Salmon Gums is a small town in Western Australia located 106 km north of Esperance on the Coolgardie-Esperance Highway. The name is derived from a prominent stretch of Eucalyptus salmonophloia (Salmon Gum) trees which formed a landmark in the town's early days.[2] The town is part of the Shire of Esperance.[3] At the 2016 census, Salmon Gums had a population of 191.[4]
| Salmon Gums Western Australia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Salmon Gums railway siding in 1928 | |||||||||
  Salmon Gums | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 32°58′48″S 121°38′42″E / 32.98°S 121.645°E | ||||||||
| Population | 146 (SAL 2021)[1] | ||||||||
| Established | 1925 | ||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 6445 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 249 m (817 ft) | ||||||||
| Area | 2,781.5 km2 (1,073.9 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Location | |||||||||
| LGA(s) | Shire of Esperance | ||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Roe | ||||||||
| Federal division(s) | O'Connor | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The surrounding areas produce wheat and other cereal crops. The town is a receival site for Cooperative Bulk Handling.[5]
History
editThe first potential use of a townsite was as a watering spot for the proposed Esperance to Norseman Railway,[2] since Salmon Gums is roughly halfway between these two towns. Land for a town-site was set aside in 1912 and the name was recommended in 1916. This land lay within the tribal boundaries of the indigenous Kalaako. The town was gazetted in 1925, when the Esperance to Salmon Gums section of the railway was completed.[6]
Settlement of the area received a boost after the First World War when returning soldiers were given grants of land[7] in this and many other areas around the state. These grantees became known as soldier settlers. At the time Salmon Gums was regarded as being on the fringe of arable land. The low soil fertility and marginal average rainfall meant that yields were poor prior to the 1950s. As a result, the land was not in high demand, so the opportunity cost to the government was quite small.
Agricultural research was boosted prior to the Second World War by the establishment of the Salmon Gums Research Station.[7] In 1949 a similar station, the Esperance Downs Research Station was established near Esperance. Research at the latter quickly led to the discovery that soil in the Esperance region was deficient in trace elements, reportedly phosphorus, copper and zinc, and the addition of these greatly improved fertility and crop yields.[8] Since then the region, including Salmon Gums, has become a successful producer of wheat, sheep and cattle.
Mining
editIn 2001 a Perth-based iron ore company announced an investigation into a large lignite deposit at Salmon Gums for use reducing its phosphorus-rich iron ore currently being mined at Koolyanobbing. As of 2009 all plans for the mining of the lignite has been suspended indefinitely due to the stock market collapse in early 2009. The sudden drop in oil prices would make the refinement of the oil suspended in the lignite financially unviable.
Climate
editSalmon Gums has a mild semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk). According to both the Köppen and Trewartha classifications for humid climates it is thermally subtropical,[9][10] the months of January and February exceeding 22 °C (71.6 °F) and all months exceeding 10 °C (50 °F) on average, though by the Köppen criteria for arid climates and the classification used by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology[11] its yearly average (being less than 18 °C (64.4 °F)) is insufficient to qualify as such.
Like many near-coastal areas of Australia, the climate is dominated by periodic exchanges between hot, dry air from the desert interior and cooler, humid air from the ocean, exemplified by the very large gulf between its averages and extreme high temperatures, the 1991–2020 normals placing the average yearly record high as 43.0 °C (109.4 °F)[12] and the highest ever recorded being 46.3 °C (115.3 °F) on 28 January 2011. With its semi-arid, relatively high-latitude and mildly-elevated location from the moderating influences of the ocean, Salmon Gums can be one of the coldest places in Western Australia—its record low minimum of −6.1 °C (21.0 °F) on 15 August 1970 is the fourth coldest record low and sixth coldest temperature recorded in the state,[13] while its record low maximum of 5.6 °C (42.1 °F) on 16 July 1946 is tied for the coolest in the state.[14] Per the 1991–2020 normals, the average yearly record low is −3.0 °C (26.6 °F),[15] placing it within USDA hardiness zone 9b and Australian National Botanic Gardens hardiness zone 3.[16] An average of 70 days per year reach or exceed 30 °C (86 °F), putting it within American Horticultural Society heat zone 7.[17]
Precipitation is relatively evenly distributed throughout the year, but is dramatically more erratic and heavier per event on average in the summer than in the winter.
| Climate data for Salmon Gums (1991–2020 normals, 1932–2021 extremes) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 46.3 (115.3) |
44.8 (112.6) |
43.2 (109.8) |
39.5 (103.1) |
32.5 (90.5) |
32.2 (90.0) |
29.4 (84.9) |
32.0 (89.6) |
35.6 (96.1) |
39.5 (103.1) |
45.0 (113.0) |
45.3 (113.5) |
46.3 (115.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 31.0 (87.8) |
29.9 (85.8) |
27.4 (81.3) |
24.7 (76.5) |
20.5 (68.9) |
17.6 (63.7) |
16.8 (62.2) |
18.1 (64.6) |
20.8 (69.4) |
24.4 (75.9) |
27.1 (80.8) |
29.5 (85.1) |
24.0 (75.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 14.3 (57.7) |
14.5 (58.1) |
13.0 (55.4) |
10.6 (51.1) |
7.4 (45.3) |
5.8 (42.4) |
5.1 (41.2) |
5.1 (41.2) |
5.8 (42.4) |
8.1 (46.6) |
10.6 (51.1) |
12.3 (54.1) |
9.4 (48.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 3.0 (37.4) |
3.0 (37.4) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
−1.6 (29.1) |
−2.5 (27.5) |
−5.7 (21.7) |
−4.4 (24.1) |
−6.1 (21.0) |
−5.5 (22.1) |
−2.8 (27.0) |
−1.2 (29.8) |
1.0 (33.8) |
−6.1 (21.0) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 35.9 (1.41) |
28.3 (1.11) |
34.5 (1.36) |
27.3 (1.07) |
30.6 (1.20) |
30.7 (1.21) |
36.1 (1.42) |
38.3 (1.51) |
33.4 (1.31) |
27.4 (1.08) |
29.0 (1.14) |
22.0 (0.87) |
373.5 (14.69) |
| Average rainy days (≥ 0.2mm) | 5.0 | 5.2 | 6.7 | 7.1 | 10.0 | 11.9 | 13.6 | 13.3 | 10.9 | 7.7 | 7.2 | 5.7 | 104.3 |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology[18] | |||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Salmon Gums (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
- ^ a b "History of country town names – S". Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2007.
- ^ "General Information". Shire of Esperance. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Salmon Gums (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ^ "CBH receival sites" (PDF). 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ^ Western Australian Government Gazette, file 5335/12, 4 February 1925, p.157.
- ^ a b "Register of Heritage places- Assessment Documentation" (PDF). Heritage Council of Western Australia. p. 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2006.
- ^ "Esperance". Australian Heritage Magazine. Retrieved 15 July 2006.
- ^ Beck, Hylke E.; Zimmermann, Niklaus E.; McVicar, Tim R.; Vergopolan, Noemi; Berg, Alexis; Wood, Eric F. (30 October 2018). "Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution". Scientific Data. 5: 180214. Bibcode:2018NatSD...580214B. doi:10.1038/sdata.2018.214. ISSN 2052-4463. PMC 6207062. PMID 30375988.
- ^ Belda, M; Holtanová, E; Halenka, T; Kalvová, J (4 February 2014). "Climate classification revisited: from Köppen to Trewartha" (PDF). Climate Research. 59 (1): 1–13. doi:10.3354/cr01204.
- ^ Stern, Harvey; Hoedt, Graham; Ernst, Jeneanne (June 2000). "Objective classification of Australian climates". Australian Meteorological Magazine. 49 (2): 87–96. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
- ^ "Highest temperature (°C) SALMON GUMS RES.STN". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
- ^ "Official records (Lowest daily minimum temperatures) for Western Australia". Daily Extremes. Bureau of Meteorology. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
- ^ "Official records (Lowest daily maximum temperatures) for Western Australia". Daily Extremes. Bureau of Meteorology. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
- ^ "Lowest temperature (°C) SALMON GUMS RES.STN". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
- ^ Dawson, Iain (1991). "Plant Hardiness Zones for Australia". Australian National Botanic Gardens. Archived from the original on 10 December 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
- ^ "AHS Plant Heat Zone Map". American Horticultural Society. Archived from the original on 16 May 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
- ^ "SALMON GUMS RES.STN". Climate statistics for Australian locations. Bureau of Meteorology. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
