El Niño set to be wettest on record as storms soak Australia's east
Australia is experiencing its wettest El Niño year on record, with persistent storms and heavy rainfall affecting the eastern seaboard. A stalled high-pressure system in the Tasman Sea is driving the unusual weather pattern.
Why it matters
The extreme weather impacts infrastructure, agriculture, and public safety, highlighting the volatility of climate patterns.
Link copied Share Share article This year remains on track to become Australia's wettest El Niño year on record, and the first ever with above-average national winter-spring rainfall.
October has been particularly damp thanks to an ongoing outbreak of showers and thunderstorms forecast to affect more than half the country during the next seven days.
Already this week, Sydney has been drenched by more than 100 millimetres of rain, central Queensland has been lashed by severe flash flooding, while outback storms brought destructive winds to Alice Springs.
The focus for storms today is Queensland where an influx of tropical moisture could pave the way for intense cells, and the risk of flash flooding, most likely over inland regions south of Longreach.
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