If you’re reading this and are on Australia’s east coast then good, you’re not yet swimming, but the Bureau of Meteorology has warned of much, much more heavy rain to come.
Residents in south-east Queensland and northern NSW are being warned the rain is only going to get worse throughout Thursday and into Friday, with flash-flood warnings issued for dozens of regions.
Even if Sydney trains are free, maybe it’s better to stay in.
UPDATE: #SevereWeatherWarning has been updated to include parts of the #MidNorthCoast as well as #NorthernTablelands and #NorthernRivers for heavy #rain with 6-hour totals of 100-160mm possible for parts east of about #Grafton and #Kyogle.
Warnings: https://t.co/uBbDMomBEd pic.twitter.com/52kDomoPaU— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) February 24, 2022
BOM has increased the expected total amount of rainfall for the entire east coast, with almost all parts to be hit with at least 100mm of rain.
Some areas could clock a total 300mm with the heaviest falls expected later on Thursday night.
It has also updated its severe weather warning for Queensland’s Wide Bay, Burnett, Darling Downs and Granite Belt areas.
Showers and storms are also set to increase across northern parts of Australia as a monsoon trough arrives. Severe wind gusts and isolated heavy rain with slow moving storms are predicted.
Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia haven’t escaped the swell either, with heavy rains expected to arrive on the weekend.
Showers and #thunderstorms will develop across eastern and central #Vic and parts of northern #Tas on Wednesday, continuing across the region until the weekend extending into eastern #SA and western Vic as well.
Latest forecasts: https://t.co/EGP9Qynjs3 pic.twitter.com/4dZwkN8TKM
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) February 23, 2022
This has officially been Sydney’s wettest summer in 30 years thanks to salty wench La Niña.
Meteorologist Ben Domensino told the Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday La Niña caused many parts of Sydney to break their monthly rainfall means within 24 hours this week.
The running seasonal rain total has hit more than 518 millimetres.
It’s also seen Sydney humidity levels well over expected averages — you weren’t imagining it. The January 9am average is 71 per cent, but last month the average was 81 per cent.
Sydney temperatures were more than a degree above the average daily maximum in December and January. It hasn’t been as warm as previous years — the 2019-20 and 2018-19 summers were the hottest — but La Niña brings cooler temps, so for us to still be above average is concerning.
Domensino said La Niña had masked the effect of climate change for large parts of Australia.
“We have had some very hot years recently while this summer has felt cooler and wetter in many parts of Australia and worked against the background signal of climate change,” he said.
But La Niña’s reign is coming to an end. She’s likely to dribble out at the start of autumn before she departs and we’re back to normal by winter. C u bye.
