Tag Archives: oceania

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First sign La Niña and the wet weather it brings is returning

Rain heading for much of Australia this week is consistent with the return of the La Niña weather system, forecasters say.

Weatherzone experts say showers and thunderstorms forecast for Darwin in the NT this week are earlier than usual, a key sign of the system which brings a wet summer.

"In a normal year, the northern rainfall onset typically occurs in parts of coastal Queensland and the NT's Western Top End around late October or early November, before spreading to other areas of Australia's tropics in the following weeks," Weatherzone's Ben Domensino said.

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Rain heading for much of Australia this week is consistent with the return of the La Niña weather system, forecasters say.

"However, during La Niña periods, the rainfall onset usually comes a bit earlier than usual, typically around early-to-mid October for large areas of the NT, Queensland and far northern WA."

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The heaviest rain over the tropics during the next week is likely over WA's North Interior and the NT's Western Top End, forecasters say.

Some inland areas of WA could see 100 to 200 mm of rain.

Earlier this month, Bureau of Meteorologists predicted a third-consecutive La Niña event for Australia, meaning wet conditions will likely continue into summer.

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The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed La Niña is underway in the Pacific Ocean.

"Models indicate this La Niña event may peak during the spring and return to neutral conditions early in 2023," the bureau said.

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Hail, heavy rain and damaging winds hit Sydney and parts of NSW

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) is warning of damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall for parts of NSW this afternoon.

The thunderstorms are moving towards the east to north-east, affecting the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Wollondilly, Wingecarribee, Greater Wollongong and Sydney areas.

The BoM forecast the storms would affect Springwood and Lake Nepean by 3.45pm and Bargo and the area south of Wilton by 4.15pm.

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The warning area for thunderstorms hitting most of Sydney this evening.

The Blue Mountains suburb of Springwood was coated in a blanket of hail this afternoon as the storm passed over.

A more general severe thunderstorm warning is also current for the Northern Rivers, Illawarra and parts of the Mid North Coast, Metropolitan, Central Tablelands, Northern Tablelands and Hunter districts.

Virtually all other parts of the country will also receive a soaking over the next ten days, with Weatherzone warning "a series of weather systems" loom.

The SES has carried out at least 13 rescues in the past 24 hours across the state.

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The Blue Mountains has been covered in hail this afternoon.Weatherzone said "it's not often you see the whole country "coloured in" like this."

Fourteen flood warnings remain active with major flooding still occurring on the Macquarie, Namoi and Lachlan rivers.

More wet weather is set to drench the state, as a trough threatens to spill thunderstorms and heavy rain over the next three days.

The BoM said this will exacerbate flood risks.

"Flooding continues across many inland catchments and many other catchments are saturated," it wrote.

"Showers and thunderstorms moving through with a trough over the next couple of days may exacerbate existing flooding and possibly lead to renewed riverine flooding."

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Flash flooding is seen in Gunnedah, NSW after a weekend soaking. Storm water runs off the cliffs behind Wiley's Baths in Coogee today after a cold weather front passing through Sydney lowed the temperatures by 10 degrees or more and brought Rain with it.

A strong wind warning is in place for Byron Coast and Coffs Coast until Wednesday at least.

Showers and a possible storm are forecast for Sydney, with falls between 3mm to 4mm possible.

Over the next three days, the heaviest rain is expected to fall over Victoria and southern NSW.

Up to 50mm is forecast for stretches of the coast, with isolated falls of 100mm possible.

That is just one of the systems to play out above Australia over the next week and a half.

The map below shows the month-to-date rainfall percentages, with blue shading representing areas that have already seen more than 200 percent of their average rainfall so far this month.

'Unseasonable' rainfall coming for Top End

Weatherzone said north-west WA's Kimberley and Pilbara districts will cop an "unseasonable drenching".

"Numerous weather systems are expected to impact the country in the next 10 days or so, including a low pressure trough which could deliver significant unseasonable rainfall to north-west WA's Kimberley and Pilbara districts early next week," it wrote, pointing to modelling of accumulated rainfall.

"Broome is located right where one of those reddish blobs sits, suggesting potential rainfall in the 50-80 mm range.

"Those two regions experience almost no rainfall on average at this time of year."

Darwin will also receive an early October drenching.