Rare weather event over Antarctica driving Australia's hot, dry outlook
- molly510
- Sep 6, 2019
- 1 min read
A rare event that took place 30 kilometres above the South Pole last week is expected to impact upon Australia's rainfall outlook.
The upper atmosphere above Antarctica warmed by as much as 40 degrees Celsius in the course of a few days — and it is continuing to warm.
This rare phenomenon, known as sudden stratospheric warming (SSW), could deepen one of the worst droughts in Australian history.
The Bureau of Meteorology's Harry Hendon warned of dry weather ahead.
"We will typically see conditions across most of Australia, but primarily concentrated in the eastern part of Australia, become warmer and drier through spring and into early summer," Dr Hendon said.
SSW is rare in the southern hemisphere with only one major event ever identified, in 2002 — one of Australia's driest years on record.
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