Land & environment

Tropical cyclone activity from Australia to the South Pacific. Madden-Julian Oscillation stalls over South West Pacific region. Monsoon conditions may continue across Australia during the next fortnight ...

The 2020-21 La Niña is likely to have peaked with respect to atmospheric and oceanic patterns in the tropical Pacific. However impacts associated with La Niña, such as above average rainfall in eastern and northern Australia, are expected to persist into early autumn, with climate outlooks indicating above average rainfall is likely for parts of these regions, particularly over northern Queensland ...

Imagine if we actually copped a cyclone? The weather was wet and a little wild on the Western Cape last week but not even close to cyclonic. Yet phones dropped out for a 10-hour period and the barge was late on arrival (twice) into Weipa. Shoppers hoping to procure fruit and vegetables on Saturday morning left disappointed as not only did the Sea Swift barge turn up late into port, but couldn’t offload due to a mechanical breakdown.

Rainfall is likely to be above average for much of Australia with higher chances in northern Queensland. Warmer than average days likely around most coastal regions and Tasmania. La Nina is likely to break down during autumn and return to neutral conditions.

Tropical lows with an active monsoon generated moderate to heavy falls in the northern tropics. A pre-frontal trough and weak cold fronts produced moderate falls in South Australia. The highest weekly total was 389 mm at Lockhart River Airport in far north Queensland.

A draft Management Plan for the Commercial Lakes and Coorong Fishery has been released for public consultation. Minister Basham said the changes further refine the harvest strategies of pipi and finfish to ensure sustainability into the future. A key change in the Management Plan includes refining the method for determining the total allowable commercial effort (net units) for finfish each year. In addition to the existing environmental measures, it is proposed the method includes consideration of the historical catch per unit effort for each finfish species.

Tropical cyclone Kimi developed east of Cairns and tracked towards the coast, bringing moderate to heavy falls to the north tropical Queensland coast. A cold front brought moderate falls to southern Victoria and western Tasmania. The highest weekly total was 369 mm at Babinda in north-east Queensland.

Local water infrastructure in Stanthorpe will get a $940,000 boost, as part of $8.9 million in bushfire recovery projects announced today by the Australian and Queensland governments. Maranoa MP David Littleproud said this project is one of nine Local Economic Recovery projects were announced today to support recovery in Queensland communities hit hard by the 2019-20 bushfires, including two exciting projects in Maranoa. “In our area, $940,000 will go to the Southern Downs Regional Council for the Smart Water Meters project,” Mr Littleproud said. “This project will install smart metering technology in Stanthorpe, which will help to adapt the built environment to future climate and natural hazard conditions.

District Council of Coober Peedy, Media Release, 22 January 2021. Water consumption in the town remains excessively high. This may be due to leaks in the network or some customers using excessive water, such as filling up swimming pools. At the current rate of consumption, the town has two days of water in storage. During the day, the water employees will shut down various parts of the network in an attempt to isolate the cause. This means that some customers will have no water for about half an hour. If water leaks are found, the water outage could be longer. All outages will be notified on Council’s website, Facebook page and Mailchimp half an hour in advance.

The Murray River Group of Councils, Media Release, 13 January 2021 The Murray River Group of Councils has welcomed Mildura Mayor, Cr Jason Modica as...

February to April rainfall is likely to be close to or above average for much of Australia, particularly for Queensland and northwest Western Australia.