VIC: Victoria turns on bravura display of fickle weather

AAP General News (Australia)
12-27-1998
VIC: Victoria turns on bravura display of fickle weather

By Bruce Atherton and Sue Green

MELBOURNE, Dec 27 AAP - Searing heat, icy blasts, thunderstorms, heavy rain - and even a
late "white Christmas" in the alps.

That's the weather extravaganza that's been turned on for Victorians in the past 72 hours.

Dust storms have hit the state's north-western Mallee district - and snow has fallen in the
north-eastern alps, Melbourne Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Terry Ryan said.

At Mt Hotham, Mt Buller and Falls Creek snow began falling at about 4am and by daylight
children were out throwing snowballs and riding toboggans.

At Wilsons Promontory, the southernmost point on the Australian mainland, wind gusts have
reached up to 92 knots - 170kph. A bushfire in a remote northern section burnt out 360
hectares of bushland before being brought under control.

While Christmas Day in Melbourne was the hottest on record since 1952, today's expected top
temperature of 17 degrees was nine below the average for late December.

Coupled with thunderstorms, heavy rain, and wind gusts up to 60kph in some south-eastern
suburbs, the state was experiencing unusually turbulent weather, Mr Ryan said.

"Previous summers haven't been as active as this one," Mr Ryan said.

"We've had several days of temperatures well into the 30s ... we've had humid air from the
north ... sea breezes (from the south) ... and we had a thunderstorm on Christmas Day which
went through southern Victoria, came down again, went out to sea and finally surged through
Victoria again on Boxing Day."

Mr Ryan said Melbourne was experiencing one of the coldest December periods on record, with
temperatures approaching the lowest December 27 temperature of 15 degrees in 1930.

The lowest December temperature recorded was 10.4 on December 12 in 1867.

"Today's expected temperature of 17 degrees is certainly low for this time of the year -
we're reaching record-setting temperatures," he said.

Meanwhile, yesterday's thunderstorms dumped 17 millimetres of rain on the Melbourne Cricket
Ground to wash out the cricket, while further east, at suburban Wheelers Hill, more than 40mm
was recorded. Similar falls were recorded in surrounding districts.

The wettest Boxing Day was 10 years ago, when 48.6mm fell across the city.

Mr Ryan said Melbourne was a notoriously fickle weather region because it was essentially a
"meeting place" for hot and cold climates.

"You've got hot inland continental air blowing from the north and cool maritime air coming
from the south and they seem to meet at Melbourne, particularly in summer," he said.

AAP ba/er/kr/de

KEYWORD: STORMS (CARRIED EARLIER)

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