Re: Outback rainfall events and Princess Parrots

[Laurie Knight <>]

The climate maps on the website are summary documents.  The fact that  
a map shows that a region had its wettest year on record does not
imply that every point in that area had its wettest year on record.

What the map does show is that rainfall across Central Australia was
typically in the 9th decile or higher - that is, very wet in relative  
terms.  Similarly the temperature map also shows that temperatures
across much of Central Australia were typically in the first decile -  
very much below the average.
Not only did the princess parrot irruption take place in a wet period,  
it was also a prolonged cool period.  Kakadu, by contrast had both
above average rainfall and temperatures.  I'm blaming that for my
failure to find any WT Grasswrens in August ;)

As for Lake Eyre, virtually all the rivers flowing south from
Queensland carry flood warnings, so there will be further substantial  
inflows this year.
LK

On 07/01/2011, at 8:36 AM, Ian May wrote:

> Hello all
>
>
> Note the BOM rainfall map indicating 2010 was the wettest year on
> record for the area where Princess Parrots irrupted.
>
> see 
> http://www.bom.gov.au/announcements/media_releases/climate/change/20110105.shtml
>
> However apart from local anomalies, the information appears to be
> not quite correct. Despite the hype surrounding current outback
> seasonal conditions, 2010 was not the highest outback rainfall event  
> in recent history. In many areas of Central Australia 2010 was not
> even close to the record event it has been portrayed to be. (See
> links below)
>
> Why do so many of us often think we are experiencing the wettest/
> driest, hottest/coldest, biggest/smallest weather events on record
> when a careful study of the daily records from ALL the available
> stations show that in only 150 years of records we rarely are?
>
> Sometimes even the Met Bureau misinterprets the available
> information.   Is someone pushing their climate change agenda a
> little hard?  Is there is a selective process in play or is someone  
> careless with their research.
> Mostly I blame the media and marketing hype from some desperate
> tourism operators who sometimes guild the lily just a bit.   The
> flooding of Lake Eyre is a classic example of this.  How often do we  
> hear this is a once in a generation event.  Not true.
> Except during extended drought periods, Lake Eyre takes water from
> various tributaries particularly The Neales, Macumba, KallaKoopah
> and Warburton about 3 times every decade. The Cooper Creek however
> rarely flows into Lake Eyre.  Although it reached the lake in 1989
> and 2010, the last time it contributed any significant water to the  
> lake level was 1971, 1974 – 76.
> In 2010 although the Lake Eyre tributaries flooded and filled the
> Warburton Groove, water barely reached the samphire margins with
> only a very shallow cover on the lake surface. When the wind blows
> across the lake surface, water moves downwind giving an impression
> of flooding but if the wind changes you can be looking at a dry area  
> of lake within 24 hours. By comparison, in 1974 the lake filled to a  
> depth of nearly 10 metres.  You can still see the wave cut platforms  
> grooved horizontally into the soft calcareous soils of the Halligan  
> Bay mesas.
> Sometimes small area weather anomalies break local records and
> clearly the media enjoys making great mileage from this.   Such
> localised events are not comparable with great wet events such as
> 1974 when from January rainfall amounts of more than 40 inches fell  
> over a 3 month period across much of Central Australia north from
> Port Augusta to the Gulf of Carpentaria, Top End and Kimberley. The  
> whole lot flooded.  Lake Eyre filled up backing north into the
> Simpson Desert and then backed across the NT border.  The desert
> sand dunes became islands where water birds bred in numbers that
> defied description.  This resulted in the 1970's waterbird
> population explosion and partly helps explain why there has been a
> decline of water bird numbers since official counts began in 1983.
>
> In 1974 many outback stations around the Princess Parrot habitats
> received rainfall around 1000 mm and more.  See Yuendumu, Newhaven,  
> Erldunda etc. Alice Springs also enjoyed exceptional conditions in
> those years too.
>
> Interestingly Cyclone Tracy occurred in December 1974.  This was a
> separate weather event to the outback flooding that commenced in
> January although at the same time the remnants of Cyclone Wanda
> flooded much of Brisbane.
>
>
>
> See Yuendumu NT
> http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear=&p_stn_num=015528
>
> See Alice Springs NT
> http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear=&p_stn_num=0015590
>
> See Newhaven NT
> http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear=&p_stn_num=0015611
>
> See Ali Carung NT
> http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear=&p_stn_num=0015502
>
> See Erldunda NT
> http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear=&p_stn_num=0015574
>
> See Arkaroola SA
> http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear=&p_stn_num=0017099
>
> See Blinman SA
> http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear=&p_stn_num=0017014
>
> See Frome Downs SA
> http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear=&p_stn_num=0020006
>
> See Innamincka SA
> http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear=&p_stn_num=0020006
>
> See Birdsville Qld
> http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear=&p_stn_num=038002
>
> See Winton Qld
> http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear=&p_stn_num=037051
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