Rain (!!!) In Darwin, NT Australia

[DoomsDave]

Not for the faint of heart.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/weather/roads-swamped-in-darwin-after-downpour/vi-BB10ZqYm?ocid=spartanntp

[kinzyjr]

8 hours ago, DoomsDave said:

Not for the faint of heart.  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/weather/roads-swamped-in-darwin-after-downpour/vi-BB10ZqYm?ocid=spartanntp

You weren't kidding!

[greysrigging]

I drove through that at the peak of the rain....wasn't the grand total, but the short duration and rate of rain falling in a small timeframe. I had about 50mm ( 2") at home in about 45mins. It drains away very quickly and the next day was bright and sunny. 

[jimmyt]

No casualties I hope! 

[Silas_Sancona]

20 hours ago, greysrigging said:

I drove through that at the peak of the rain....wasn't the grand total, but the short duration and rate of rain falling in a small timeframe. I had about 50mm ( 2") at home in about 45mins. It drains away very quickly and the next day was bright and sunny. 

Looks a lot like the kind of downpours we can experience here during our summer Monsoon Season, especially closer to late September/ October when seasonal changes in the westerlies are better at drawing moisture from East Pac. tropical storms/ Hurricanes closer to the region. Have seen it dump 2-3" of rain in under an hour, flooding homes less than 10 miles away, while i get maybe .15" of an inch.. ( the famous"Phoenix Mushroom Cloud" that is all over the Web. )

That can change dramatically if a deep surge of tropical moisture is drawn north and stalls over the area. The infamous flood that occurred across the region in September 2014 is a good example of that..  Here in Chandler, a total of 5.5 / 6.0" of rain fell in less than 8 hours.

Tucson, which is normally wetter than this part of the state, has experienced some pretty incredible rain events as well.

 

[greysrigging]

2 hours ago, jimmyt said:

No casualties I hope! 

No casualties thankfully. Was a very localised event really with well known flash flood prone areas being affected.....8 hours later you barely knew it had rained.

[jimmyt]

Good to know @greysrigging 

[cm05]

Almost looks as bad as the time it rained 13.27” (337mm) in roughly 3 hours here in New York back in 2014. Pure insanity.

Edited March 12, 2020 by cm05

[greysrigging]

The biggest flood event in Darwin from memory was in Feb 2011 when we had a tropical cyclone formed over the City ie over land, which is extremely rare and gives an indication of how saturated the atmosphere was at the time. I recorded a bit over 40" ( 1000mm ) in 7 days, with two of the days being about 350mm ( 14") each ! Was something to see ! The low lying 'flash flood'spots as pictured above were 6'to 8' deep, quite a few houses were inundated along Rapid Creek, Ludmilla Creek and out at Howard Springs and Knuckeys Lagoon.  We also have a fairly big tidal range of 8m ( 25') and the rain event coincides with a Spring Tide, the flooding is much worse.
Feb 2011






























 

[tropicbreeze]

4 hours ago, greysrigging said:

The biggest flood event in Darwin from memory was in Feb 2011 when we had a tropical cyclone formed over the City ie over land, which is extremely rare and gives an indication of how saturated the atmosphere was at the time. I recorded a bit over 40" ( 1000mm ) in 7 days, with two of the days being about 350mm ( 14") each ! Was something to see ! The low lying 'flash flood'spots as pictured above were 6'to 8' deep, quite a few houses were inundated along Rapid Creek, Ludmilla Creek and out at Howard Springs and Knuckeys Lagoon.  We also have a fairly big tidal range of 8m ( 25') and the rain event coincides with a Spring Tide, the flooding is much worse.
Feb 2011




 

I've been over the Adelaide River a few times with the water like that. It's like going out to sea, except in a car instead of a boat. But these days they close the road off. Once water goes over like that traffic causes the bitumen to lift and you end up with a lot of damage.

2011 was TC Carlos, it took out one of my 30+ metre African Mahoganys. Wasn't sure which one it was but I heard it coming down and move to the far end of the house. Luckily it missed the house but a direct hit on a mango tree which was splintered.

50mm rain in a half hour was fairly common years ago, back when it used to rain. These days it's become a bit rare.

[greysrigging]

The northern Wet, whilst generally poor this season, is hanging in there. Massive downpour in the industrial area between Darwin and Palmerston this morning.....98mm ( 4" ) in an hour or so from one report. This pic is of the Stuart Highway at the 11 mile ( Pinelands ) Where I'm located 10klm ( 6 miles ) away in the Desierto de Leanyer I scored 50 points ( 12mm ) Sigh....



 

Edited April 9, 2020 by greysrigging
addition to post.

[tropicbreeze]

1 hour ago, greysrigging said:

The northern Wet, whilst generally poor this season, is hanging in there. Massive downpour in the industrial area between Darwin and Palmerston this morning.....98mm ( 4" ) in an hour or so from one report. This pic is of the Stuart Highway at the 11 mile ( Pinelands ) Where I'm located 10klm ( 6 miles ) away in the Desierto de Leanyer I scored 50 points ( 12mm ) Sigh....
 

Don't complain, I only got 1mm out of it and by now the sun has burned all of that off.

[greysrigging]

Nice soaking rain this arvo in Darwin.... I scored 20mm ( three quarters of an inch ) so pretty happy with that. April rain is a bonus !

[tropicbreeze]

Finally got 26.6mm in the last 24 hours. Very welcome  but the water table is still too low for this time of year. My dam level stopped dropping with this rain but it never rose. There's a chance for more rain today and then the trend is for drier and hotter weather.

While there's still plenty of water in the dam it's great for doing a bit of backyard canoeing. This is a photo taken from the canoe in the middle of the dam.

[greysrigging]

Well, just had a massive downpour here at home...over 2" ( 50mm ) in an hour starting at 2pm. The best October rain here at home since a 4''  fall back in 2012.



 


 
My dingy pond might overflow at this rate, and the back yard creek may well have some rainbow fish in it....lol
 
 

Edited October 7, 2020 by greysrigging
addition to post.

[tropicbreeze]

The day's not over yet, but I've only had a light spitting of rain totalling, at most, 0.2mm. Not that I want 50mm. The soil hasn't had time to get any growth over it and erosion would be a problem. I'd like to book up to around 10mm rain every few days for the next month or so, please.

[chinandega81]

I'm surprised at how non-tropical Darwin looks in some of those pictures. It seems like palms are the only thing you see in many pic which do look tropical...but there arent many tropical flowering or fruiting trees to balance them out. Then in other pics the trees don't look tropical-esque at all....the pics look like something from Texas, USA almost. Is there a soil issue there that doesn't help tropical flower and fruit trees to grow "wild"? I am certain they grow there, I just thought the overall look of the area would be deep or ultra tropical. Perhaps it is due to the seasonality of the rain...however there are areas in Central America that are quite dry and look much more tropical so I am a little surprised. I looked at google streetview and it also reiterated what I saw in these pics. Would love to hear more about what it's really like over there! Thanks for the pics.

[greysrigging]

Fair call ^^. Its a combination pf poor shallow soils and a brutal seasonal wet/dry regime.... and severe Cyclones every 40 years or so that take out the vegetation/trees etc.
Domestic town water is relatively expensive to maintain a tropical garden. We are almost completely rainless for 5 months of the year, then 70'' the other 7 months. The Top End and Northern coasts do not look 'tropical' at all naturally......in fact the only places in Australia that do are on a narrow coastal strip and adjacent highlands in far north Queensland. For example, Cairns looks 'tropical', better soils and some dry season rainfall keeps the area looking green. A few hundred miles south at Townsville, a climate similar to Miami, is very dry and dusty in comparison....hence the nick name 'Brownsville' or Mt Isa-by-the-sea......
I have a thread topic on here somewhere with  me wandering around my suburb ( camera in hand ) showing the contrasts in the seasons....quite telling.....

[chinandega81]

5 hours ago, greysrigging said:

Fair call ^^. Its a combination pf poor shallow soils and a brutal seasonal wet/dry regime.... and severe Cyclones every 40 years or so that take out the vegetation/trees etc.
Domestic town water is relatively expensive to maintain a tropical garden. We are almost completely rainless for 5 months of the year, then 70'' the other 7 months. The Top End and Northern coasts do not look 'tropical' at all naturally......in fact the only places in Australia that do are on a narrow coastal strip and adjacent highlands in far north Queensland. For example, Cairns looks 'tropical', better soils and some dry season rainfall keeps the area looking green. A few hundred miles south at Townsville, a climate similar to Miami, is very dry and dusty in comparison....hence the nick name 'Brownsville' or Mt Isa-by-the-sea......
I have a thread topic on here somewhere with  me wandering around my suburb ( camera in hand ) showing the contrasts in the seasons....quite telling.....

Wow, that's so interesting. It sounds like South Florida to me but on steroids. We seem to have the same types of problems although we are colder and get less rain.  I didn't think the dry season would be a problem there, but I suppose the poor soil is a huge factor. 

What are common yard trees that people plant there? I have seen Queen's Crepe Myrtle, Eucalyptus and Royal Poinciana. I'm sure youy have everything, but what is most common in a typical home or business landscape? 

[greysrigging]

5" ( 125mm ) since 2.00pm yesterday .... some neighbouring suburbs have had 7''  and 8''. Record daily totals for October...... the monthly averages are about 3''

[greysrigging]

Near-record October rain in Darwin
 

"Darwin just had its wettest October day in 140 years as La Niña helps kick-start the wet season in the western Top End.

An abundance of early-wet season moisture over the Top End has been fuelling showers and thunderstorms during the last few days and nights. While wet weather typically starts to become more frequent in northern Australia at this time of year, this week's rain has been remarkably heavy for this early in the wet season (which runs from October to April).

Darwin Airport's 113mm of rain during the 23.5 hours to 9am on Thursday was the highest daily total on record since the site opened in 1941. The airport's previous October record was 95.5mm from 1969.

Image: Radar showing rain over Darwin and surrounding areas of the western Top End on Thursday morning.
 

"The now-closed Darwin Post Office site, which ran from 1869 to 1962, only had one day with more rain during October: 116.6mm in 1880. This make's Darwin's latest 24-hour rain total of 113mm its second highest for October in records dating back to 1869. It was also Darwin's wettest day since January 2018, making it wetter than any individual day during the last two wet seasons.

Just over one week into the month, Darwin has already doubled its average October rainfall."
( Source Weatherzone )

 

[GottmitAlex]

140 years? Incredible 

[tropicbreeze]

And here in the Aridlands I got 3mm up to 9am and nothing since.

[greysrigging]

3 hours ago, tropicbreeze said:

And here in the Aridlands I got 3mm up to 9am and nothing since.

Normally you inland mob do better than the Northern Suburbs during the 'build up' months.
Our force field shields have been disabled so far this year....

[tropicbreeze]

On 10/7/2020 at 8:09 PM, chinandega81 said:

I'm surprised at how non-tropical Darwin looks in some of those pictures. It seems like palms are the only thing you see in many pic which do look tropical...but there arent many tropical flowering or fruiting trees to balance them out. Then in other pics the trees don't look tropical-esque at all....the pics look like something from Texas, USA almost. Is there a soil issue there that doesn't help tropical flower and fruit trees to grow "wild"? I am certain they grow there, I just thought the overall look of the area would be deep or ultra tropical. Perhaps it is due to the seasonality of the rain...however there are areas in Central America that are quite dry and look much more tropical so I am a little surprised. I looked at google streetview and it also reiterated what I saw in these pics. Would love to hear more about what it's really like over there! Thanks for the pics.

People tend to get "tropical" and "rainforest" confused. You can get tropical rainforest and temperate rainforest. In "tropical" you can get tropical rainforest, tropical monsoonal, tropical savanna, and tropical desert. Around the Top End it's tropical savanna (or tropical savanna woodland). In Africa there's large areas of tropical savanna and in large parts of Australia and South America there's tropical savanna woodland. We don't get tropical rainforest, where the lowest rainfall of the driest month must be above 60mm. But we do get gallery forests and monsoon forests where watercourses and springs substitute for rainfall in the driest months. Of course, in urban areas taps are the substitutes.

[greysrigging]

I've just had 22mm ( 87 points ) in 18 minutes here at home.
I think the hillbillies out Humpty Doo and Noonamah have done better.... maybe 2" ( 50mm ) at Noony Airstrip in 40 mins !

[tropicbreeze]

15 hours ago, greysrigging said:

I've just had 22mm ( 87 points ) in 18 minutes here at home.
I think the hillbillies out Humpty Doo and Noonamah have done better.... maybe 2" ( 50mm ) at Noony Airstrip in 40 mins !

Us "hillbillies" (although, most common term is "ferals") did do better. I got 45mm yesterday. Unfortunately my wish for 10mm every few days wasn't granted.

But the weeds are appreciating it, however it comes. And last night the frogs 'roared' in applause. They only know off or full volume this time of year. Picked out at least 4 different species from the calls, out of a total of 16 species I've recorded on my place.

According to the weather bureau yesterday and today are the peak of the rain. From tomorrow chances of rain diminish to the end of the week.