Hervey Bay Gossip

The Bureau of Meteorology’s weather radar at Mt Kanigan near Gympie was turned back on today so that we can now have a more reliable picture of what the weather is doing here in Hervey Bay. The radar has been down for several months now while it was upgraded and those upgrades seem to have taken longer than anticipated.

However, it’s up just in time for the start of storm season and the forecast for the next three days is for possible thunderstorms.

If you’ve never visited the Mt Kanigan Radar’s web page you will find it at:

http://mirror.bom.gov.au/products/IDR083.shtml

It’s going to be another great weekend here in Hervey Bay.

Saturday we can expect a maximum of 25 and a minimum of around 13 and the relative humidity will be around 60%. Winds will be from the east and there’s a chance of a late thunderstorm.

Sunday is expected to be mostly cloudy with a top of 23 and a minimum of 14 with stronger winds again from the east.

The UV index is expected to be high on both days.

For further information and forecasts for right around Australia head over to http://www.weatherzone.com.au

After the storm here in Hervey Bay I doubt that there are many of us who will every take the weather for granted again. While the weather on the Sunshine Coast had been bad all day here in Hervey Bay it had stayed relatively calm but that changed in just one or two minutes.

Within moments of the wind springing up power lines and trees began to go down. The Esplanade at Torquay was blocked when a big tree fell across the road near Gringo’s, branches and trees large and small came down right across town, large signs were blown over and live power lines fell on Boat Harbour Drive.

Some areas of town were blacked out for four or five hours and downed trees and branches can still be seen in many parts of town.

While many trees were uprooted - as was to be expected due to the drought - many others were simply broken off some distance up the trunk.

This is all that’s left of the tree outside the Torquay Post Office and even the shelter afforded by the buildings didn’t save this one. Further along The Esplanade around Scarness trees with much thicker trunks fared not better.

While many damaged trees have no been cut up so that they can be removed on Monday there are still plenty of fallen limbs and trees along the bike path and around the Botanical Gardens too.

Some parts of town seemed to be harder hit than others and while there was plenty of leaf litter on the ground around the Pier precinct in Urangan there was little else to show that the storm had hit there.

Perhaps the most spectacular damage that we’ve been able to locate was at the new toilet block being built on The Esplanade between Scarness and Torquay. Fortunately the building had still to be commissioned at the time the storm hit.

While there has undoubtedly been plenty of damage around Hervey Bay fortunately it has been relatively minor and there is no doubt that the rain that came with the winds was definitely needed.

Here in Hervey Bay the water has remained fairly calm despite the strong winds. The heavy rain hasn’t had much of an impact either although water courses are flowing and flood pans are full.

Further south though things are a little different and it’s not uncommon for storms off Fraser Island to wash up unusual things along the coastline around Rainbow Beach. This time the storm washed up one Indonesian naval vessel and parked it well up the beach.

The Arung Samudera is a 35 metre three-masted sailing vessel and, while canny fishermen were sheltering in the lee of any shelter they could find, the Arung Samudera was trying to head south to Sydney for a date with next month’s Apec conference.

If the history of previous groundings on that stretch of coastline are anything to go by then the future for the Arung Samudera may not be all that bright.

You can find a news photo of the vessel on the beach here.

Hervey Bay has now begun to feel the effects of the severe weather that has been looming for several days.

At 3.10pm today the Weather Bureau updated it’s Severe Weather Warning to advised that the low pressure system that is helping to generate this weather is now located east of Fraser Island and continues to move slowly northwards.

Damaging wind gusts to 90 km/h are expected in coastal areas between Redcliffe and Fraser Island and large seas will continue to affect Queensland’s Southeast Coast District and the east coast of Fraser Island.

A Storm Force Wind Warning is in effect from Sandy Cape to Double Island Point with SE winds of 35/45 knots reaching 40/50 knots at times in open waters. Seas will reach 4 to 5 metres on a 4 metre swell.

The State Emergency Service advises people in the affected areas to avoid open waters, secure loose outdoor items and to beware of fallen trees and powerlines. If emergency assistance is required the SES can be contacted on 132 500

At 3.10am this morning the Weather Bureau renewed its Severe Weather Warning for the South East Coast District, Fraser Island, the eastern Darling Downs and the Granite Belt District.

For Fraser Island we can expect large seas to develop along the coast today with damaging wind gusts to 90 km/h expected later today.

Storm Force SE winds of 35 to 45 knots in open waters are expected to spread north to Sandy Cape early this morning along with seas rising to 4 to 5 metres with and easterly swell increasing to 4 metres.

At 11.15pm last night the low pressure system that is at the heart of this weather was located east of the Sunshine Coast.

At 3.35 this afternoon the Weather Bureau updated its Severe Weather Warning. Large seas and damaging wind gusts to 90 km/h are expected to begin to affect the Sunshine Coast and Fraser Island tonight and continue into tomorrow.

This severe weather is being caused in part by a small low pressure system that is currently located east of North Stradbroke Island.

Residents in the affected areas are reminded to say clear of open water, secure loose outdoor items and beware of fallen trees and powerlines.

The Bureau will update this warning at around 9pm tonight.

The Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology at 9.20am this morning issued a Severe Weather Warning for people in the Southeast Coast District, Fraser Island, the eastern Darling Downs and the Granite Belt.

For Fraser Island and Hervey Bay we can expect damaging wind gusts to 90km/h developing late today. These will be caused by a low pressure system that has developed to the southeast of Coolangatta and will spread to the north. Already severe wind gusts up to 109km/h have been recoreded at Byron Bay.

The State Emergency Service advised people to stay clear of the water, secure loose outdoor items and to beware of fallen trees and powerlines.

The Courier Mail is currently warning readers to be prepared for a storm with the intensity of a Category 1 Tropical Cyclone.

After two months with little or no rain here in Hervey Bay it was nice to hear the first drops on the roof last night and it was even better to wake up this morning and find that it’s still raining. And seeing people walking on the beach with their umbrellas up was wonderful.

While the rain tends to dampen things a bit at the best Hervey Bay cafe I’m sure the crew at Aquavue won’t mind the rain either.

Unfortunately the current showers are forecast to clear later in the day but return sometime tomorrow.

While

The weather radar that so many of us here in Hervey Bay use to see what is going to happen with the weather will be switched off on July 10. The Bureau of Meteorology’s Mt Kanigan Radar will be switched off for a period of around six weeks while new radar equipment is installed.

If you can’t live without your daily fix of weather radar during that time then coverage for Hervey Bay will be provided by the 256 km Gladstone Radar. If you live further south towards Gympie you will find some coverage of your area will be provided by the 256 km Brisbane (Mt Stapylton) Radar. That radar provides coverage as far north as Tiaro.