NSW’s ‘Freedom Day’ finally arrived on Monday, October 11, but unfortunately, the weather didn’t quite get the memo. The first few days out of lockdown have been a washout for much of the state, and unfortunately, it’s set to get even worse. A powerful supercell is forming over much of Australia’s east coast, preparing to drop a rain bomb on parts of NSW on Thursday, October 14. Hail and thunderstorms are forecast, but there is also the potential for tornados in some northern and central parts of the state, which we might have doubted, if not for the fact that a freak twister touched down in central NSW less than two weeks ago, injuring three people and destroying a house.
Sydney should be spared the worst of the supercell, but heavy rain and thunderstorms have been forecast for the city on Thursday, October 14. So, to what do we owe the pleasure of all this wild weather? If you cast your mind back to last summer, much of NSW was lashed by heavy rain for quite a bit of the allegedly sunny season. This precipitation-palooza was caused by the strongest La Niña in more than a decade, and it's this meteorological phenomenon that’s also powering similarly biblical volumes of rain as temps increase in the run-up to this summer.
But that’s not all. Extreme weather events are on the rise across the world as flooding, wildfires and devastating cyclones and hurricanes increase in both power and frequency, driven by climate change. Being on the front lines of such epic weather events is a sobering reminder that the climate crisis is very real in the here and now.