Rain storm delivers little reprieve from heatwave

The wet season’s third heatwave will hit the NT this week, despite a large storm moving through yesterday.

DARWINITES copped a cracker of a rain storm on Wednesday afternoon to take the edge off what is expected to be a scorcher of a week ahead.

BoM senior meteorologist Rebecca Patrick said Darwin Harbour experienced gusts up to 81km/h about 3.30pm.

But the storm’s cooling respite was short-lived with a severe to extreme heatwave forecast across most of the NT. It is the third heatwave for the wet season, with temperatures set to rise as high as mid-40s in some inland areas and mid to high 30s forecast for the Territory’s coastal regions.

Some of the worst hit areas include Newry, which is set to hit 46C on Friday, while Lajamanu, Daguragu and Rabbit Flat could see the mercury sore to 45C.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Angeline Prasad said a lack of clouds and rainfall would intensify the heatwave.

“We’re looking at cloudless skies, sunny days and very little shower and thunderstorm activity, and if they are happening they’re confined to the coast, so they’re not providing much relief. Unfortunately, this pattern will continue for much of this week.”

It comes after it was reported Territorians have a wetter-than-average wet season to look forward to in 2021 with the Bureau of Meteorology declaring a La Niña.

A La Niña is part of a weather cycle known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation which is a natural shift in ocean temperatures and weather patterns in the Pacific Ocean.

During a La Niña waters in the central or eastern tropical Pacific become cooler than normal, winds strengthen and clouds shift closer to Australia leading to a wetter than normal period.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Billy Lynch said Territorians could expect a wetter than average season with plenty of rain on the way.

“We’ve declared a La Niña which will mean Territorians can expect a wetter-than-average wet season particularly in the first part from November to January,” Mr Lynch said.

“A La Niña can lead to a more active monsoon, there is a chance that may mean more cyclones and we are expecting an average to above average cyclone season.

“This also means that there is an increased risk of flooding with more and often heavier rainfall expected.”

The last significant La Niña was in 2010-12 which saw large across the country including Australia’s wettest two-year period on record.

Territorians can also expect a weakening of in the Top End’s severe heatwave over the next couple of days as rainfall is expected to alleviate temperatures.

“Wednesday was the last of the very hot days across the Arnhem District,” Mr Lynch said.

“We expect more cloud cover lowering temperatures until the middle of next week where unfortunately temperatures will increase again.”