Climate
In the average winter the "1,000 metre snowline" sees most of the mountains with snow. In previous decades, Lake Margaret was the main long-term weather-reporting location, however the Mount Read automatic weather station now maintains extremes regularly reported on the Bureau of Meteorology website for extreme conditions. The rainfall records of Lake Margaret were on a par with Tully in Queensland for the highest rainfall in Australia. Approximations for the West Coast Range are made at 2800–3000 mm precipitation per year.
The prevailing weather is due to the location of the West Coast. It has no landmass shielding it from the Southern Ocean or Antarctic weather, and being in the Roaring Forties cold fronts and extreme weather are regular occurrences on the West Coast. The Cape Sorell Waverider Buoy which was initiated by the BOM in 1998 (there had been earlier testing buoys in the early 1990s) has given good indications of the behaviour of ocean swells to correlate with weather conditions.
Earlier weather records were kept for Queenstown and Zeehan. Due to change in population distribution and resources in the west coast, the main weather data is currently from Strahan Airport and Mount Read.
The Following BOM recorded locations are relevant to West Coast Range:
| BOM number | Location Name | Start Record | End Record | Southings | Eastings | Height | Comments | |||
| 097035 97 | Crotty | 1917 | 1929 | -42.2000 | 145.6000 | (Compare with Princess River and Lake Burbury Park) | ||||
| 097058 97 | DUNDAS | 1896 | 1917 | -41.8833 | 145.4333 | |||||
| 097002 97 | FARRELL SIDING | 1934 | 1948 | -41.7000 | 145.5500 | |||||
| 097003 97 | GORMANSTON | 1895 | 2000 | -42.0747 | 145.5986 | 380.0 | (Compare with West Lyell) | |||
| 097088 97 | LAKE BURBURY PARK | 1995 | 1996 | -42.0983 | 145.6733 | 245.0 | ||||
| 097006 97 | LAKE MARGARET DAM | 1912 | .. | -41.9939 | 145.5706 | 665.0 | ||||
| 097020 97 | LAKE MARGARET POWER STATION | 1945 | .. | -42.0056 | 145.5419 | 320.0 | ||||
| 097040 97 | MAGNET | 1906 | 1936 | -41.5000 | 145.4500 | |||||
| 097085 97 | MOUNT READ | 1996 | .. | -41.8444 | 145.5419 | 1119.5 | (Current Automatic Weather Station) | |||
| 097039 97 | MOUNT READ (MOUNT LYELL M.&R.) | 1901 | 1920 | -41.9000 | 145.5500 | |||||
| 097057 97 | PILLINGER | 1907 | 1924 | -42.3333 | 145.5333 | |||||
| 097033 97 | PRINCESS RIVER | 1948 | 1976 | -42.0833 | 145.6667 | 215.0 | (Compare with Crotty |and Lake Burbury Park) | |||
| 097034 97 | QUEENSTOWN (7XS) | 1964 | 1995 | -42.0967 | 145.5447 | 129.0 | ||||
| 097008 97 | QUEENSTOWN (COPPER MINE) | 1906 | 2005 | -42.0661 | 145.5681 | 191.0 | ||||
| 097068 97 | QUEENSTOWN AERODROME | 1968 | 1988 | -42.0769 | 145.5294 | 262.0 | ||||
| 097086 97 | QUEENSTOWN (UPPER PRINCESS CREEK) | 1995 | 1999 | -42.0833 | 145.5286 | 250.0 | ||||
| 097091 97 | QUEENSTOWN (SOUTH QUEENSTOWN) | 1996 | .. | -42.0972 | 145.5439 | 118.0 | ||||
| 097087 97 | TULLAH (MEREDITH STREET) | 1995 | .. | -41.7383 | 145.6108 | 167.0 | ||||
| 097056 97 | TULLAH MINE SITE | 1969 | 1978 | -41.7167 | 145.6333 | 183.0 | ||||
| 097046 97 | WILLIAMSFORD (LEVEL 5) | 1965 | 1971 | -41.8333 | 145.5167 | 853.0 | ||||
| 097015 97 | WEST LYELL | 1945 | 2003 | -42.0622 | 145.5794 | 421.0 | (On south west slope of Mount Lyell |
Main Source: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/how/sitedat.shtml
Read more about this topic: West Coast Range
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