After a horrible drought, and the worst fires in living memory, rain has finally arrived in southern Australia (but the north is still pretty dry). All Canberra's storage dams have reached 100% recently, although Googong is now below 100% because it's currently in use. This is the base of the Corin Dam spillway, which is uncontrolled - once the water gets over the lip of the spillway, it flows. There is also a small bypass tunnel which provides a controlled environmental flow. The road below this point was also flooded.



Corin Dam in flood by RobGeraghty, on Flickr

[RobG]

I knew about NSW. I just didn't know my Aussie geography

No worries!

We can have similar oddities in Canada with sweltering heat in Ontario while Alberta gets snowstorms.

I'm sure that most Ozzies don't realise how big Canada is. That's interesting because I'd have expected the inland regions to be colder in winter than the coastal regions, but there's also a humidity factor. When I visited Calgary in December I was warned that it could be anywhere from +8C to -30C. It amazes me how far north people live. Hobart is at roughly 45S and almost all of Canada is above 45N. I've mentioned Griffith a couple of times - today the predicted max there (4 hours drive to the west of where I am) is 43C but here in Canberra it's only 35C. Happily, the rest of the week is predicted to be cooler. Looks like the prize for temperature in NSW today goes to Bourke, where the predicted max is 48C.

[MSL]

That's interesting because I'd have expected the inland regions to be colder in winter than the coastal regions,

That part is true - Vancouver is a lot milder than Calgary or Edmonton. But the Rockies can play havoc on both sides.

[RobG]

That part is true - Vancouver is a lot milder than Calgary or Edmonton. But the Rockies can play havoc on both sides.

That makes sense! The Rockies would create a much more severe rain shadow than our "Great Dividing Range" which barely reaches 2000m in the southern part (the highest mainland peak is only 2228m).
Australia is very flat - Griffith is only 129m above sea level even though it's a very long way from the sea. Canberra is the highest capital at only 577m and all the rest are on the sea. I wonder how many Ozzies know what the highest peak on Australian territory is (excluding Antarctica since that claim isn't recognised)?

[southlander]

Australia as as a whole just had our hottest spring on record - November's maximums came in at 2.9C above the 1961-90 average, surpassing the 2.4C mark set in November 2014. The national minimums were at 2.04C above the average and means at 2.47C

[RobG]

Australia as as a whole just had our hottest spring on record - November's maximums came in at 2.9C above the 1961-90 average, surpassing the 2.4C mark set in November 2014. The national minimums were at 2.04C above the average and means at 2.47C

On the bright side, the higher than average predicted rainfall for southern Oz should keep the summer temperatures down a bit. Hopefully.