Sunshine and Storm in Australia.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 413, 6 February 1890, Page 3

Sunshine and Storm in Australia.

LOSS OF LIFE IN QUEENSLAND. Melbovbnb, Jan, 22. The long eontinuanoe of tropical weather experienced in Melbourne during the last fortnight is without a precedent for the past fifteen years, the Met occasion of a eimiliae unbroken period of hot weather having been in January, 1875. Warm weather, with a glaring sun.thas now been continuous for ten days, while under normal conditions we rarely have more than four or five days at the outside of such weather without a break. The maximum temperature in the shade at the Melbourne Observatory on the 18lh instant was 95, on the 19th 101, on the 2Q;h 99 degrees, and yesterday it was 99 degrees, while the temperature in the sun yesterday, 156 degrees, was the highest experienced during the whole summer. To-day there are prosDeets of a change, and the sky is overcast, A feature of last week was the long period, some seven days, of absolute undimmed sunshine, the sky being a brilliant blue, without the semblance of a cloud. Ona consequence of the continuance of the hot days, and one which has increased the discomfort, has been that the earth has not had time between sunset and sunrise to cool to the extent that it otherwise would have done, so that the tern perature at night, as steadily increased. Thus on the 18th instant the lowest temperature was 61deg., on the 19»h it was 62deg., on the 20th it had increased to 70deg., while on Monday night it had increased to no less than 78deg. Strange to say, while this monotonous fine weather with increasing temperature has occurred in the southern part of Australia. Queensland and a large part of New South Wales have experienced an unusually heavy rainfall, large masses of rain clouds having travelled down from the equator. In some places, as much as Bin fell in twenty-four hours, and about 20in for a week. In many places disastrous floods occurred, the Clarence River, in New South Wales, for instance, rising over 40ft. There was loss of life near Gympie, in Queensland. The Glastonbury Creek is usually a shallow stream, but in consequence of heavy rains a huge wall of water 20ft high came down on the township of Glastonbury. Three houses were washed away. In one of the dwellings the occupants were a man named Coomber, a prospector, hiswife, and three children. Coomber managed, after getting into the stream, to catch hold of a tree, and cling to it, and next morning was found in that position bruised and exhausted. His wife and three ohildren were drowned.