عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Thunderstorms Batter Australia’s East, Heatwave Grips North

Oxenford resident Robert Mintel (L) talks with emergency services after his property was damaged by storms on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, 28 December 2023. (EPA)
Oxenford resident Robert Mintel (L) talks with emergency services after his property was damaged by storms on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, 28 December 2023. (EPA)
TT
20
TT

Thunderstorms Batter Australia’s East, Heatwave Grips North

Oxenford resident Robert Mintel (L) talks with emergency services after his property was damaged by storms on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, 28 December 2023. (EPA)
Oxenford resident Robert Mintel (L) talks with emergency services after his property was damaged by storms on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, 28 December 2023. (EPA)

Severe thunderstorms battered parts of eastern Australia on Saturday, bringing heavy rain, giant hail and strong winds, days after another storm hit the region over the Christmas holidays.

A wild weather system is forecast to stretch more than 1,000 kms (620 miles) from Port Macquarie in the state of New South Wales to Rockhampton in Queensland, with southeastern Queensland expected to bear the brunt of the storm.

"We're now entering another active period of thunderstorms," David Grant, forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology, said during a press briefing. "There is potential for further isolated, very dangerous thunderstorms."

Some regions picked up about 110 mm (4.3 inches) of rain, roughly a month's total, in two hours on Saturday morning, while hailstones as big as 6 cm (2.4 inches) were also spotted. The bad weather is expected to continue into the new year.

Two people were taken to hospital after lightning strikes, one while inside a car and the other on an excavator.

The storms follow severe weather on Dec. 25 and 26 that killed 10 people and knocked out power for tens of thousands of properties across the east, and after Cyclone Jasper earlier this month caused widespread flooding and damage.

Australia's December-February summer is under the influence of the El Nino phenomenon, which can cause weather extremes ranging from wildfires to cyclones and prolonged droughts.

About 28,000 properties are still without power and the latest storms will hamper reconnection efforts, Queensland state Premier Steven Miles told reporters.

As Queensland endures its second major storm in a week, an intense heatwave was sweeping across Australia's north and west. Temperatures in Marble Bar, a remote old mining town in the northwest of the state of Western Australia, are expected to touch 49°C (120°F) on Saturday.

But mild weather is forecast for the southeast, including Sydney, on Sunday as Australia's biggest city gears up for New Year's Eve celebrations. Tens of thousands of people are expected to flock to prime harborside spots to watch the famous fireworks that ring in the new year.

Most Viewed

 
Varieties

Himalayan Snow at 23-year Low, Threatening 2 Billion People

Snowfall in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water - AFP
Snowfall in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water - AFP
TT
20
TT

Himalayan Snow at 23-year Low, Threatening 2 Billion People

Snowfall in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water - AFP
Snowfall in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water - AFP

Snowfall in Asia's Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water, scientists warned in a report on Monday.

The Hindu Kush-Himalayan range, which stretches from Afghanistan to Myanmar, holds the largest reserves of ice and snow outside the Arctic and Antarctica and is a vital source of fresh water for about two billion people.

Researchers found "a significant decline in seasonal snow across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, with snow persistence (the time snow remains on the ground) 23.6 percent below normal - the lowest in 23 years," the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) said.

"This trend, now in its third consecutive year, threatens water security for nearly two billion people," it said in its Snow Update Report.

The study also warned of "potential lower river flows, increased groundwater reliance, and heightened drought risk", AFP reported.

Sher Muhammad, the lead author of the ICIMOD report, told AFP that "this year the snowfall started late in January and remained low in the winter season on average".

Several countries in the region have already issued drought warnings, with upcoming harvests and access to water at risk for populations already facing longer, hotter, and more frequent heatwaves.

The inter-governmental ICIMOD organisation is made up of member countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.

It urged countries that rely on the 12 major river basins in the region to develop "improved water management, stronger drought preparedness, better early warning systems, and greater regional cooperation".

The Mekong and Salween basins -- the two longest rivers in Southeast Asia supplying water to China and Myanmar -- had lost around half of their snow cover, it noted.

Pema Gyamtsho, ICIMOD's director general, called for changes in policy to address the low snow levels in the long term.

"Carbon emissions have already locked in an irreversible course of recurrent snow anomalies in the HKH (Hindu Kush-Himalayas)," Gyamtsho said.

Asia is the region most affected by climate-related disasters, according to the UN's World Meteorological Organization, which reported last month that five of the past six years have seen the most rapid glacier retreat on record.