September 2010 was Australia's wettest in 111 years

The USA based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center have stated that September 2010 was Australia's wettest month in 111 years of precipitation records being kept.

A moderate to strong La Niña event - known scientifically as El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) - in the tropical Pacific Ocean is bringing wetter conditions across much of eastern Australia, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. "La Niña is the flipside to the well known drought-producing El Niño. It usually brings wetter than average spring and summer conditions to much of eastern Australia" said the Manager of the NSW Climate Services Centre, Clinton Rakich.



The NOAA analysis said:

"Of interest on a regional level, September 2010 was Australia's wettest September of its 111-year period of record, surpassing the record previously set in 1906. Rainfall averaged across the country was nearly two times higher the long-term average, due largely to well-above average rainfall in the tropics and subtropics. Australia's dry season in these regions is typically from May to October, making the heavy rainfall very unusual. The rainfall was associated with the development of moderate to strong La Niña conditions earlier in 2010. By the end of the month, South Australia had already received its average annual rainfall, making 2010 the first above-average year since 2003. While the wet conditions helped alleviate seasonal dry conditions, it was not enough to overcome long-term (14-year) drought deficits in southeastern Australia and southwest Western Australia."

Read more on the State of the Climate Global Analysis for September 2010 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Climatic Data Center.

Source: NOAA National Climatic Data Center, State of the Climate: Global Analysis for September 2010, published online October 2010, retrieved on October 24, 2010 from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/?report=global&year=2010&month=9