Wirra Wirra, New South Wales

Wirra Wirra located at 31°01′25″S 143°07′19″ in Central Darling Shire is a remote rural locality and civil parish of Yungnulgra County in far North West New South Wales. .[1][2]

Landscape near the parish.

Geography

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The Parish has an arid landscape and is almost unpopulated, with less than two inhabitants per square kilometer.[3] . The nearest town is Whitecliffs 2 km to the north.

Climate

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The parish has extremely hot summers and mild winters. Summers would usually exceed 36 °C. Winters are usually around 17 °C. The annual average rainfall is 249.7 millimetres (9.8 in) which would make it a semi-arid climate except that its high evapotranspiration, or its aridity, makes it a desert climate. The parish has a Köppen climate classification of BWh (Hot desert),.[4]

Climate data for White Cliffs Post Office (1901-2012)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 48.6
(119.5)
46.9
(116.4)
44.1
(111.4)
37.9
(100.2)
31.9
(89.4)
28.0
(82.4)
28.8
(83.8)
33.0
(91.4)
39.5
(103.1)
41.7
(107.1)
45.0
(113.0)
45.8
(114.4)
48.6
(119.5)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 35.8
(96.4)
34.9
(94.8)
31.6
(88.9)
26.4
(79.5)
21.4
(70.5)
17.6
(63.7)
17.2
(63.0)
19.7
(67.5)
23.9
(75.0)
27.9
(82.2)
31.5
(88.7)
34.4
(93.9)
26.9
(80.4)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 20.9
(69.6)
20.4
(68.7)
17.2
(63.0)
12.4
(54.3)
8.2
(46.8)
5.3
(41.5)
4.1
(39.4)
5.6
(42.1)
9.0
(48.2)
12.9
(55.2)
16.4
(61.5)
19.2
(66.6)
12.6
(54.7)
Record low °C (°F) 12.1
(53.8)
8.8
(47.8)
7.2
(45.0)
2.6
(36.7)
−0.5
(31.1)
−2.3
(27.9)
−3.3
(26.1)
−1.7
(28.9)
0.2
(32.4)
2.0
(35.6)
3.4
(38.1)
6.8
(44.2)
−3.3
(26.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 27.7
(1.09)
27.1
(1.07)
23.8
(0.94)
15.4
(0.61)
20.8
(0.82)
19.0
(0.75)
18.2
(0.72)
15.4
(0.61)
15.0
(0.59)
23.2
(0.91)
19.2
(0.76)
25.1
(0.99)
249.7
(9.83)
Average precipitation days 3.0 2.8 2.5 2.2 3.4 3.7 3.8 3.4 3.0 3.6 3.1 3.0 37.5
Source: [5]

History

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The Parish is on the traditional lands of the Wandjiwalgu.[6][7] Aboriginal peoples.[8]

In 1838 Thomas Mitchell (explorer) travelled down the nearby Darling River. Charles Sturt passed through the Wandjiwalgu lands during 1845,[9] In 1861 the Burke and Wills expedition passed nearby.[10]

Opal was discovered in the adjoining parish during the 1890s.

References

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  1. ^ "Yungnulgra". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 30 July 2013.  
  2. ^ Historic map of Yungnulgra County.
  3. ^ NASA Earth Observations: Population Density”. NASA/SEDAC..
  4. ^ Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen–Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11 (5): 1633–1644. Bibcode:2007HESS...11.1633P. doi:10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007. ISSN 1027-5606. (direct: Final Revised Paper)
  5. ^ Climate statistics for Australian locations
  6. ^ David R Horton,Aboriginal Studies Press, AIATS and Sinclair Merz Knight 1996
  7. ^ Tindale, Norman Barnett (1974). Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names. Australian National University Press. p196.
  8. ^ David R Horton (creator), Aboriginal Studies Press, AIATSIS, and Auslig/Sinclair, Knight, Merz, 1996.
  9. ^ Sturt's Central Australian Expedition.
  10. ^ The Burke and Wills Expedition.