Australia ended 2021 in an unusual climatic state, with no region in this famously wide, mostly brown land officially in drought for the first time since 2017.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s latest drought report, released on Friday, said the country’s record rainfall in November helped clear up remaining areas of short- to medium-term rainfall deficiencies.
A slightly drier than average December – including the driest December in Tasmania since 1994 – did not derail the generally wetter trajectory of late for the country.
“It’s the first time in five years, since the start of 2017, that we haven’t any part of Australia in what we call a meteorological drought,” said Simon Grainger, a senior climatologist with the Bureau of Meteorology.
Such a measure assesses the extent and severity of drought conditions by comparing rain tallies to typical levels for a region, and is keenly watched by farmers and firefighters, among others.
Climate change is altering the chances of rain, with southern Australia tending to dry out, particularly in winter, while northern Australia is getting wetter.
Last year was marked by storms and floods and ended up as Australia’s coolest since 2012 but still unusually warm for a La Niña year. It was also the wettest year since 2016.
Among the state capitals, Perth was a standout with rainfall 22% above 1990s averages. The 892mm recorded in the Western Australian capital made it the wettest year since 1994, Grainger said.
WA was notable for its searing December heat, with the state posting its third-hottest December on record for maximum and mean temperatures, the bureau said. Marble Bar – the Pilbara town more akin to a frying pan – sweltered with 29 consecutive days of at least 42C, beating a previous record run of 25 such blistering days in 1986.
Mardie, also in north-west WA, recorded Australia’s hottest temperature in 2021, with the mercury reaching a toasty 47.9C on 20 December.
The experience for most Australians, though, was a moderately cool year.
“It’s been relatively cool across the south-eastern capitals, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra,” Grainger said.
Melbourne’s days averaged 19.8C in 2021, the coolest since 1996. Nights in the Victorian capital averaged 11.2C, the coolest since 2006. The city’s rainfall of 682.6mm was 5% above the long-run average.
Sydney, which is typically wetter than Melbourne, recorded 1,290.2mm rain in 2021 – 6% above the norm.
Sydney’s average maximum of 23.1C was 1.3C above the average for all years in records going back to 1858. Minimums were 0.3% above the norm at 14.1C.
Canberra’s 19.6C average maximum gave the national capital its coolest year since 1996, or 0.3C below the long-term norm. Minimums of 6.2C were the briskest since 2012, similarly 0.3C below average. Rainfall of 912.6mm was the most since 2010, or 46% above average.
Adelaide was another capital on the cool side, with an average maximum of 22.0C – the coolest since 1997 - and 0.6C below the norm. Minimums were 10C cooler, averaging 12C, the chilliest year since 2002. Rain was close to average at 506.4mm.
Brisbane, too, with average days reaching 26.4C, was 0.3C cooler than the 1990s, though nights were slightly above average at 16.6C. Annual rainfall was 39% above average, at 1,407mm, even if the city’s main Wivenhoe dam missed out on it, ending the year at under half full.
Hobart maintained its record as Australia’s second driest capital, with its 664.2mm of rain about 9% higher than the long-run average. Maximums of 17.7C across the year were close the average since 1991, as were minimums of 9.2C.
In the Top End, Darwin’s days averaged 33C in 2021, making it the city’s equal fourth hottest year on record.
Minimums in Darwin averaged 23.9C, or 0.6C above the average over the past 30 years, making it the eighth-warmest for overnight temperatures. Rainfall was just above average at 1,787.8mm.
Rounding out the extremes, Australia’s coldest place in 2021 was Perisher Valley in New South Wales, where the mercury sank to 10.0C below zero on 7 July.
And in a year of big floods that looks likely to extend into 2022 along with the La Niña set-up in the Pacific, the wettest daily recording was Byfield in north Queensland. There the rain gauge collected 550mm on 17 March.
