With much of last year marked by extreme weather, Australians could perhaps be forgiven for hoping for a brief period of respite – however, it seems that 2023 has other plans.
Wild weather events are playing out over much of the country, with rain lashing northern Queensland, floods in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and bushfire conditions fuelling a fast-moving fire south of Perth.
The New Daily spoke to a climate expert who warned that the country is moving into its extreme weather season.
During this period we’re likely to see greater “variability” across weather patterns that could result in flooding and heatwaves.
University of Melbourne senior lecturer in climate science Dr Andrew King said while rains will continue into next week they should subside “slightly” with the weakening influence of La Nina.
“We’ve still got this lingering La Nina at the moment. And that slightly raises the probability of heavy rain events across northern and eastern Australia,” he said.
“As that slide starts to dissipate, the effects will weaken, especially moving into late summer and autumn. The effect weakens quite considerably.”
Dr King warned that the rains could be replaced by prolonged heatwaves.
“We’ve warmed the planet, and Australia’s warmed as well. So a typical seasonal outlook has warmer-than-average conditions in it,” he said.
“In southern Australia, we’ve already seen some severe heat, and I’m sure we’ll see more severe heat.”
Queensland flooding and risks
A monsoonal trough battered the Queensland north coast over the weekend, bringing severe thunderstorms and heavy falls to the region.
The deluge is expected to continue into the week, with intense rainfall expected to lash the Sunshine State.
A severe weather warning remains in place for north and central Queensland.
Areas that may be affected include Mackay, Sarina, Ayr, Collinsville, Giru, Airlie Beach, Bowen, Townsville, Proserpine and Hamilton Island.
On Sunday the bureau issued flood warnings for the following areas:
- Upper Herbert River
- Ross and Bohle Rivers
- Cape River, Suttor and Lower Burdekin Rivers
- Pioneer River
- Connors-Isaac River catchments
- Thomson and Barcoo rivers and Cooper Creek.
On Saturday, Townsville and nearby areas recorded up to 200 millimetres of rain, with forecasters predicting up to one metre of rain to fall in the coming days, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
“Locally intense rainfall, which may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding, is also possible north of Bowen from later today, gradually extending over the remainder of the warning area during Sunday,” it said in a statement.
Downpours caused chaos for emergency services, with main roads and the Bruce, Gregory and Capricorn highways severely affected.
People were left stranded in regional towns, with nine people stranded on a highway north of Emerald.
The RACQ Capricorn Rescue chopper flew to the area and rescued five adults, three infants and one preschooler.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services urged residents to stay up to date with warnings and alerts, and not to attempt to drive through flood waters.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese echoed the caution on Saturday morning.
“Follow the advice of the authorities,” he said to reporters.
“Don’t risk driving through flood waters if they’re present. Make sure that you stay safe because that’s the most important thing.”
Police told motorists not to ignore the advice as the “extraordinary weather” set in during the next several days.
“Trying to navigate these hazards, either in vehicles or on foot, can be treacherous, as water levels rise and fall quickly and very often with little or no warning,” police said in a statement.
The bureau also said a tropical low could develop near the north-east coast on the weekend or early next week.
Flooding in the Kimberley
New South Wales firefighters will travel to Western Australia to help with the state’s flood response.
WA’s north has been inundated after extreme weather and ex-tropical Cyclone Ellie dumped record amounts of water across the region.
Six firefighters will head to Broome and Kalgoorlie, which are now bearing the brunt of extreme weather.
They will be there for five days, helping with community liaison as well as planning and safety.
The bureau issued an extreme weather warning for the region on Saturday with a hot and unstable air mass threatening to create major thunderstorms across the Pilbara.
But that has since been downgraded as flood recovery efforts continue.
Meanwhile, another group of specialist NSW firefighters has been sent to the far-west of their home state.
The in-water team will help with efforts in Menindee, where the remote town has been cut off by flood waters.
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Emergency crews arrive in the Kimberley
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Fire warning in the south
A bushfire south of Perth has been contained but remains uncontrolled.
Some 100 firefighters battled the 6000-hectare blaze on Saturday before it started to slow its spread.
Aerial support was also dispatched to the Shire of Donnybrook-Balingup on Saturday.
The fire, believed to have been sparked by lightning, was moving slowly north-west as of Sunday morning after breaching containment lines on Saturday.
An emergency warning remained in place for the fire area, with residents told to flee.
Meanwhile, in South Australia, firefighters have managed to contain a bushfire in the Adelaide Hills, just east of the state capital.
Residents in Montacute had been told to leave or take shelter on Saturday.
But by that night the fire was contained with firefighters remaining on scene to monitor hotspots.
Firefighters had been been battling the blaze over steep, inaccessible terrain in the Adelaide Hills with 15 tankers and eight aircraft involved in extinguishing it.
– with AAP
