Australia’s imply temperature final yr was 0.56C hotter than the long-term common regardless of 2021 being the nation’s coolest yr in a decade.
It was a yr of contrasting climate and local weather situations, the Bureau of Meteorology mentioned in its annual local weather assertion, with long-running heatwaves in northern Australia and widespread flooding in jap states, partially because of a La Niña occasion.
Within the west, extreme tropical cyclone Seroja was the southernmost tropical cyclone to make landfall for the reason that Fifties.
Averaged throughout the continent, final yr was Australia’s nineteenth warmest yr on report.
Imply annual most and minimal temperatures had been above common for many of northern Australia, Tasmania, and components of the west coast, however temperatures had been cooler than common for components of inland New South Wales and central Australia.
“Though 2021 was Australia’s coolest yr since 2012, temperatures had been nonetheless a lot hotter than the historic common,” mentioned climatologist Jonathon Pollock. “In truth, of all of the years on report previous to the yr 2000, solely 5 had been hotter than 2021.”
The Intergovernmental Panel on Local weather Change final yr reported that Australian land areas had been on common 1.4C hotter than early final century, and warming was unequivocally because of human affect.
The nation had its wettest November on report in 2021 and throughout the yr skilled its highest rainfall ranges since 2016. Nationally averaged rainfall was 9% above the 1961–1990 common, with 509.7mm. For a lot of Australia the quantity of rainfall was above common in comparison with all years since 1900.
The wetter climate was influenced by a number of local weather drivers, together with La Niña, which persevered by means of the 2020-21 summer season and emerged once more in November.
A adverse Indian Ocean dipole in winter and spring fuelled above-average winter–spring rainfall over components of southern Australia, in comparison with the distribution of rainfall throughout all years since 1900.
“Two years in a row of above common rainfall meant by the tip of 2021, and for the primary time in 5 years, no giant components of the nation had been in meteorological drought,” mentioned Pollock.
He mentioned main water storages throughout jap Australia had recorded important will increase. In western NSW, the Menindee Lakes stuffed for the primary time since 2012.
There have been some exceptions, nevertheless. Probably the most important was in south-east Queensland, the place water storages have remained low.
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