After solid rain in many parts last week, Southern Tablelands residents and landholders weren’t expecting a dust storm to follow so quickly on its heels.
But high winds whipped up a storm of dust and in some areas near Yass and Goulburn visibility was reduced to a couple of kilometres on the weekend.
Rural Fire Service Southern Tablelands officer Daniel Osborne said the dust storm lasted well into Sunday afternoon, although a little rain in the Yass Valley helped dampen things down there a bit.
“We’ve had a few dust storms already this year, but the strong winds on Sunday whipped up a fair bit of dust,” he said.
“Around Goulburn visibility was reduced to a couple of kilometres.” There were gusts of over 70km/h recorded at Goulburn. Goulburn recorded about 30mm last week, a lot less than originally predicted – Moss Vale a bit further up the tablelands recorded 90mm.
Water storages in many properties remained at low levels despite the rain and feeding of livestock will go on for some time, Local Land Services said.
John Ellicott
journalist and author
journalist and author
