8
BAMOS 2021 / 2022 Summer
News
2021 coolest year in nearly a decade and wettest since 2016
Bureau of Meteorology
By the end of 2021 — and for the first time in five years — no large parts of the country were experiencing rainfall deficits and drought conditions .
This is according to the Bureau of Meteorology ’ s Annual Climate Statement — the official summary and contextual information regarding temperatures , rainfall and significant weather for the 2021 calendar year .
Bureau of Meteorology Senior Climatologist Dr Simon Grainger said : " After three years of drought from 2017 to 2019 , above average rainfall last year resulted in a welcome recharge of our water storages but also some significant flooding to eastern Australia ."
In 2021 , Australia ' s mean temperature was 0.56 ° C above the 1961 to 1990 climate reference period . It was the 19th warmest year since national records began in 1910 , but also the coolest year since 2012 .
Despite the cooling impacts of the negative Indian Ocean Dipole , a period of warmer than usual ocean temperatures in the western Indian ocean , and La Niña , a period of cooling of the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean , 2021 was warmer than average ( calculated in relation to the 1961 to 1990 climate reference period ) and warmer than historical La Niña years .
Temperatures were above or very much above average for most of northern Australia , Tasmania , and Western Australia ' s west coast , but below average for parts of inland New South Wales , and around the southern border of the Northern Territory and Western Australia .
Rainfall was 9 percent above the 1961 to 1990 average , making 2021 the wettest year since 2016 , with November the wettest on record .
Above average rainfall was observed for much of eastern Victoria , New South Wales , southern and central west Queensland , the western parts of Western Australia , and large parts of the far northern tropics .
As a result , significant flooding occurred across eastern Australia in March and again in November and December .
On a positive note , the major dams in the Murray Darling Basin saw significant increases of water levels , replenishing storages affected by protracted drought .
Only a few small areas saw below average rainfall , including the border region of South Australia and Victoria .
More information can be found on the Bureau ' s
website . A full report on Australia ' s weather and climate of 2021 will be released in February .
Stay up to date with 2022 climate as it happens with our weekly , monthly and seasonal climate outlooks , updated
here .