Strange weather patterns cause of heatwave. 04 Jan 1990. “In Tasmania 40.8 degrees was recorded in Hobart in 1976 and at Bushy Park in the Central Highlands in 1945.” Not much fantasizing about climate 30 years ago. Today they pretend it’s never been hot in Tassy. “A record 53.1 degrees, at Mildura in Victoria in 1906.” Why would they be too scared to tell us this?
Strange weather patterns cause of heatwave (1990, January 4). The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 – 1995), p. 2. Retrieved February 1, 2020, from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/120870282?searchTerm=tasmania%20heatwave&searchLimits=#
SYDNEY: Unusual weather patterns combined to give much of eastern Australia a roasting yesterday, with NSW, Victorian and Queensland
country areas bearing the brunt of the abnormal conditions.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the high temperatures were caused by warm air from central Australia being “squeezed” between a low-pres-
sure ridge extending from South Australia to Tasmania and moist conditions on land.
The result was a top temperature of 48 degrees at Ivanhoe in NSW’s Far Central West at 3pm, 47 at Mildura in Victoria’s west and 41 at Alice
Springs in the Centre.
South Australia, which wilted under 40 degree heat on Monday — Ceduna on the border of South Australia and Western Australia registered
48 — was relatively cooler, with temperatures in
the low 30s.
Queensland recorded above average temperatures in its country areas, with Birdsville registering 44, Mt Isa 40 and Charleville 39 degrees.
But Brisbane’s temperature peaked at 30 degrees at 1.45pm which the bureau said was one degree above average and “rather normal for this
time of the year”.
Melburnians, already bedevilled with a transport strike, had the added hassle of high temperatures in traffic yesterday, though an afternoon
change promised some relief for the evening peak hour.
Melbourne hit 36.6 degrees at around 12.40pm as strong, hot northerly winds swept across Victoria.
The bureau said the city gained relief from the hot blast around 1pm, when a south-westerly sent temperatures down by 10 degrees in four minutes.
Temperatures in Australia’s centre reached 41 degrees, the 2pm highs recorded at both Alice Springs and the Yulara resort at Uluru.
Tennant Creek, in the Northern Territory’s Barkly region 500km north of Alice Springs, also recorded 40-degree temperatures.
Richmond, north-west of Sydney, reached 41 degrees, while Bankstown and Liverpool each recorded 39.
In Sydney the mercury managed only 30 degrees at Observatory Hill.
The rest of the state coped with temperatures ranging from 47 at Tibooburra, White Cliffs and Wilcannia in the Far North West to a “cool” 25
degrees in Ulladulla on the South Coast.
The bureau’s supervising meteorologist, Geert Evenhuis, said the weather pattern was unusual because temperatures and high winds were pre-
dominant in a large area of the country.
“It’s not common to have such a wide area affected by such high temperatures,” Mr Even-huis said.
He said similar conditions would affect the north-east of the state, the Central and Northern Tablelands and the Hunter Valley today, which
will also be affected by high winds.
Earthquake-stricken Newcastle, which suffered further problems on Monday from high winds, is expected to suffer more instability from high
winds today.
While the east roasted, in Perth the temperature was a pleasant 26.6 at 1pm and was not expected to climb much higher during the afternoon.
The bureau said the temperature was not uncommon for a Perth January which historically has about half of its days under 30 degrees.
Tasmania also escaped yesterday’s heatwave and heavy rainfall was recorded across the state.
The temperature in Hobart had barely reached the average January maximum of 21.5 degrees by 3pm when the weather had almost cleared.
Yesterday’s temperatures still fell short of the highest ever recorded at Bourke, in NSW’s Far West.
On January 17, 1877, the community sweltered in 52.8 degrees.
Other highest January temperatures across Australia were at Cloncurry in Queensland in 1889 with a record 53.1 degrees, at Mildura in Victoria in 1906 with 50.8, and at Eucla in the same year in Western Australia which recorded 50.7.
In South Australia, the highest recorded January temperature was at Oodnadatta with 50.7 degrees and in the Northern Territory at Finke on
48.3, both in 1960.
In the ACT in 1939, Canberra recorded 42.8 degrees while in Tasmania 40.8 degrees was recorded in Hobart in 1976 and at Bushy Park in
the Central Highlands in 1945.