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A wet start to 2015 across eastern Australia

Max Gonzalez, Friday January 30, 2015 - 13:10 AEDT

January 2015 is on track to be a wet one, as muggy conditions have continued the trend started in December across the eastern states.

A quasi-permanent trough over the eastern inland has combined with warm and very moist northerly winds this month, bringing a lot of rainfall east of the divide. Warmer than average sea surface waters have also played an important role, by pumping increased levels of moisture into the atmosphere.

The heaviest falls this past month for any capital city occurred in Brisbane where the flood gates of heaven delivered 166mm of rainfall within 48 hours. So far 319mm of rainfall have waterlogged the Sunshine State capital (144mm being the mean January rainfall), making it the 2nd wettest January since 1974. The wettest being January 2012 with 343mm.

Across the border, Sydneysiders started dry but ended up on a wet note. During Australia Day and the two days following it, The Emerald City managed to pick up 117mm of rainfall. Overall, Sydney has managed to pick up 171mm (the January average is 101mm), making it the wettest since 2001. Moreover, this is the first time that the city has seen two consecutive months above average since January/February 2013.

Further south, the rainfall totals for the month were a bit more modest. Our Nation's Capital, with 97mm, is likely to meet month's end having registered over 150% of its January average. This will make it the wettest January of the new millennia.

The City on the Yarra will end up right on average with 47mm. For Melbourne, this will be the 4th wettest January in the new millennia after '04, '06 and '11.

The short term forecast is looking to be drier, with heat building once again over central parts of Australia during the first half of February. Extremes in the this great land of ours can never be ruled out and an East Coast Low or Tropical Cyclones can always bump rainfall values significantly in a very short period of time. After all we do live on the land of droughts and flooding rains...

- Weatherzone

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