Weather in Australia 2023-2024

[Mark]

Sydney has recorded its driest start to winter since 1938, but a short trip to the south, Australia’s major ski resorts have welcomed impressive snowfalls and, in line with recent years, have formed a solid base to start the season.

This inverse relationship between coastal rain and snow on the Australian Alps is linked to the impacts of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), a natural –though somewhat unpredictably– climate driver which is tied to the latitudinal extent of westerly winds circumnavigating Antarctica.

This winter, SAM has mostly been in a negative phase, a setup that allows for cold westerly winds to expand north from the Southern Ocean. While westerlies bring dry weather to the NSW coast, they are perfect for producing snow on the alps.

As a result, the natural snow depth across Aussie snowfields is already accumulating, even at this early stage of the season.

Well-over a meter (3.3ft) has been officially reported on NSW slopes; Victoria’s Falls Creek posted 90cm (2.95ft) on Wednesday — substantially above the July 11 average of 58cm (1.9ft); while a “strong blanketing” has also clipped Perisher Valley, reports Aussie news outlets.

https://electroverse.info/4ft-strands-trekkers-in-india-extreme-cold-strikes-tanzania-ekurhuleni-electricity-limit-aussie-snowfields-celebrate/

[Mark]

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A home in Sydney's eastern suburbs has been struck by lightning as storms roll across the city.
Emergency services were called to the property in Maroubra at 5.30pm this afternoon.
Resident Simon Hodge was at home when he heard a bang followed by a knock on the door.
READ MORE: Voice to parliament referendum date revealed
A home in Sydney's south has been struck by lighting as storms roll across the city.Emergency services were called to the property in Maroubra in the city's eastern suburbs at 5.30pm this afternoon.
A home in Sydney's south has been struck by lighting as storms roll across the city. (Supplied)
"The biggest bang I've ever heard in my life, just scared the bejesus out of me," he said.
"Next thing I know, someone was banging on the door saying lightning struck the building and there's smoke coming out of it."
Firefighters and ambulance crews attended the scene.
It comes as Australia's east coast is experiencing storms, with the potential for large hail and damaging winds across parts of New South Wales and Queensland.
An estimated 10,000 lightning bolts lit up Sydney's skies today.
Residents in the two states woke up to relatively dry and clear before the weather system brought showers and storm clouds to the skies by mid-afternoon.
"They're bringing hail and they're bringing strong winds throughout much of south-eastern Queensland and the northeast of New South Wales," Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Angus Hines said.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/weather-australia-national-storms-loom-over-new-south-wales-and-queensland/98e1dc54-aede-4ea3-82f2-d9e93386a2b1

[Mark]

Perth has set a new record for its hottest-ever September day as a mass of hot air moves across Western Australia.
At 3.40pm (local time) the state capital registered 34.3 degrees, beating its previous high of 34.2 set in 2014.
It wasn't the only part of the state to set a new temperature record for the first month of spring on Wednesday.


https://www.9news.com.au/national/western-australia-weather-geraldton-sets-september-temperature-record-38-degrees/f1d8d968-773c-40a3-8916-7c9300f3f6ad

[Mark]

Sydney and other parts of NSW are being smashed by yet another storm.
Weather warnings for severe thunderstorms have been issued all the way from the Northern Beaches to the Illawarra Coast with the BOM warning of one massive storm cell merging.
Hail and "squally" winds are also possible, forecasters say.

Sydney storm hits (Nine)
All the #storm cells have merged into one #squall line, with ap updated Detailed #SevereThunderstormWarning map reflecting this. Expect some #squally winds and possibly some #hail as the line passes overhead. Here's the latest #warning details: https://t.co/WGQb8BKcco pic.twitter.com/Djb4OrLr2R

— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) December 27, 2023
Hail fell in Camden in the city's south-west, carpeting gardens in white.
Sydney's Harbour Bridge almost disappeared in the dreary mist.
Thursday in the city will see a return to sunny weather, with temperatures expected to hit 30 degrees.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/sydney-storms-hail-nsw-weather-warning-warning/b4f7b20f-1aee-41bf-8b1d-7dd8b804922a

[Mark]

Eastern Australia is grappling with the repercussions of heavy rainfall that has sparked flash flooding in parts of Southeastern Queensland and Northern New South Wales. Over the past 72 hours, these regions have endured an intense deluge, with some areas witnessing more than two months' worth of rainfall. In a startling report, the town of Springbrook in Queensland recorded a staggering 514 mm (20 inches) of rain in a span of 48 hours, significantly overshooting the average for January.

https://www.sott.net/article/487397-Flash-floods-ravage-eastern-Australia-following-heavy-summer-rainfall-20-inches-in-48-hours

[Mark]

A delayed start to the wet season has resulted in stifling heat in Darwin amid the city's hottest start to a year since 1935, Weatherzone data has revealed.
Warm nights and high humidity meant Darwin's minimum temperature only fell to a clammy 29.9 degrees overnight on January 1.
The following daytime maximum temperatures of 35.3 degrees on Monday and 35.6 degrees on Tuesday made it the hottest start to a year in almost 90 years.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/darwin-records-warmest-start-to-the-year-in-almost-20-years/cb6c5f6d-d07f-4d05-a682-d591edb561a3

[Mark]

Residents in north-eastern Victoria are bracing for further flooding in the coming days, after heavy rainfall inundated the state and forced two towns to evacuate.

An evacuation order was issued for parts of the Goulburn Valley town of Seymour, in central Victoria, shortly before noon on Monday, before similar orders were put in place for sections of nearby Yea.

An emergency evacuation order was issued for the northern Victorian town of Rochester on Monday evening.

About 30 homes in Goornong, about 30km north-east of Bendigo, and six homes in Redesdale have been evacuated after water inundated the properties.

Emergency services said the rain was expected to move to Shepparton and Wangaratta midweek.

[Mark]

While Townsville escaped major destruction when Cyclone Kirrily crossed the coast as a category 2 storm overnight into Friday, the threat isn't over for North Queensland.
The storm has weakened to a tropical low but continues to produce heavy to intense rainfall with possible damaging winds forecast for parts of the northern interior and western Queensland across the weekend.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) warns there could be "dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding possible from early Saturday morning for areas between Winton, Richmond and Cloncurry".
https://www.9news.com.au/national/weather-news-ex-tropical-cyclone-kirrily-storm-update-wind-rain-flooding/322031be-72a3-415d-b106-2c930a52cc08

[Mark]

Brisbanites would likely not have slept soundly last night.


Hot and oppressively humid northerly component winds are being funnelled over Qld’s east coast at the moment thanks to the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Kirrily in the state’s west and a high pressure system over the Coral Sea.


Overnight, the temperature in Brisbane reached a minimum of 27.2°C – its hottest night since February 2017 – but the stifling humidity meant the overnight temperatures never felt cooler than 33.7°C. The mercury in nearby suburbs Archerfield and Amberley did drop to slightly cooler temperatures – 26.4°C and 25.8°C respectively – but it was still their hottest night of any month in almost seven years and their hottest January night in 20 years.


Meanwhile, spare a thought for Cape Moreton, the northernmost tip of Moreton Island just offshore of Brisbane, which sweltered through its hottest night of any month since February 2004 and its hottest January night in 97 years, with a minimum temperature of 26.1°C.


Indeed, overnight temperatures soared across the state. In the satellite image below, observations are displayed for temperature (red squares) and wind (yellow barbs) at 5 am this morning, around the time when most locations were close to their minimum temperatures. As you can see, nowhere in the state reached temperatures below 23°C, except in a small area between Townsville and Tully. But in the east, those temperatures were exceptionally hot for this time of year.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/brisbane-swelters-through-hottest-night-in-years/1762829

[Mark]

Residents in Victoria's west have described how out-of-control fires came close to claiming their homes.
The bushfire at Dereel, in Victoria's west, started just after 6pm yesterday, prompting an emergency 'leave now' warning for residents living nearby.
The blaze came just metres from homes in the town.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/victorian-bushfires-fastmoving-bushfire-treated-as-suspicious-as-large-blaze-is-contained/dbed15a6-be69-4d99-9c81-8a3390131ea9

[Mark]

Brisbane just tossed and turned through its warmest summer on record based on overnight minimum temperatures, with the city also registering one of its top two warmest summers on record based on the mean temperature.


A combination of abnormally high temperatures and atmospheric moisture made Brisbane feel abnormally hot and sweaty this summer.


All three months of the season registered minimum and maximum temperatures that were roughly 1-2°C above the long-term average. This resulted in December, January and February all ranking in the top 6 respective months on record for mean temperature.


Brisbane’s average minimum temperature for summer as a whole came in at 22.5ºC. This is about 1.3ºC above the average from the last 24 years, and the city’s highest summer minimum temperature on record. The previous record was 22.3C during the summer of 1979-80.


Impressively, Brisbane failed to drop below 20ºC during the first two months of 2024. This 60-day spell breaks the previous record of 59 days above 20ºC from 1978. Current forecasts suggest the next one-to-two weeks could stay above 20ºC as well, extending the new record.




??Brisbane has now recorded 59 consecutive nights at or above 20 °C, having not dropped below 20 °C so far in 2024. This equals the previous record run of nights above 20 °C that occurred in 1978. Minimums are expected to stay above 20 °C this week. https://t.co/bhJyrBIxVn pic.twitter.com/AmCGL0utkg


— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) February 28, 2024
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/record-summer-warmth-in-brisbane/1824571

[Mark]

The past few days have seen monthly low temperature records fall across Australia.

In no particular order...

The high of 19.3C (66.7F) at Oakey, Queensland made for the town's coldest March day in books dating back to 1973, breaking the old 1980 record by 0.4C.

At 21.1C (70F), Brisbane Airport tied its lowest March max set in 1988, dating to 1951.

Staying in Queensland, the recent 16.9C (62.4F) at Applethorpe is just 1.4C shy of the state record for March.

Watarrka, NT registered a max of 15.8C (60.41F) which is 0.3C below its old monthly benchmark and also the 12th coldest March day in the Northern Territory.

Wulungurru's 17.7C (63.9F) bests the old 2021 Tmax by a 1.5C (also, the 13.7C (56.7F) Tmin there smashed the 2007 record by a 2.3C).

Point Lookout's 22.9C (73.2F) busted the old record by 0.3C; St George, at 19.7C (67.5F), also suffered its coldest March day, again by 0.3C; and in Rabbit Flat, the 22.4C (72.3F) there made for the second-coolest March day on record (only 2021 is lower).

Territory Grape Farm has gone and endured a daily high a full 1.3C below the previous 2021 record; while Arltunga's 16.3C (61.3F) went a decimal better, coming out 1.4C below the record low set, again, during the historically cold March of 2021.

Australia's early-season cold has proven fierce and widespread:

[Mark]

An exceptional soaking across outback Australia has broken all-time rain records, caused dry Northern Territory rivers to flood, and will supply another boost to waters already flowing south into Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre.

The current rain event has triggered flood watches for more than 40 Queensland and NT rivers, prolonging a productive northern wet season which has brought frequent soakings deep into the country's interior.

And there's still more rain to come this week — the spell of showers and thunderstorms will continue across much of northern and central Australia this week, before possibly moving south this Easter, and potentially dampening the back half of the long weekend in parts of South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria.

https://www.sott.net/category/4-Earth-Changes

[Mark]

The severe drought predicted by Australian climate agencies has not materialized. Neither does the blazing constant heat.

This week, the Australian continent is heading into an early fall, with temperature anomalies up to 28°C below multi-decadal norms affecting wide regions
https://eike-klima-energie.eu/2024/03/24/kaeltereport-nr-12-2024/

[Mark]

There is set to be heavy rain and storms spread across Queensland's south, New South Wales's east and Victoria's north for the end of the week.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) warns the severe weather will get worse today before it gets better, forecasting conditions will begin to ease late on Saturday.
Severe weather warnings are already in place for parts of NSW, though a thunderstorm warning has been cancelled for Sydney as of this morning.
To see the latest BoM weather warnings click here.
Synoptic map for Friday, April 5, 2024
Synoptic map for Friday, April 5, 2024 (Weatherzone)
The unstable weather situation along Australia's east coast could even produce the weather phenomenon dubbed a "black nor-easter", which is when storm clouds so dark and heavy effectively turn the skies black during the day.
"Areas of heavy rain and gusty showers are forecast to develop south of about Newcastle during Friday, including over the ranges and tablelands," the BoM forecasts.
"Severe weather is expected to gradually shift south overnight, easing later on Saturday as the trough moves east to the Tasman Sea."
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https://www.9news.com.au/national/weather-news-black-noreaster-possible-severe-storms-flooding-warnings-new-south-wales-queensland/adae5e80-711a-4626-88af-b8a9db606105

[Mark]

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/australia-weather-millions-of-residents-shiver-through-coldest-morning-in-months-what-the-weather-looks-like-for-sydney-brisbane-melbourne/ar-BB1ln9F7

Millions of Aussies have shivered through their coldest morning in months with freezing temperatures to continue and gale-force winds to hit the country.

A low-pressure system was forming just off the coast of New South Wales and drawing in arctic south-westerly winds on Wednesday.

Much of the state shivered through its coldest morning since October with Sydneysiders waking up to 11.9C and Newcastle recording 13.6C.

The freezing conditions crept into Queensland where Toowoomba recorded 8C - seven degrees colder than any other morning so far this year.

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[Mark]

The first snow of the year has fallen on Australian ski resorts in New South Wales and Victoria, ahead of schedule.

It's largely been a cold and wet start to autumn down under, with a host of monthly low temperature records falling. That anomalous chill has now intensified into April, and is resulting in early-season snow coating Aussie ski fields.

Thredbo and Perisher in NSW, as well as Hotham, Mount Baw Baw and Mount Buller in Victoria are among those reporting a dumping of early-April snow — a full two months before resorts open to skiers and snowboarders.

"Someone must've shaken up our snow globe overnight. Winter mode has been well and truly activated," reads a recent Tredbo post, with the accompanying video:
https://electroverse.substack.com/p/yukon-snowpack-breaks-records-early

[Mark]

More wet weather is looming for the Sunshine State, with the possibility of a substantial rainfall event heading for the Queensland coast later this week.
Computer models show an area of low pressure in the upper levels of the atmosphere, which is likely to deepen over the weekend off the coast.
While the risk of it becoming a cyclone is low, there is a chance it could become an east coast low with problematic damaging winds and very heavy rainfall.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/queensland-weather-substantial-rainfall-event-looms-for-coast/2540b218-56b0-4a9f-95d0-3bd69eb21978

[Mark]

Australia just had one of its wettest and warmest Marches on record as the country experienced a climate juxtaposition of persistent late season heat alongside widespread outback rainfall.


The national area-averaged rainfall in March 2024 was 86% above the 1961-1990 average, making it Australia’s third wettest March in 125 years of records.


But while the national anomaly was abnormally wet, it was also a remarkably dry month in some parts of the country.


Huge amounts of rain fell over Australia's vast central and western Interior last month as tropical moisture was drawn south by slow-moving low pressure troughs. Parts of WA and the NT saw their heaviest March rain on record, while both states ended up having one of their top 4 wettest Marches in recorded history.


This prolific outback rain, which flooded Australia’s largest sheep station, was a stark contrast to the abundantly sunny skies seen in the southeast of Australia last month.


Rainfall was well below average over parts of Vic, Tas, SA, eastern NSW and the southwest of WA in March. Some places in Vic even had their driest March on record, including Melbourne.

https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/australias-third-wettest-march-on-record/1889269

[Mark]

https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/tassie-snow-melbourne-temps-go-low/1889341
Snow has fallen in Tasmania, while Melbourne has experienced a dramatic temperature drop as a cold front whipped through Tasmania and southern Victoria overnight.


This was the Wednesday morning scene on the slopes of Ben Lomond, Tasmania's only commercial ski resort, about an hour out of Launceston. Not enough snow for skiing, but the cafe was open for anyone venturing up there to throw a snowball.