Liawenee

Liawenee
Tasmania
Liawenee
Coordinates 41°53′58.92″S 146°40′9.84″E / 41.8997000°S 146.6694000°E / -41.8997000; 146.6694000Coordinates: 41°53′58.92″S 146°40′9.84″E / 41.8997000°S 146.6694000°E / -41.8997000; 146.6694000
Population 303 (2011 census - Miena Dam incl. Liawenee)[1]
Established 11 June 1920
Postcode(s) 7030
Elevation 1,065 m (3,494 ft)
Location 122 km (76 mi) NNW [2] of Hobart
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall
12.2 °C
54 °F
1.6 °C
35 °F
1,037.8 mm
40.9 in

Liawenee (/l.əˈwni/) is a small town in Tasmania, Australia built near Great Lake and the River Ouse, and was established on 11 June 1920. The town is known for its fishing at nearby Great Lake and hosts several fishing events.[3]

Liawenee and surrounding Miena Dam experience annual mean maximum temperatures of 12.6 °C (54.7 °F)[4] and 10.1 °C (50.2 °F)[5], respectively, and are, thus, amongst the coldest permanently inhabited places in Australia; irrespective of Miena Dam Liawenee is colder on this metric than notable mainland sites of a similar elevation such as Nimmitabel (15.6 °C (60.1 °F))[6] and Cooma (19.4 °C (66.9 °F))[7] as well as Thredbo village (13.5 °C (56.3 °F))[8] – a station of considerably greater elevation (1380m AMSL). Within Tasmania, only the uninhabited summits of Mount Wellington (Kunanyi) and Mount Read record lower annual mean maximum temperatures (7.8 °C (46.0 °F)[9] and 8.7 °C (47.7 °F)[10], respectively) although other mountains of Tasmania that currently lack weather stations are very likely to also experience similar or colder conditions.

Origins

Liawenee's name was derived from a Tasmanian Aboriginal word meaning "frigid".

This photo was taken in 1920 during the early days of encampment. Most people lived in tents and there were only a few wooden, more sturdy buildings.

It was founded in June 1920 as a camp for the workers at the nearby hydroelectric undertaking as well as some other towns such as Miena. In its humble beginnings, the population consisted entirely of the workers at the hydroelectric plant and their families; the houses were wood and canvas.[11] In this time, the camp boasted three cottages where married couples lived, and a so-called hospital that was only twice the size of a house, making it more of a first-aid clinic. The original layout included blacksmiths, bakeries and a chaff store which made up the requirements for a workforce making it a work camp rather than a village. During the Second World War the town became much larger, but settlers consisted mainly of men who were paid for their work yet could find no place to spend the money, nor a place to deliver mail.[12]

The first Liawenee Post Office opened on 1 October 1919 and closed in 1922. The second opened on 2 February 1948 but closed in 1953.[13] At present, Liawenee consists of a police station and several buildings.

Geography

Liawenee is located along the Lake highway among the central Tasmanian mountains. The mountains surrounding Liawenee include Split Rock, Willow Run Hill, Headlam Hill and McDowall Hill, with the latter being the tallest. It is known as the twelfth-highest locality in Tasmania and the nearest beach is 100 kilometres (62 miles) west-south-west from Liawenee's centre. The rough terrain suits bush-walking and mountain biking, except during winter, and the nearest populated area is Miena, about 13 km south. The section of the highway to Miena was sealed during 2015.

Climate

Owing to its high-elevation location in the far south of Australia, Liawenee's climate is on the border between an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) and a subpolar oceanic climate (Köppen Cfc). February temperatures range between 5 °C (41 °F) and 18 °C (64 °F), which is colder than most mainland Australian winters south of about Geraldton in Western Australia.[14] Even though summers are cool to mild, occasionally a northerly wind causes temperatures to climb into the mid- to high twenties but rarely into the thirties. The coldest day on record was on 9 July 1997, when the temperature did not rise above −2.0 °C (28.4 °F). A record low of −12.1 °C (10.2 °F) was recorded at Liawenee on the morning of 9 July 2013. Days below 10 °C (50 °F) have been recorded in summer, with the coldest day in summer being 6 °C (43 °F), recorded on 8 January 1994.[15] The town spends an annual average of only 0.7 days above 30 °C (86 °F) but in contrast spends 210.2 days below 2 °C (36 °F), with 142.4 below freezing.

There are about 136 cloudy days a year, which peaks in July at 16 days and drops to an average of 8 days in January. There are about 182 days of measurable precipitation each year. The humidity is high but the lack of warm weather means that it rarely becomes uncomfortable. The annual mean 9am humidity is 82% and the annual mean 3pm humidity is 67%.

Climate data for Liawenee
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 32.3
(90.1)
31.2
(88.2)
28.6
(83.5)
22.9
(73.2)
20.1
(68.2)
14.5
(58.1)
12.0
(53.6)
17.1
(62.8)
18.5
(65.3)
23.6
(74.5)
27.4
(81.3)
31.2
(88.2)
32.3
(90.1)
Average high °C (°F) 18.9
(66)
18.4
(65.1)
16.1
(61)
12.3
(54.1)
9.0
(48.2)
6.6
(43.9)
5.6
(42.1)
6.5
(43.7)
9.0
(48.2)
11.9
(53.4)
15.2
(59.4)
16.4
(61.5)
12.2
(54)
Average low °C (°F) 5.4
(41.7)
5.2
(41.4)
3.8
(38.8)
1.8
(35.2)
0.2
(32.4)
−1.0
(30.2)
−1.6
(29.1)
−1.3
(29.7)
−0.5
(31.1)
0.7
(33.3)
2.8
(37)
3.9
(39)
1.6
(34.9)
Record low °C (°F) −3.9
(25)
−3.6
(25.5)
−6.9
(19.6)
−7.7
(18.1)
−10.5
(13.1)
−11.2
(11.8)
−12.2
(10)
−11.1
(12)
−10.7
(12.7)
−7.9
(17.8)
−6.8
(19.8)
−4.5
(23.9)
−12.2
(10)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 51.7
(2.035)
36.9
(1.453)
64.8
(2.551)
65.0
(2.559)
90.8
(3.575)
103.7
(4.083)
113.9
(4.484)
133.5
(5.256)
115.1
(4.531)
74.6
(2.937)
61.7
(2.429)
61.7
(2.429)
973.4
(38.323)
Average rainy days 9.8 9.4 12.2 13.3 16.5 17.7 19.8 20.8 18.0 16.4 13.8 13.2 180.9
Mean monthly sunshine hours 297.6 245.8 235.6 180.0 139.5 105.0 120.9 161.2 201.0 232.5 261.0 272.8 2,452.9
Source: Bureau of Meteorology[15]

References

  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Miena (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 27 January 2016. Edit this at Wikidata
  2. "Information about Liawenee(7030) in Tasmania". Myboot.com.au. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
  3. "Liawenee Open Weekend — Fishing Tasmania". Fishingtasmania.net. 1999-02-22. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
  4. "Climate statistics for Australian locations: Summary Statistics Liawenee". Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  5. "Climate statistics for Australian locations: Summary Statistics Miena Dam". Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  6. "Climate statistics for Australian locations: Summary Statistics Nimmitabel". Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  7. "Climate statistics for Australian locations: Summary Statistics Cooma". Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  8. "Climate statistics for Australian locations: Summary Statistics Thredbo Village". Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  9. "Monthly mean maximum temperature, Kunanyi (Mount Wellington Pinnacle)". Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  10. "Monthly mean maximum temperature, Mount Read". Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  11. "Liawenee". National Library of Australia. 11 June 1920. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-09-30. Retrieved 2009-12-29. The developing Tasmanian mountain towns
  13. Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  14. Once you are in this site Ctrl F liawenee to locate my source
  15. 1 2 "Climate statistics for Liawenee". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
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