When will it stop raining?

Bradshaw said climate instability would continue for some decades, but making major cuts to greenhouse gas emissions now would have a big impact later this century, and Australia could influence the global outcome as a major fossil fuel exporter and potential superpower. of clean energy.

England said warmer water in the Coral and Tasmanian seas had increased humidity in the atmosphere, increasing the chances of heavy rain on the east coast. That’s why the Australian summer experienced the seemingly contradictory phenomenon of a wet El Niño, a climate factor that generally means hot, dry conditions.

Melting sea ice and glaciers in Antarctica further aggravate the long-term outlook not only because of rising sea levels, but because colder meltwater could disrupt ocean warming trends. The Risk Frontiers research institute says the assumption that climate change would mean a more El Niño-like future for Australia – more droughts, higher bushfire risks, more heat waves – could be wrong. If meltwater from Antarctica cools the Pacific Ocean, it could mean that Australia’s future will be more of a La Niña, the weather factor that usually means cold, rainy conditions.

CSIRO agricultural scientist Lindsay Bell said increasing climate variability was a challenge for farmers and “wet seasons can be as difficult to manage as dry seasons for most dryland producers”.

In mid-April, the Bureau of Meteorology had predicted that it was most likely to be a dry May on the east coast. Instead, it has rained in Sydney every day in May so far, with more to come.

Charging

Dr Andrew King, a climate scientist at the University of Melbourne, said weather forecasts for the coming days were becoming more accurate, but the seasonal outlook remained difficult.

Sydney’s Observatory Hill weather station will record its 10th consecutive day of rain at 9am on Friday. Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Jordan Notara said the spell of rain was unlikely to break the record set in 2022, when it rained for 17 days.

Notara said Sydney’s forecast was for rain throughout Thursday and Friday, followed by a wet Saturday with the potential for localized flash flooding in Sydney and the Illawarra.

Notara said the weather was likely to improve next Monday or Tuesday, and there was a chance the sun could return on Sunday, in time for Mother’s Day.