Extreme weather in Australia

Devastating floods feed ‘mega river’ in northern Australia that can be seen from space

Stuff.co.nz

15 February, 2019

Flooding in North Queensland, Australia has spilled into the Flinders River System to create a 60 kilometre-wide "mega river" that can be seen from space. 

On Wednesday, the Bureau of Meteorology said the river system "is currently experiencing its most significant flood in at least the last 50 years".

Satellite imagery shows the engorged Flinders River in Northern Queensland. It’s so wide it has enveloped other nearby rivers.

"The amount of rainfall has been staggering," Sky News meteorologist Rob Sharpe told News Corp. 

"Above 500mm of rain spread across a vast region - 300km across and 200km north.

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"The Flinders River System is now a flood plain. This is a mega river making its way up to the gulf."

At 1000km long, the Flinders is the longest river in Queensland and drains a vast area of some 108,000sq km. Only the last 70km of the river holds water all year round.

The river is surrounded by a large flat clay pan that is ideal for raising cattle. Floodwaters rose so fast that cattle couldn't be moved in time and hundreds of thousands of animals perished. 

The Flinders River will shrink back to its regular size once the remaining floodwater drains into the Gulf of Carpentaria, which may take another week. 

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will see the flood devastation of the cattle industry first hand in a visit to the town of Cloncurry on Friday.

Noting he was last in the area two years ago when all around was dry red dust, Morrison tweeted: "We will be standing with all those affected as you recover and rebuild."

Authorities are warning people to take care after one woman died and nine more people were infected by a soil-borne bacteria stirred up by heavily contaminated floodwaters.

Dust cloud from Australia heading to NZ

TVNZ,

15 February, 2019

The big dust cloud that has been causing visibility and air quality problems in parts of Australia is expected to arrive in New Zealand today.

MetService said it would be blown across the South Island and may affect parts of the central North Island on Friday.

A large dust storm swept parts of New South Wales and Canberra this week as a cold front pushed strong winds ahead of it across the south east of the country. The storm brought wind damage and power cuts in the Canberra area, and thick dust was moving into southern Queensland.

The west coast of the South Island is forecast to be affected by some of this dust from this morning through until tonight, and western parts of the North Island tonight and into Friday morning.

Duty forecaster Heath Gullery said it would most likely cause redness in the sky at dusk and dawn.

"It's most likely to be seen as an extra redness in the sky during sunrise and sunset. There may be an extra bit of haziness in the sky," he said.

He said it was a fairly rare event likely caused by dust and smoke from fires in Australia. Most of the dust will be in the upper atmosphere.

MetService forecasters were not sure about the density and amount of dust that would eventually reach New Zealand but expected the cold front to make landfall over Fiordland this morning

Huge dust storm hits Sydney