A perfect storm of factors created conditions for devastating floods in Queensland and NSW this year and global warming could have made them worse, the Bureau of Meteorology says.
An office report on disasters released today confirms that many centennial records fell when a series of deep low-pressure systems powered by La Niña repeatedly poured heavy rain over a soaked landscape.
The office said that while climate change did not cause disasters, it linked flooding to a trend towards more intense and short-lived rainfall events, especially in northern Australia.
Months of heavy rains hit the east coast as Australia experienced its first consecutive La Niña weather systems in a decade. Scientists say that next summer there is the possibility of a rare La Niña of “triple immersion”.
Properties fall on Gympie on February 26th. (ABC News: Matt Bouveng)
Today’s office report says more than 50 locations in south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales recorded more than a meter of rain in the last week of February.
“These systems have just been parked in southeast Queensland. And when those systems do, that’s when really big floods happen,” said Karl Braganza, the office’s national climate services manager.
“The catchments were already saturated. And then (after the rain) you started to have an incredible runoff.”
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The Mary River in Gympie, Queensland, which has flood records dating back to 1870, surpassed all previously recorded flood peaks except the Great Flood of February 1893. The Lower Logan River, south of Brisbane, it experienced its worst flooding since 1974.
In some parts of northern New South Wales, floodwaters easily hit previous record highs, some dating back more than 100 years.
Devastating floods occurred in Lismore (Wilson River) and other nearby cities, such as Coraki and Woodburn (Richmond River) and Murwillumbah and Tumbulgum (Tweed River).
In the Heart (2021) sculpture by Holly Ahern and Eden Crawford-Harriman following the 2022 floods in Lismore. (Photo: Brendan Beirne)
“Climate models themselves have long projected an intensification of the hydrological cycle, which is essentially droughts that become potentially longer, hotter and more frequent. But also, when the conditions are right and the weather is right, the rains be more abundant than not. It was in the past, “Mr Braganza said.
The Girl facts:
- Three-year-old girls are rare and most recently produced between 1973–76 and 1998–2001.
- While La Niña brings a humid climate to Australia, it brings a dry and hot climate to places such as South America and East Africa.
- It is difficult to predict when and how strong the wet weather may be, but if a third La Niña is installed, it is unlikely to be strong.
He said it was unusual for South Queensland and northern New South Wales to have experienced high-intensity, short-lived rain events, more common in northern Australia, where this trend was strongest.
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However, he warned that scientists had not yet identified a trend in long-term rainfall events in the region.
“We’re going to have to see amazing things that we weren’t necessarily able to predict because of the complexity of the climate system,” Karl Braganza said.
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Posted 3 h 3 hours agoDmec. May 25, 2022 at 1:09 am, last updated 2 hours 2 hours ago Wed. May 25, 2022 at 2:09 p.m.