A very laid-back front and a deep Southern Ocean low produced temperature
extremes and strong gusty winds across southern Australia today.
Although its parent 946hPa low is nearly south of Tasmania, the cold front
only crossed southwestern WA this morning giving Perth one of its coldest
days on record with a top of only 12.5C. East of the front, most of the continent
basked in well above July-average temperatures, as shown by the nearly black
colour on the IR satellite image. Maximum temperatures in SE WA and SW SA were
8 to 10 above average in the high 20s -- Eucla's top of 27.7 was just 0.6C
shy of their July record high.
The strong temperature gradient produced strong squally winds across
much of VIC, TAS, and southern WA, SA and NSW. Top gusts of 100km/h were reported
from the summit of Mount Lofty SA, and at Kilmore Gap and Dunns Hill near Mt
Dandenong VIC. Mt Hotham Airport VIC reported a top of 106km/h and the summit
of Mt Wellington TAS 128km/h.
In Tasmania the winds were at their strongest this evening. Scotts Peak Dam
in the state's southwest reported an average windspeed of 94km/h at
The gusty winds raised widespread dust on SA's Eyre Peninsula during the afternoon
and brought down trees and powerlines in Tasmania this evening. 1,200 homes
around Nubeena on the Tasman Peninsula east of Hobart were blacked out for
2 hours. 1,000 homes at Taroona and Mt Nelson in southern Hobart, and customers
in Beauty Point and Campbell Town in the state's north were also without power.
More detailed gust data is below.