Sadly the Harmful Algal Bloom off South Australia may have had a little boost with the recent rain and heat. Satellite images from 5 March. The red areas indicate Chlorophyll A which is what the algae produce, and the second image is the real colour you can see from space
go.nasa.gov/3PjpGKc
Kati Thanda - Lake Eyre
28 January 2026 vs 4 March 2026
worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov?v=135.146073...
Much of central Australia was bone dry (0mm) in January, but had over a years worth of rain in the last 4 weeks.
Green = more than annual rainfall, Blue = at least double annual rainfall.
www.bom.gov.au/climate/maps...
Subsequent rainfall over the following week 24 Feb - 2 Mar
www.bom.gov.au/climate/rain...
This image of the Tropical low 26U over central Australia on 24 February blows my mind... you certainly dont see that everyday.
Zoom in at: go.nasa.gov/4rVsSKo
Mildura rainfall in 2025: 159.7mm
Mildura rainfall 1-2 March: 148.8mm
#whiplash
www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio...
Last year Marston Downs near Sea Lake (Victoria) recorded 250mm of rainfall.
I’m the 3 days to 9am 2 March, Sea Lake recorded 180mm
#whiplash
"Australia's climate has warmed on average by 1.59 ± 0.23 °C between 1910 and 2025, with most of the warming having occurred since 1950. ... 14 of Australia's 15 warmest years on record have occurred in the 21st century."
www.bom.gov.au/climate/curr...
Data and plots at www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/clim...
Summer in Australia was 8th hottest on record.
Only one summer in the whole 20th Century was warmer, 1997/98 & by only 0.01C (officially 'a bees whatsit' or 'within error bars').
97/98 was during strongest El Nino (=hot) of the century, while 25/26 in La Nina.
Why same? 28 years of global warming
Right when we have never more needed the early warnings that long range forecasts can bring, seems the USA / NOAA is stepping away. This won’t be good…
In just a slight contrast to the month before…
#whiplashsummer
www.bom.gov.au/climate/maps...
Feb 2026 Rainfall off the charts over thousands of outback kms.
(Think we need to add purple to the scale…)
www.bom.gov.au/climate/maps...
All roads now in and out of Maree closed due to floods
dit.sa.gov.au/outbackroads
Stats for old Maree site
www.bom.gov.au/climate/aver...
Maree - South Australia
January 2026: 5 consecutive days over 48C (new Australian record) and no rain at all.
February 2026: 5 consecutive days of rainfall (double monthly average) and 10 rain days in total (more than entire average summer)
#whiplashsummer
www.bom.gov.au/products/IDS...
NOAA and GBRMPA are suggesting areas with anomalies of over +1°C for March, which would mean the bleaching threshold of 4 weeks of >+1°C may be hit.
That we may have a large area of bleaching in a La Niña (cool) summer highlights the perilous state of the reef due to climate change.
BoM has around a 60% chance of a marine heatwave in the northern GBR for March.
www.bom.gov.au/climate/ocea...
GBRMPA noting some coral bleaching already observed on the northern reefs
www2.gbrmpa.gov.au/learn/reef-h...
February/March is the peak for Great Barrier Reef temperatures and coral bleaching.
NOAA has lifted the Great Barrier Reef northern areas to coral bleaching alert level 1 and smal areas of alert level 2
coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/product/5km/
Not a surprise, but still. Damn. AFAC, the National Council for fire and emergency services, has released the Seasonal Bushfire Outlook for Autumn 2026.
It identifies a heightened risk of bushfire in NSW, Victoria & WA.
#ridetoworkmelb #melbweather
One day of taxpayer subsidised fuel = $30 million
730 days (2 years) of taxpayer funded climate risk assessment science = $27 million
minister.dcceew.gov.au/mcallister/m...
🌊 New paper in @natclimate.nature.com: 'Mapping tipping risks from Antarctic ice basins under global warming', by @pik-potsdam.bsky.social
"Marine-based sectors in East Antarctica, representing ~5 m of potential sea-level rise, are at risk of losing stability at 2–5 °C."
▶️ rdcu.be/e5bQS
Is choosing to follow these known scenarios acceptable? Would they pass governance risk tests (ie would a board be liable if they ignored the evidence)? E.g APRA climate risks www.apra.gov.au/sites/defaul...
* Approving a coal mine is only consistent with the IPCC future scenarios SSP4 or 5 (winners and losers, less CO2 mitigation, fossil fuel development)
* These scenarios result in around 3C but as much as 4C of global warming
* NCRA shows 3C is disastrous across every Australian sector + way of life
Adelaide - Perth rail cut by desert floods, and early reports Adelaide - Darwin line cut too. Unclear about road transport but outback flood strandings reported. Possible supermarket shortages soon; bidets becoming a climate adaptation necessity for Darwin
:-)
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...
Likewise Roxby Downs, in one of the driest parts of SA, leads the South Australian rainfall totals
reg.bom.gov.au/places/sa/
Not sure I’ve seen this before…
Giles - in the Gibson Desert of WA west of Alice Springs - has the most rainfall in WA today. In the tropical wet season…
reg.bom.gov.au/places/wa/
Sadly you may be right. Why take action on any contentious topic - such as climate change - when the next election win is in the bag unless you create an issue that can be leveraged.
The assessment committee said ‘not enough data’ rather than scientifically safe to keep endangerment as is.
Given extinction is forever, what happened to precautionary principle?
