On the first day of winter, southwest Western Australia was pummelled by a damaging storm. The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) described it as the most intense weather system to hit the region in almost 50 years. Although severe storms can be devastating, they’re also important for delivering rain in a part of Australia that is drying out.
As the planet continues to warm, climate patterns that were stable for decades are beginning to shift. This changes the extreme weather events we experience from day to day.