Highest dry season rainfall since records began, northern Australia

highest-dry-season-rainfall-since-records-began-northern-australia

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology announced today that rainfall in northern Australia during this year's dry season (May – September) was the highest since records began in 1900.

All individual months since May saw significantly above-average rainfall totals, most significantly in September when northern Australia observed nearly five times its average rainfall, BOM said.

A significant proportion of southwestern and central Queensland, an area which had been enduring a prolonged drought prior to the dry season, as well as the Top End of the Northern Territory, had their highest rainfall on record in the five-month period.

Widespread warmth was also a feature during the dry season.

The mean temperature was the second highest since records commenced in 1910, only eclipsed by 2013.

No individual month during the May to September period saw below average mean maximum or mean minimum temperatures. Overnight temperatures were the equal highest on record, tying the mark set in 1973.

Meanwhile, after one of the wettest winters is country's southeast, Victoria, South Australia, and NSW are expecting more rain and river flooding in the days ahead.

There is a strong chance of above average rainfall between October and December in southeast and northwest Australia as well as cooler days and nights for much of the country for the October to December period.

Strongest chances for above average rainfall in that period are over Victoria, Tasmania and southern NSW. A small area in southern WA shows an increased chance of a drier month.

Climate influences include a negative Indian Ocean Dipole, warmer than average ocean temperatures surrounding northern Australia, and an ENSO-neutral tropical Pacific, though showing some La Niña-like characteristics.

Featured image: Rain over Swan River, Perth, Australia. Credit: Percita (CC – Flickr)

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