6 thoughts on “Peak rain over Brisbane urban region”

  1. The 1 day rainfall map for WA yesterday shows a reduced rainfall area slightly to the south of where it usually is over Perth. Which might be due to the rain coming in slightly to the north of west, or it may due to the Kiwana industrial area on the coast (oil refinery etc).

    www.bom.gov.au/jsp/awap/rain/index.jsp?colour=colour&time=latest&step=0&map=totals&period=daily&area=wa

    Why east and west coast cities appear to have different effects on rainfall is I suspect is due at least in part to different aerosol levels. Air arriving over the Perth region off the Indian Ocean will have very low aerosol levels compared to the east coast. When it reaches the Perth urban area aerosol levels will rise significantly. But a complex and poorly understood subject, where non-linear relationships appear to exist.

    Google Aerosol Pollution Impact on Precipitation: A Scientific Review for more detail.

  2. Warwick “correlation does not always mean causation” maybe people live where they live because it rains a lot there!!

  3. Warwick, I think there has been much research and many papers written that trees and dense vegetation attracts rain. Some areas that have had cleared land and then subdivided with people planting trees have experienced increased rainfall. I suggest you will find that airports which are open and have been clear of vegetation actually get reduced rain. With BOM reducing the number of stations to airport sites statistics could be manipulated to show reduced rain. It should be noted that vegetation grows on good soils and that this can result in small areas of rainforest. Eg Mt Tomah (botanic garden) in the Blue Mts west of Sydney. The hinterland of the Gold and Sunshine coast where there is volcanic soils also have areas of sub-tropical rainforest.

  4. I could have added the Otways in Victoria and the west coast of Tasmania particularly around Queenstown, Roseberry and Strahan where there are extensive volcanics housing metal deposits. Hobart and the midlands of Tasmania are dry because of poor soils and scrubby vegetation.

  5. cementafriend. It’s likely a combination of trees creating rain thru transpiration of water vapor and condensing water droplets thru aerosol release. With albedo driven convection. Trees have a low albedo. Around 0.1 from memory. Whereas a dry ploughed field is around 0.4.

    We are only recently starting to understand plants capacity to manipulate their local climate.

    The picture showing the edge of clouds over the woodland beyond WA’s vermin fence, terminating exactly at the fence and the start of the wheatfields on the other side, seems to have disappeared from the internet.

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