Analysis of Australia's oceans, atmosphere, temperature, rainfall, water, and significant weather during 2024.
Introduction
Australia: Climate 2024 |
It includes information on
temperature, rainfall, hydrology, water storages, oceans, atmosphere and
notable weather events.
It describes some of the key climate features
and climate indicators for the year.
Australia's climate can vary from year to year. This variation is associated with changes in the global climate system including natural cyclical patterns such as the El Niño–Southern, as well as global warming trends. Sea surface temperature patterns are particularly significant for monthly, seasonal or annual variability in temperature and rainfall in Australia.
This annual snapshot complements the Bureau and CSIRO's State of the Climate report, which is published every 2 years and is a synthesis of the latest science on climate change.
Temperature
- Australia's second-warmest year since national records began in 1910, with the national annual average temperature 1.46 °C warmer than the long-term (1961–1990) average.
- The national average maximum temperature was 1.48 °C above the long-term average, the fourth-warmest on record. The national average minimum temperature was 1.43 °C above the long-term average, and the warmest on record.
- Warmth was persistent throughout the year. Nationally, summer 2023–24 was the third-warmest on record, winter was the second-warmest on record and spring was the warmest on record.
- Low-to-severe intensity heatwave conditions affected large parts of Australia during early 2024 and from September to December.
Rainfall
- Nationally-averaged rainfall was 596 mm, 28% above the 1961–1990 average, making it the eighth-wettest year since national records began in 1900.
- Rainfall was above average for the Northern Territory, northern and inland areas of Western Australia, large parts of Queensland, northern and inland areas of New South Wales and western and north-eastern parts of South Australia.
- Rainfall across northern Australia as a whole (north of 26° S) was 42% above average, making it the fifth-wettest year on record, and the wettest since 2011.
- Rainfall was below average to very much below average for small parts of Queensland, south-eastern New South Wales, Victoria, western Tasmania, southern South Australia, and some coastal parts of Western Australia.
Water resources
- Soil moisture was above the annual average in large parts of northern Australia and central Western Australia, and in parts of eastern and inland New South Wales. However, soil moisture was below the annual average in large parts of the southern coastal mainland and Tasmania.
- Annual streamflow was below average in large areas of southern Australia, while northern and parts of eastern Australia had above average streamflow.
- By the end of 2024, surface water storage levels had decreased across southern parts of the country, including in the Murray–Darling Basin, due to dry conditions and low inflows.
- Australia's total surface water storage was just under 73% at the end of 2024, a slight decrease from the end of 2023.
- By the end of 2024, groundwater levels had increased in the east and north, but decreased in western Victoria, South Australia and south-west Western Australia due to below average rainfall.
Oceans and atmosphere
- Annual sea surface temperatures for the Australian region for 2024 were the warmest on record, and 0.89 °C above the long-term average.
- Global sea surface temperatures in 2024 were the warmest on record.
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Climate indicators of other major global oceanic and atmospheric systems that affected Australia during 2024.
- The 2023–24 El Niño eased in early 2024 with a return to neutral El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions in April. ENSO remained mostly neutral for the remainder of 2024, despite weak La Niña characteristics emerging at times in both oceanic and atmospheric indices.
- The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) was neutral throughout 2024, though it dropped below the negative IOD threshold for a brief period during October and November.
- A positive phase of the Southern Annular Mode was active at times during the year, particularly in January, April to June, September and November, with a prolonged negative phase during July and August.
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