The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said the national average rainfall in November was double the normal amount.
It was also Australia’s coolest November in 21 years.
“Overall, it was Australia’s coolest November since the La Niña event of 1999, and the coolest spring overall since 2016,” the BoM said.
Despite the cooler-than-average temperatures, no state or territory reported the coolest November on record, according to Weatherzone.
December is also set to be wetter than average with more rainfall on the way.
The BoM said with higher than usual levels of rain set to continue across parts of Australia over summer, the community needs to remain vigilant.
The state saw three to four times the average rainfall, the BoM said.
Orange in the state’s Central West recorded 317 millimetres of rain in November.
“Areas such as Forbes have also seen their wettest November, these are also areas where we’ve seen major flooding and impact on community associated with this rainfall,” Agata Imielska, meteorologist at the BoM, said.
Narrabri in the state’s north-east saw 230.7 millimetres of rain, where major flooding was also recorded.
“For Sydney Observatory Hill, we did see above-average rainfall for November, recording 137mm,” Ms Imielska said.
“Now this isn’t record-breaking but we did see higher rainfall totals in the western part of the region.”
The state will see more thunderstorm activity and rainfall this summer with the possibility of more flooding.
“We have seen very wet conditions, record-breaking conditions for November so the flood situation is quite volatile,” Ms Imielska said.
“We actually don’t need record-breaking rainfall to cause flash flooding and riverine flooding.”
“The wettest day of the month was on 10 November, when Samuel Hill in Queensland received 340.8 millimetres,” the BoM said.
Brisbane broke records last week, reporting its heaviest single-day rainfall in November for 40 years.
More than 120mm fell to 9am last Tuesday.
It comes as floodwaters continue to rise and more wild weather is on the way for the state.
QFES Commissioner Greg Leach said crews were working hard to evacuate and advise residents.
“It’s been a very busy start to our severe weather season in Queensland,” he said.
“There’s a number of river catchments we’re watching closely, and as the water moves down we’ll work with local groups to get messages out.”
“This is only the start of our severe weather system. We’ve got a long way to go yet so we’ll probably face this over the next few months.”
Australian Capital Territory
“Canberra also recorded its wettest November with 152 millimetres for the month so far. So really significant conditions there,” Ms Imielska said.
