Charts of the Past with Blair Trewin
BAMOS July 2021
23
30 November 1934
The spring of 1934 was very wet in many parts of south-eastern Australia , particularly Victoria . Both October and November were the third-wettest on record for Victoria , and the combined October – November period was the wettest on record .
At the end of spring , a trough crossed eastern Australia , extending from south of Tasmania into Queensland . This stalled over Victoria on the 29th , with a surface low developing over Bass Strait . The system intensified overnight and was centred in eastern Bass Strait on the 30th , remaining near-stationary for the next day as strong southerlies developed on the western side of the low . The low then moved south-east , being centred east of Tasmania on the 2nd before moving away from the Australian region .
Extreme rainfalls developed on the western side of the low on the 30th and continued into the 1st . The focus of the heaviest rain was in a band which extended from the Dandenong Ranges south into South Gippsland . Most of this region received daily totals of at least 100 mm on the 1st , with peak totals exceeding 250 mm in both South Gippsland and the Dandenong Ranges . Hazel Park ( near Toora ) received 266.7 mm , and Sherbrooke 264.9 mm . Two-day totals reached 360.7 mm at Black Spur and 360.1 mm at Olinda . These totals were generally far above the next highest value on record ( for example , Korumburra ’ s 216.2 mm was well above their next highest total of 128.0 mm in more than 100 years of data ), and are the highest totals observed in the Melbourne region . Whilst totals were less extreme in central Melbourne itself , 58.4 mm on the 30th and 81.3 mm on the 1st makes up the city ’ s highest two-day total on record . There was also heavy rain in southern Tasmania , including a record daily total of 136.4 mm at Cape Bruny , but impacts there were limited .
Such heavy rainfall , on ground which was already unusually wet after the wet spring , resulted in major flooding . It is the highest flood on record in many parts of the Yarra ( although slightly below 1891 in the lowermost reaches ), with waters overtopping the Burke Road bridge ( which has since been elevated ) and inundating the Heidelberg gasworks . Several footbridges were washed away in the Studley Park area , and numerous properties were inundated , particularly around Heidelberg and Warrandyte . There was also major flooding and property inundation in suburban creeks , both within the Yarra catchment ( such as Moonee Ponds and Gardiners Creeks ) and elsewhere
( such as the Patterson River ). There was also substantial flooding in the Latrobe Valley , especially in Traralgon and Rosedale , in the upper Goulburn , and in South Gippsland . However , the most extreme flooding of all was in the Bunyip River , with Koo Wee Rup being totally inundated to a depth of 2 – 3 metres .
There were very strong winds on the western side of the low , with gusts to 101 km / h at Melbourne . The coastal steamer Coramba sank off Phillip Island with the loss of 17 lives . There was extensive wave and inundation damage in Port Phillip . Several piers were badly damaged and hundreds of boats were lost , waves reached houses in the western part of Brighton , and there were washouts on Beaconsfield Parade in Middle Park and Marine Parade in Elwood . Further inland , orchards were uprooted by high winds in the Bendigo area . The 30th was also a very cold day in a region extending from central Victoria to the Riverina . November records were set at Ballarat ( 7.2 ° C ) and Bendigo ( 9.2 ° C ), and a late-season record at Wagga Wagga ( 11.1 ° C ), while Melbourne only reached 13.4 ° C , and snow fell in highland areas .
36 lives were lost on land and at sea , 400 buildings were damaged and more than 6,000 made homeless . There were extensive stock and crop losses , with the potato crop in areas south-east of Melbourne especially hard-hit .
Synoptic chart for 0900 AEST , 30 November 1934