Pages

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Windy Down Here in Australia

Cyclone Isobel

Tropical Cyclone Isobel rapidly is closing in on Western Australia’s north-west coast. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology expected gusts of up to 100 kilometres (60 miles) per hour as far away as Broome, 500 kilometres to the north east, but said the category one tropical cyclone would weaken as it moved inland. However it said Isobel’s remains were likely to merge in the next 24 to 36 hours with a low pressure system in the state’s south west to create the biggest summer storm in years.

“The deep low is likely to cause widespread damaging winds, locally destructive, and could result in significant damage or destruction of property,” the bureau said in a statement.

“It’s … the perfect storm scenario,” forecaster Grant Elliott said.

The severe weather was likely to deluge the south coast with between 100 to 150 millimetres of rain as well as bringing destructive gales, he said.

“We’re expecting some quite exceptional winds on Thursday, perhaps reaching 100 to 120 kilometres per hour, so there’ll be localised damaging winds and the risk of quite significant livestock losses, with the combination of rain and wind producing hypothermia.”

Emergency services advised people living on the southern coast between Bremer Bay and Israelite Bay to secure loose objects and remain inside when the strong winds arrived.

Well I had wondered what had happened to the summer!

Digg it: source : at Techstickle Gay News and Views from and for Queer Aussies

No comments: