Torrential rain has been battering eastern Australia since Monday, with rainfall totals on the northeast coast reaching well over 100mm. In Yabulu, north of Townsville, there was significant flooding on Tuesday as 196mm of rain fell in 24 hours. It was not the highest total on record, however, with 244mm of rain falling on Tuesday at Mourilyan, near Innisfail on the Cassowary coast.
The threat of heavy rain flowed south across Queensland to the southeast, reaching Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday; southeast stations recorded up to 100 mm, with one station at Dayboro recording 161 mm. On Friday, an additional 100 to 150 mm of rain fell in the southeast.
Communities in the Black Mountain area of Noosa in southeast Queensland have been cut off following flash floods blocking roads, with alternative routes destroyed by a landslide during late heavy rains february. Road and school closures have littered Queensland and a woman died on Wednesday after being swept away in a car during flash flooding north of Mackay. Watersheds have been inundated and soils saturated after multiple torrential rains in recent months, with rivers overflowing and dams bursting at the seams.
The monthly rainfall totals from all of this appear to be more than three times the monthly average across Queensland and northern New South Wales. The recent La Niña event reinforcing easterly winds across the equator brought about these torrential rains, as the increased humidity is fueled by the Pacific for these events.
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Meanwhile, on Sunday, tropical cyclones Asani and Karim were seen reflecting across the equator in satellite images. The cyclones developed in the Indian Ocean, with Asani sitting north of the equator east of India spinning counter-clockwise, while Karim spinning clockwise. a watch to the south. These rotational differences are governed by the Coriolis force – this causes Northern Hemisphere winds to deflect to the right and Southern Hemisphere winds to deflect to the left due to the Earth’s rotation. Asani brought relief to eastern regions of India, which are battling a heat wave, as clouds and rain reached eastern coasts on Wednesday. However, temperatures still reached 46°C (114.8°F) in Gujarat, northwest India, on the same day.
