| Quilpie Queensland |
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Quilpie
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| Population: | 560[1] |
| Postcode: | 4480 |
| Location: |
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| LGA: | Shire of Quilpie |
| State District: | Gregory |
| Federal Division: | Maranoa |
Quilpie ( /ˈkwɪlpi/) is a town situated in the Channel Country of western Queensland, Australia. The town is the administrative centre of the Quilpie Shire Local Government Area. At the 2006 census, Quilpie had a population of 560.[1]
The economy of the area is based on the grazing and mining industries. The area has one of the largest deposits of boulder opal in the world, and also has extensive deposits of gas and oil.
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Situated on the banks of the Bulloo River and on the Diamantina Development Road, it is 208 kilometres (129 mi) west of Charleville, and 980 kilometres (610 mi) west of the state capital, Brisbane. Quilpie is the administrative centre of the Quilpie Shire, which has a population of 1085 persons (ABS estimate 2003). Other townships in the shire include Adavale and Eromanga. The town of Quilpie was gazetted in 1917.
Quilpie residents enjoy free access to many amenities such as swimming pool, sports grounds an air-conditioned hall and supper room etc. There are well stocked stores and plenty of attractions for visitors too with displays of opals and the works of local artists. The Brick Hotel[2] has been restored to house displays of opal and art and provide a community learning space.[3]
Quilpie became a town in 1917 owing to the railway.[4] The local government center was previously Adavale within Adavale Shire, but this was moved to Quilpie with the availability of rail transport and the name change to Quilpie Shire.[5] The first post office was opened in 1921. Two years later the telephone reached Quilpie and in 1927 the first court house in the town was established.[5]
A fire destroyed a block of the main street in 1926.[5] With no town water the residents watched helplessly. A bore was sunk into the Great Artesian Basin in 1933. It provided drinking water for the town and for a period between 1952 to 1963 the hot water was used to generate electricity for the town.[5]
Quilpie has a semi-arid climate with hot summers and mild, springlike winters.
| Climate data for Quilpie | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 46.5 (115.7) |
45.5 (113.9) |
42.9 (109.2) |
38.4 (101.1) |
34.5 (94.1) |
32.1 (89.8) |
29.4 (84.9) |
37.0 (98.6) |
40.1 (104.2) |
43.8 (110.8) |
44.9 (112.8) |
46.1 (115.0) |
46.5 (115.7) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 36.9 (98.4) |
35.6 (96.1) |
33.5 (92.3) |
29.1 (84.4) |
24.0 (75.2) |
20.4 (68.7) |
20.1 (68.2) |
22.6 (72.7) |
27.0 (80.6) |
31.0 (87.8) |
34.0 (93.2) |
36.3 (97.3) |
29.2 (84.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 23.8 (74.8) |
23.3 (73.9) |
20.6 (69.1) |
15.7 (60.3) |
10.9 (51.6) |
7.4 (45.3) |
6.0 (42.8) |
7.7 (45.9) |
11.7 (53.1) |
16.2 (61.2) |
19.6 (67.3) |
22.3 (72.1) |
15.4 (59.7) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 13.7 (56.7) |
13.3 (55.9) |
9.6 (49.3) |
3.5 (38.3) |
1.0 (33.8) |
−1.2 (29.8) |
−2.3 (27.9) |
−1 (30.2) |
2.1 (35.8) |
5.4 (41.7) |
8.6 (47.5) |
12.3 (54.1) |
−2.3 (27.9) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 53.1 (2.091) |
50.4 (1.984) |
42.4 (1.669) |
24.9 (0.98) |
26.9 (1.059) |
20.0 (0.787) |
16.7 (0.657) |
12.7 (0.5) |
14.3 (0.563) |
22.0 (0.866) |
30.8 (1.213) |
34.0 (1.339) |
348.1 (13.705) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 4.8 | 4.4 | 3.8 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 40.7 |
| Source: [6] | |||||||||||||