in a thunderstorm downburst at Yulara. On the 16th, an early evening squall line produced severe winds at Palmerston, Berry Springs and Coolalinga. On the 18th, severe winds associated with afternoon thunderstorms caused some damage near the Tindal RAAF base. On the 20th, an early evening squall line produced wind gusts of 128 km/h at Noonamah and 130 km/h to a yacht in Cullen Bay Marina, Darwin. Trees were felled and minor damage to roofs was reported around the Noonamah roadhouse. Damage to buildings also occurred in the Darwin city and wharf area (a man was injured when a partly constructed wall collapsed onto an adjacent building). A stack of shipping containers was toppled into Darwin Harbour at Perkins Wharf and an empty water tank was blown across the Stuart Highway in Darwin city.
Victoria On the 18th strong to gale force winds occurred in the Central district. Fawkner Beacon recorded a gust of 95 km/h. Trees and buildings were damaged. South Australia In the early morning of the 23rd wind gusts of 91-93 km/h were recorded at Marree Airstrip (Northeast Pastoral). No damage occurred. Western Australia On the 29th/30th strong easterly winds overnight damaged several houses in Perth's southeastern suburbs of Gosnells and Armadale and fanned several fires around the metropolitan area. The strongest recorded gust was 107 km/h at Gooseberry Hill.
Queensland The first significant river rises for this wet season commenced in the latter half of November. Localised rises were reported in various rivers including the lower Belyando, Dawson, Balonne, Thomson, Alice and Paroo Rivers. On the 25th November, heavy rainfalls in the upper Macintyre River catchment in New South Wales subsequently caused moderate flooding downstream to Goondiwindi where a peak of 7.9 metres was reached on the 29th. Minor flooding was continuing downstream of Goondiwindi at the start of December. Tasmania Flooding was recorded at Deloraine showgrounds on the 25th. Flash flooding affected Launceston on the 26th which resulted from heavy rain from a thunderstorm.
Queensland Grass fires burnt all month to the north east of Croydon. A heavy grass build up due to several good seasons in a row in the area plus early starts to these wet seasons (preventing the usual removal of the grass build up through burning off) were blamed for producing one of the worst fire seasons in memory in the area On the 1st a large, deliberately lit bushfire almost destroyed an electrical substation in the Caboolture area. Another fire in the Lagoon Creek area near Cambooya destroyed 240 hectares. A further 75 hectares were burnt out in the Bundaberg area. On the 2nd hot, dry and gusty conditions experienced in south east Queensland on 30th October continued into early November, with only very slight moderation with each passing day. Fires that started in October continued to burn into November, with some new fires igniting as well. Fires continued to burn at Mapleton and Tinbeerwah in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Five fires covering more than 6,000 hectares were burning in inaccessible country around Crows Nest in the eastern Darling Downs. Several other fires were reported around Ipswich, Mackay, Gladstone,Gayndah and Mt Cotton (Brisbane), while a large fire was burning in inaccessible bushland in the Goomburra State Forest. New fires broke out at Cooyar (Darling Downs) and in the Witta/Conondale area to the north west of Maleny (Sunshine Coast Hinterland), the latter threatening several dozen rural homes. On the 3rd a burn off, which escaped on 30th October in the Biloela area, was bought under control. About 60 hectares of land was affected, but no damage was reported. On the 9th a fire near Biloela affected about 50 hectares of land, however no property damage was reported. New South Wales Early and mid November saw a continuation of the prolific bushfire activity experienced in October. A large number of fires continued to burn with one fire exceeding 7,500 hectares and another almost 5,000 hectares. The total area burnt to date for November was 19,244 hectares. South Australia A fire which is believed to have been started by a lightning strike threatened several houses in the Carrickalinga area on the Fleurieu Peninsula, south of Adelaide. The fire threatened several houses and burnt about 3 hectares of grassland in steep country. Northern Territory Lightning caused around 40 fires in the Barkly district during the second week of November with significant fire activity continuing for a further 2 weeks. Fires caused losses of 20- 40% of pasture in Alroy Downs and Brunette Downs stations, an area of over 3,000 square kilometres. Large fires also affected Jervois and Tarlton Downs, with over 1,000 square kilometres burnt, and fires also occurred on Newcastle Waters, Ucharonidge and Rockhampton Downs stations.
Large fires affected remote areas in the Tanami and Simpsons deserts during the last two weeks of the month. At least 1,000 square kilometres was burnt in the Simpsons desert, with one fire front travelling around 40 km in one day.
Note: Some statistical records mentioned in this report are based on data that have yet to be fully validated.
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