SYDNEY, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Australia will receive above-average autumn rains in its grain-growing eastern regions, helped by La Nina, although the weather phenomenon has passed its peak, the weather bureau said on Thursday.Summer has been wetter than usual due to La Nina, which typically brings more rainfall and cooler temperatures than average in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
BOM forecasts wet autumn for some as La Niña weather system declines abc.net.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from abc.net.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
First published on Mon 14 Dec 2020 22.16 EST
Flood warnings have been issued for towns across northern New South Wales as heavy rains and abnormally high tides continue to batter a 500-kilometre stretch of coast from Taree to the border town of Tweed Heads.
The Bureau of Meteorology on Tuesday afternoon issued a number of minor and moderate flood warnings for rivers stretching from the state’s mid-north to far-north coasts, including at Murwillumbah, where residents were earlier subject to a flood evacuation notice.
Although conditions eased in some areas on Tuesday, the bureau said showers and thunderstorms would persist over the coming days and would “continue to bring the risk of flash flooding”.
It s Australia s first big blaze of the fire season. How bad will the summer get?
A recent report on last year’s fires from an independent Royal Commission acknowledged that climate change had already significantly increased the risk of natural disasters in Australia. New York Times December 10, 2020 / 03:23 PM IST
A landscape shrouded in smoke from nearby bushfires is seen near Bumbalong, New South Wales, Australia in February 2020. (Image: Reuters)
The first major blaze of Australia s wildfire season has now blackened roughly half of Fraser Island, an idyllic getaway north of Brisbane renowned for its golden beaches and lush biodiversity.
With evacuation orders reaching residents Monday, Australians who had hoped there wasn’t much more to burn after last year’s colossal fires are grappling with a brutal reminder: In a vast country that is fire-prone and especially vulnerable to climate change, the risk of record-breaking i