Australia in the fury of floods with homes in Melbourne flooded, forecast says rivers will remain dangerously high for days

Melbourne happens to be the second-most populous city of Australia. Its population is around 5 million. The authorities advised some residents to move out of the suburb in northwest of Melbourne. There are similar instructions for hundreds in the Victoria state cities of Benalla and Wedderburn. Hundreds of homes in Victoria were flooded and many more remain isolated by floodwater. In the words of Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews - most of the state was experiencing a “very, very, significant rainfall event and it comes, of course, with the ground completely sodden.” The forecast of the Met department is of more rain throughout the next six-to-eight week period. Obviously, people will have to endure the situation for some more time. Daniel Andrews also mentioned about many homes without power. Homes Inundated by Swollen Rivers in Australian Floods. The State Emergency Service carried out more than 100 flood rescues in Victoria in the past 48 hours.

Last month the Bureau of Meteorology declared that a La Niña weather pattern, usually associated with above-average rainfall in eastern Australia, was underway in the Pacific. It said that the La Niña event may peak during the current Southern Hemisphere spring and return to neutral conditions early next year. Incidentally, La Niña is the cooler flip side of the better-known drying El Niño pattern. It is the third La Niña since 2019 when Australia became the hottest and driest year on record. That year witnessed wildfires fueled by drought that directly or indirectly led to the death of hundreds of people, destruction of hundreds of homes and loss of millions of acres of woods, farmland and city fringes. Sydney, the capital of New South Wales and the largest city of Australia beat its 1950 record last week to make 2022 its wettest-ever year.

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Met department predicts a scorching summer for Bihar – el Nino effect

This year, Bihar has bid adieu to winter and residents are already feeling the heat of summer and feel threatened with prospects of a scorching summer. As per the Met department, winter is said to have departed from Bihar when the minimum temperature remains above 13°C for over four consecutive days at this time of the year. And, that is what has happened.
India Meteorological Department-Patna (IMD-Patna) data shows that night temperatures have shot up by four to five degrees above normal over the past few days and a grueling summer is on the cards. It is predicted that the average temperature could be higher than normal by a few notches, especially in March and April, as a result of the El Niño effect.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 20 February 2016.

Without doubt, summer might set in early this year because summer is said to have set in when the maximum temperature is 37°C or above in Bihar - this condition could be met around the third week of March but, people are already feeling the heat.
Bihar had experienced one of the warmest winters in the past 50 years, without a single cold-wave spell. The season had arrived late and, the minimum temperature had remained at 13 degrees Celsius or below only in the third week of December. Meteorologists attribute this trend to higher sea surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean, known as the El Niño.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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New Zealand facing El Nino weather conditions

Climate scientists have predicted that New Zealand is in the grip of an El Nino weather pattern which is as strong as the "super El Nino" which ravaged the West Coast in 1997-98. The analysis is that the current El Nino, already classed as "strong", could bring more rain than usual to the Coast over the coming three months.
This has been reported in nzherald.co.nz dated 20 October 2015.

In order to assess how strong the El Nino was, the scientists used a variety of information and the data revealed that the current El Nino had strengthened and has now been ranked nearly as highly as the "super El Ninos" of 1982-83 and 1997-98.
One of the effects of El Nino for New Zealand were high likelihood of stronger than normal westerlies during summer. Past data had shown that there was above average rainfall on the West Coast during the 1982-83 and 1997-98 summers but, some areas of the Coast received around 180 per cent of their normal rainfall during the 1997-98 summer.
In order to tackle El Nino, farmers might have to stand their cows off more frequently than in previous years. That would be worth it because when there is 50 per cent less grass one has to act accordingly. Some farmers might have to go in for serious decisions like culling the cows early while others could choose once-a-day milking.
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Worries for Pacific countries like New Zealand from combined effects of El Nino and La Nina

The combined effects of El Nino and La Nina could wreak havoc on Pacific countries like New Zealand as revealed by International researchers from 13 institutions, including Waikato University. Their conclusion is based on data collected from 48 beaches across three continents and five countries recorded between 1979 and 2012.
This has been reported in nzherald.co.nz dated 22 September 2015.

As per their findings, bigger waves and more coastal erosion will hit the Pacific countries like New Zealand because the severe El Nino and La Nina events would lead to an increase in storm events. The research strengthens the understanding of the impacts of the climate-driven La Nina and El Nino systems.
These have not been factored into studies on future coastal vulnerability that focused mainly on sea level rise. It may be recalled that when the west coast of the US mainland and Canada, Hawaii, and northern Japan felt the coastal impacts of El Nino, namely, bigger waves, different wave direction, higher water levels and erosion. However, New Zealand and Australia had experienced 'suppression' like smaller waves and less erosion and, things could be different now.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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India facing drought year with rainfall deficit of 22% - worst since 1993

Monsoons in India are on the verge of withdrawing for the year and with a rainfall deficit of 22%, worst since 1993, India is facing a near drought situation – it would be the second successive year of drought.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 1 September 2015.

Indian Meteorological Department IMD has said that the all India weighted average rainfall in August was 204.2mm against a normal of 261mm. This is the third lowest August rainfall in more than two decades. After 1993, monsoon in August has been weaker only in 2009 (also an El Nino year) and 2005.
IMD had predicted a 10% rain shortfall for the month.
July and August are usually the wettest months of the season and, both have ended with high deficits.
The retreat of monsoons are based on three criteria observed in the region. These are absence of rain for at least five straight days, a significant drop in moisture and reversal of monsoonal winds by the formation of an anti-cyclone.
IMD has said that already there are signs of the first two conditions and, within the next few days, all criteria would be met.
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