" Is someone pushing their climate change agenda a little hard? "
I think the Met Office and its staff would take exception, as they
should, to this remark.
John Leonard
On 7 January 2011 09:36, 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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--
John Leonard
Canberra
Australia
www.jleonard.net
I want to be with the 99,999 other things.
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