Rain Encircles Australia as Widespread Showers Set In This Week

At AusNewsLanka, we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates.

If you’ve been paying attention to the weather lately, you might’ve noticed something interesting: even though there’s been a ton of rain in the areas surrounding Australia — especially off the north coast — most of the country itself is looking pretty dry this week.

And not just a little dry. We’re talking bone-dry in large parts of the mainland — unless you’re in far northern Queensland, western Tasmania, or a few coastal pockets along the east, you’re unlikely to see much rain at all in the next seven days.

There’s even a map going around showing this perfectly: the continent of Australia sitting in a mostly rain-free zone, while the surrounding oceans are getting drenched. It really makes the country stand out — like a dry island in a sea of storms.

So… where did the rain go?

It all comes down to pressure — high pressure, to be exact.

Right now, a series of high pressure systems are parked over the southern half of Australia. These systems are part of something called the subtropical ridge — basically a belt of high pressure that circles the Southern Hemisphere.

What these highs do is pretty clever (and a bit annoying if you're hoping for rain): they shove tropical moisture to the north and deflect cold fronts to the south. That leaves much of Australia stuck in the middle — high, dry, and pretty uneventful, weather-wise.

This kind of setup is actually pretty normal for late autumn. At this time of year, Australia often ends up sandwiched between the wet weather of the tropics (thanks to the intertropical convergence zone, or ITCZ) and the cold fronts spinning up from the Southern Ocean.

But don’t worry — change is on the way. As we move into winter, the subtropical ridge usually shifts further north. That shift allows cold fronts to dip deeper into Australia, bringing with them rain (and snow!) for the southern half of the country.

So while this week might be a dry one, hang tight. Winter’s just around the corner, and it’s bringing wetter weather with it.

Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka – the leading platform for news for Australians.