Deadly, torrential rainfall persists in eastern Australia
Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features the coast of eastern Australia, where places like Sydney have received more than a year’s worth of rainfall in the last three months.
“The recent deluge brought more flooding to the already rain-soaked southern and central coasts of New South Wales, prompting evacuations,” reports NASA.
“On April 7, torrential downpours brought a month’s worth of precipitation – more than 100 millimeters (4 inches) – to parts of the city. The storm pushed rain gauges past 1,223 millimeters (48 inches) for the year, leaving them 10 millimeters (0.4 inches) above the mean annual rainfall in early April.”
The heavy rainfall began in late 2021 with the rainiest November on record, says NASA. “It continued with more rain and flooding in February and March 2022. On March 9, Australia declared a national emergency.”
When the Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2) on Landsat 9 acquired this image on April 4, 2022, the flooding impacts can be seen in the muddy rivers and inundated land.
Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer
