Australia records driest October since 2002

Canberra, Nov 2 (IANS) Australia recorded its driest October since 2002, with the nationally-averaged total rainfall being 65.4 per cent below the 1961-1990 average, according to a report newly released by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

The BOM report said all states and territories of Australia, except Victoria, had below-average rainfall for October, reports Xinhua news agency.

For Western Australia, it was the driest October on record since the national dataset began in 1900, with statewide rainfall 83.5 per cent below average.

Meanwhile, rainfall was above average for most of eastern Victoria extending into adjacent parts of New South Wales.

As for temperatures, the BOM pointed out that the national mean temperature for October was 1.05 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1961-1990 average for Australia as a whole, which resulted from a large high-pressure system dominating the continent.

Hot and dry weather, alongside strong and gusty winds, fanned up "extreme to catastrophic" fire danger for parts of Australia, with multiple grassfires and bushfires breaking out across northern and eastern parts of the country.

In October, southeastern Australia also saw some "winter-like conditions", as a strong cold front swept through the region with winds, showers, polar air and "speckled" clouds.

"On October 25 and 26, large parts of South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and southwestern Queensland experienced daily maximum temperatures 4 to 8 degrees Celsius cooler than average for October," said the bureau.

During the month, several centimeters of snow settled on elevated parts of southern and central Tasmania as well as Alpine regions in Victoria.