TOP OF PAGE Could this be the break for 2006? Not for everbody
but in my part of the ranges it just may turn out to be so. After nearly
2 months of boring stable weather an approaching system promised to
finally break the ice. Starting on the 25th an upper trough promised
a possible lightning show. Flash it did, but the line did not move any
closer than KI. I could see the flashes over the horizon from my location,
but nothing worth photographing. GPATS snippet below shows the line.
Then on the 26th
a rainband preceeding a tightly rotating upper low delivered
a nice heavy shower and by the morning of the 27th we had 15.75mm
in the gauge. Best falls though were as usual up north and further
west. The falls were amazing as can be seen from this snippet
from the Bureau's weather
notes.
The heaviest falls in the 24 hours to 9
am have been over the agricultural areas.
Noteworthy falls include 57 mm at Coulta, 56 mm at Yacka, 55 mm
at Stenhouse
Bay, 54 mm at Tanunda and 50 mm at both Coffin Bay and Greenock
But the deluge for some was not yet over!
During the day on the 27th a tightly rotating low
moving to the NE brewed a line of thunderstorms that hovered over the
mid north town of Spalding and dumped an amazing 94mm of rain over the
town. Falls just out of the town may have been even higher. A 3 foot
deep river of floodwater roaring down the main street of Spalding was
reported! Helen Simpson from Booborowie went over soon after the deluge
and captured these
amazing images. The radar image below shows the deluge that hovered
in this lcation for some time.
The Low continued
on its course NE and by the late evening a wraparound of sorts
returned rain from the ESE to the eastern Mt Lofty Ranges. By
the morning of the 28th I had a further 14.5mm in the gauge giving
a total for the system of just over 30mm.
Just for once Adelaide and the plains pretty
much missed most of the action with spots on the northern suburbs
lucky to get 5mm. The big winners were the agricultural areas
from the Mallee to the West coast.
The cool and
moist conditions continued in follow up from the system mentioned
above. The first half of april has been one small rain after another
ranging from 2 to 6mm falls. The longest dry break to the 15th
of the month has been just 48 hours. This has ensured the season
break and kept grass growing. In fact you could say that it has
been a normal
start to to season 2006! This time last year it was bone dry and
barely a drop of rain had fallen. On the 19th a series of fronts
bought some better 24 hour totals with over 30mm here in 4 days.
Highest 24 hour total recorded was just over 40mm at Myponga.
At this location I recorded 17.5mm as the best fall. This was
on the 20th. Pretty much most areas in Southern SA received some
rain continuing the "season break". One of the fronts
produced a particularly linear and narrow rain band. The radar
image (to right) is interesting.
Image to right - Radar Image from 19th and linear rain band
Yet another
Cat 5 Cyclone! 23-04-06
TOP OF PAGE What a cyclone season! Yet another category 5
cyclone over northern Australia. This one is callen "Monica"
and reached cat 5 status over the Gulf of Carpentaria.
IDDP0002
Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
Northern Territory
Darwin Regional Forecasting Centre
TOP
PRIORITY
TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 53
Issued by the BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY, DARWIN
At 7 am CST SEVERE TROPICAL CYCLONE Monica CATEGORY 5 was located
about 175
kilometres east northeast of Nhulunbuy, and 300 kilometres east
of Elcho Island,
moving west northwest at 8 kilometres per hour. The cyclone should
remain close
to its current intensity as it moves towards the west along the
north coast
during today.
The VERY DESTRUCTIVE core of SEVERE TROPICAL CYCLONE Monica with
gusts to 320
kilometres per hour may impact far north coastal regions
of Arnhem Land later
today.
Details of SEVERE TROPICAL CYCLONE Monica at
7 am CST:
. Centre located near...... 11.6 degrees South 138.3 degrees East
. Location accuracy........ within 30 kilometres
. Recent movement.......... towards the west northwest at 8 kilometres
per hour
. Wind gusts near centre... 320 kilometres
per hour
. Intensity................ CATEGORY 5
. Central pressure......... 925 hectoPascals
Updated images
Monica pretty much fell apart on crossing the coast!
Darwin itself was spared potential catstrophic damage. But she did cause
significant damage to tropical rainforest and isolated communities.
Have a look HERE
for just one incredible photo. Some other photos of the eye are below.
