Tag: Australia

Calmest Australian Cyclone Season Since 1970

Published on by sunshinehours11 Comment

Calmest Since 1970650x366_04261111_image-download

With the official end of the Australian tropical season only days away, the calmest season in decades will come to an end.

The season, which officially runs from 1 November through 30 April, has endured only three named cyclones originating within the Australian Tropical Basin.

Having only three named storms of Category 1 strength or higher in the basin would be the fewest dating back to 1970, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

According to Senior Meteorologist Jason Nicholls, “El Niño played an important role in the low activity of the tropical season as tropical development flourished closer to Fiji and Vanuatu and away from Australia.” El Niño occurs when ocean water temperatures rise above normal across the central and eastern Pacific, near the equator which influences global weather patterns.

Less Fresh Water in the Arctic and More Rainfall in Australia Leads To Lower Sea Level and Less Ice?

Published on by sunshinehours13 Comments

Could massive amounts of rainfall in Australia have deprived the Arctic of fresh water so there was less sea ice?

NSIDC:  “Water from the Pacific Ocean and several rivers in Russia and Canada provide fresher, less dense water to the Arctic Ocean. So the Arctic Ocean has a layer of cold, fresh water near the surface with warmer, saltier water below. This cold, fresh water layer typically allows more ice growth in the Arctic than the Antarctic.”

NCAR: ” when three atmospheric patterns came together over the Indian and Pacific oceans, they drove so much precipitation over Australia in 2010 and 2011 that the world’s ocean levels dropped measurably.”

UAH says Australia Cooling at -.927C per decade for last 5 years

Published on by sunshinehours12 Comments

UAH is a satellite temperature dataset, developed at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Last month UAH added AUST to its satellite data temperature set. AUST is Australia.

According to UAH, Australia is cooling at -.927C per decade over the last 5 years and cooling at -.291C per decade over the last 10 years.

UAH - Last 5 years - AUST

UAH - Last 10 years - AUST