Drought statement – deficiencies ease in many areas following March rainfall
Bureau of Meteorology, Media Release, 8 April 2021
Rainfall deficiencies have eased in Queensland, and are now confined to coastal areas of the south. ...
Crews work to re-open Waterfall Way
Crews will continue to work around the clock over the Easter long weekend to clean up landslips caused by wild weather on Waterfall Way between Dorrigo and Bellingen and restore access for communities.
Rain delights
A beautiful soaking rain has fallen around the district this week. Falls from 15 to 30mm have been recorded and the timing couldn’t be better as farmers are busy sowing pasture and preparing for winter crop cereal plantings. The chorus of birds and life in the forest has also been rejoicing, there is nothing quite like the gentle patter of rain through the tree canopy. Irrigators will be keeping a watchful eye on storages as inflows are on the rise. With huge rains in the floodplain harvesting regions of northern NSW it will be interesting to see the volumes of unlicenced and unmetered water intercepted. Member for Murray, Helen Dalton, posted this week, “It was 117 years ago that poet Dorothea Mackellar proclaimed Australia as the ‘land of drought and flooding rains.’ “I wonder if, in the next 100 years, we might start expecting and planning for them?” We live in hope!
It’s time for the Bells Line Expressway
The Bells Line of Road, which provides the alternative route over the Blue Mountains to the Central West from Sydney, will be closed indefinitely due to landslides caused by the recent heavy rains. This is a timely reminder of the many years of inaction on building the long overdue Bells Line Expressway ... One of the last roles held by the the recently departed former Leader of the National Party in NSW, Ian Armstrong, was as Chairman of the Bells Line Expressway Action Group. As Mr. Armstrong said in 2010 - "the road was built for a previous age".
A bridge not far, or high, enough
Despite years of warnings, public protests, approaches to Ministers and Members of Parliament, and, in particular, the vocal opposition of the very active Community Action for Windsor Bridge (CAWB) group, Roads & Maritime Services in NSW insisted on building the new Windsor Bridge across the Hawkesbury River in exactly the wrong location.
Bushfires – Learning lessons from the past with the Inquiries and Reviews Database
Australia has had hundreds of inquiries into natural hazards, but how can policy makers ensure that lessons from the past are not forgotten?
Bureau of Meteorology – weekly rainfall update
A tropical low produced heavy falls over the Gascoyne District in Western Australia, and surface troughs generated moderate falls in the northern tropics. A complex low pressure system and cold front brought moderate falls to eastern Victoria, south-east New South Wales and northern Tasmania. The highest weekly total was 311 mm at Nathan River in the Roper-Macarthur District in the Northern Territory.
Bureau of Meteorology – weekly tropical climate note
Madden-Julian Oscillation moves into central Pacific. Monsoon to become inactive across northern Australia
Bureau of Meteorology – weekly tropical climate note
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 ...
Bureau of Meteorology – climate driver update
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 ...
Phone outage and barge delay cap a tough week in Cape
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.
Bureau of Meteorology – climate outlooks
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.
Bureau of Meteorology – weekly rainfall update
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.
Bureau of Meteorology – weekly rainfall update
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.
Bureau of Meteorology – climate outlooks
February to April rainfall is likely to be close to or above average for much of Australia, particularly for Queensland and northwest Western Australia.
2020: a year of drought, fire and flood
Rainfall across NSW was above average for most of the state in 2020, a stark contrast to the extreme dryness which parched most of the land in 2019 and crippled the livelihoods of many agricultural producers and rural communities. NSW also recorded the warmest spring on record in over 100 years in 2020, with temperatures more than 2C above average. After 2020 began with record-breaking heatwaves and devastating bush fires which burned close to 25 million hectares of land ...
Weipa the wettest place on the Cape
There's still two months of wet season to run and Weipa is out to an early lead in the rainfall stakes.
The three rain gauges...
Wetter than average weather tipped
A month ago, the BoM declared a La Nina event, which means wetter than average conditions expected in the next few months. How does that work? It all depends on the Walker circulation.
