Sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the tropical Pacific are commonly used indicators for diagnosing the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) state. Global warming has the potential to affect these indicators so that the indicators provide a less representative picture of El Niño/La Niña developments. The SST trend has not been uniform across the Tropics; hence, accounting for local trends may not account for widespread...

We present a homogenized, monthly, upper‐air temperature data set comprising 22 stations across the Australian continent, as well as five Australian remote island sites. The data set is based on 2300 UTC radiosonde soundings, with most records starting in 1958. The data are mostly complete since that time, with missing data more frequent at higher levels. The quality control process involved the examination of station metadata...

This study compares observations of 22 climate variables [rainfall, minimum and maximum temperature, mean sea level pressure (MSLP), and air temperature, geopotential heights, relative and specific humidity, and u‐wind and v‐winds at 500 , 700 and 850 hPa] over Australia with NCEP‐NCAR (National Centers for Environmental Prediction‐National Center for Atmospheric Research) and ERA ‐Interim, two most often used reanalysis produ...

The Eastern Seaboard ( ESB ) of Australia is a distinct climate entity, with little relationship between rainfall in this area and the major drivers of rainfall elsewhere in Australia such as the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation ( ENSO ). One potential cause is the influence of East Coast Lows ( ECLs ), major coastal weather systems that can produce a significant proportion of rainfall in this region. In this article, a novel appr...

The intensity and position of the sub‐tropical ridge ( STR ) have strong relationships with rainfall variability in southern Australia. The combined effect of intensity and position in March‐April‐May ( MAM ) and June‐July‐August ( JJA ) is the focus of this research. Linear statistics were used first: area‐averaged and Australia‐wide spatial correlations of STR intensity and position with precipitation in south‐west eastern A...

Extratropical cyclones that develop near the east coast of Australia often have severe consequences such as flash flooding and damaging winds and seas, as well as beneficial consequences such as being responsible for heavy rainfall events that contribute significantly to total rainfall and runoff. There is subjective evidence that the development of most major events, commonly known as East Coast Lows ( ECLs ), is associated w...

This study examines the representation of one of the key drivers of southeastern Australian rainfall, the sub‐tropical ridge (STR) in mean sea level pressure, in the World Climate Research Programme's Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 3 multi‐model dataset. In particular, the mean state and variability of the ridge's intensity and position is diagnosed and compared to observations for the 20th Century. The mean annua...

Links between southern Australian rainfall totals and tropical indices are investigated with the aim of identifying potential explanations for observed trends over the period 1950–2008. We find that, as has been noted in many previous studies, fluctuations in Indian Ocean sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies do not explain significantly more of interannual rainfall fluctuations than other indices which are dominated by El N...

Significant rainfall declines have been observed across much of southern Australia over the last 50 years. In particular, strong declines occurred in the southwest of Western Australia (SWWA) from the late 1960s with further declines in the late 1990s, and in the southwest of eastern Australia (SWEA) from the mid‐1990s. As a result, most communities in these regions are facing water shortages. Meteorologically, the regions sha...

Southeastern Australia (SEA) has suffered from 10 years of low rainfall from 1997 to 2006. A protracted dry spell of this severity has been recorded once before during the 20th century, but current drought conditions are exacerbated by increasing temperatures. Impacts of this dry decade are wide‐ranging, so a major research effort is being directed to better understand the region's recent climate, its variability and climate c...