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Variations of some seasonal rainfall characteristics in Queensland, Australia: 1921–1987
Author(s) -
Lough J. M.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
international journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0899-8418
DOI - 10.1002/joc.3370130404
Subject(s) - climatology , teleconnection , tropical cyclone rainfall forecasting , environmental science , monsoon , tropical cyclone , precipitation , cyclone (programming language) , atmospheric sciences , el niño southern oscillation , geography , meteorology , geology , field programmable gate array , computer science , computer hardware
Abstract Summer and winter indices of rainfall total, intensity, and contributions of rain‐days of different intensities were developed from 70 stations in Queensland over the period 1921–1987. In both summer and winter, only a few days of relatively high intensity rainfall contribute most to the seasonal rainfall total. In wetter summers, although the numbers of rain‐days of different magnitude rainfall all increase, it is days with rainfall in excess of 50 mm day −1 that contribute most to the increased seasonal total. Year‐to‐year and longer time‐scale variations in seasonal rainfall totals are matched by similar variations in secondary rainfall characteristics, i.e. wetter years or periods are likely to have more rain‐days and rainfall of greater intensity than drier years or periods. Variations of the secondary rainfall characteristics show similar relationships with the Southern Oscillation as total rainfall. The correlations with the SOI are, with one exception, insignificant for the period, 1921–1950, of ‘weak’ SOI teleconnections. Only the date by which 15 per cent of the summer seasonal rainfall is accumulated (representing pre‐monsoon rainfall) has maintained a significant and stable relationship with the SOI over time. Rainfall in Queensland is more closely linked with the number of tropical cyclones actually making landfall than the total number of cyclones in the region. Even in years when the large‐scale circulation is not conducive to tropical cyclone activity, a single tropical cyclone crossing the coast can lead to substantial rainfall amounts.