Central Australia hit by strong winds and heavy rain by Rob McElwee
The city of Alice Springs in Central Australia was cleaning up on Tuesday after heavy rain and dust storms brought down trees and cut power lines. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said that a very active line of storms had been sparked by a cold front moving across the southeast of the country. The storms followed heavy rain that has been lashing southeast Queensland and New South Wales over the weekend.
Winds in Alice Springs reached 75mph (120kph), leaving more than 4500 homes and businesses without power. Further north, warnings have been issued for the coastline bordering the Gulf of Carpentaria, with strong winds expected to develop through Wednesday.
Australia’s weather systems normally come up from the Southern Ocean, but typically die out as they hit Adelaide and the other cities along the coast. This particular system was very active, and therefore was able to travel further inland. From Wednesday, the weather is expected to become more settled with high pressure dominating, resulting in sunny and dry conditions.
