Sign in with Facebook
Shute Harbour Airlie Beach
The thrill of victory,Isa wins the flip flop toss
VTers eat, drink and be merry!
Whitehaven Beach Whitsundays QueenslandSunshine and sand.
Climate
The weather includes a rainy season (January thru March), although overall rainfall is about 1000mm a year. The number of rainy days is in the order of 80-100, fewer than most capitals in Australia, with only a few days of rain a month from May through November. More than 8 hours sunshine a day is the average.
Daily maximum temperatures peak just below 32 (Celsius) in November through March, with maximums in June and July around 25. Minimums are around 24 in the hot season, dropping down to around 15 during winter. It rarely gets below 10.
Some locals claim the figures are:
Maximum and minimum Temperatures in Celsius, then rainfall in millimetres
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
30.5 30.2 29.6 28.1 26.0 23.4 23.1 24.3 25.9 27.5 29.5 30.4
24.8 24.9 24.1 22.7 20.4 17.1 16.6 17.4 19.2 21.3 23.4 24.5
253 278 314 150 145 62 45 24 15 40 58 114
Others say average maximum, minimum, rainfall and days of rain
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
30 29 28 27 25 22 21 22 25 27 29 30
24 23 22 20 18 14 14 15 18 19 22 24
280 300 280 150 110 60 40 30 15 22 90 190
15 16 16 15 14 8 6 5 4 7 7 12
Tropical cyclones occur between December and April (when the ocean is warmest) in north Queensland. An average of almost three a year cross the Queensland coast, mostly travelling south west from the Coral Sea and then curving south east at 6-10 knots. They tend to last between 5 and 10 days. Cyclone Ada hit the Whitsundays on 17 January 1970. It was relatively small, about 20km across the eye, with winds gusting to 100-110kph, rising to 160kph on Hayman Island. Ian Mackay reports it lifted the roof of the Royal Hayman hotel, spoiling the caberet night. Hayman Island guests (346 reported) were evacuated to Townsville on the ore tanker Clutha Oceanic. South Molle caught the eye, cabins were wrecked, and one guest was killed and another seriously injured. Ada crossed the coast at Shute Harbour at 5 a.m. with 160 kph winds. At Airlie, the hotel and 85 homes were wrecked, and the town was cut off by flood waters. Proserpine was badly flooded, with half the town damaged.
Whitsunday Shire contains about 15,891 residents (2001), and increases by about 440 a year. Median age is 33, and 9% are over 65. Single households are 19%, couples are 25%, and 28% are couples with children. I have no idea what the missing 28% are (Martians?) There are real estate reports in mid 2002 of a population of 21,800, with Hamilton Island increasing by 36%, Airlie Beach by 20% and Cannonvale by 31%.
The major population areas are Proserpine, and the Whitsunday area (Cannonvale, Airlie Beach and Jubliee Pocket), each of which contain over 4,000 residents. There are several smaller communities, and a considerable rural population. Almost half the population live in rural and rural residential areas. Proserpine is a fairly typical small country sugar town, just off the main Bruce Highway, and holding the administrative center of the shire, as well as the sugar mill. It includes the railway station, and a major airport for the region is nearby (the Proserpine Airport has been renamed Whitsunday Coast Airport for tourist reasons).
