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| Unseasonal rain for Brisbane and Ipswich but thankfully no serious flooding as in 2011. |
AND you thought last year was wet. Brisbane has recorded its wettest start to the year in more than a decade.
Brisbane airport received 1039.2mm for the first six months of the year. The previous highest was 1067mm, set in 1999.
"The airport record is 1747mm in 1974 (while) the Brisbane city record is 1870.7mm in 1893," Bureau of Meteorology climate services manager Jeff Sabburg said.
Despite southeast Queensland flooding in January last year, most of the rain fell in dam catchments, with the city recording an extremely dry May and June. In the first six months of last year, Brisbane airport recorded 761mm.
Dr Sabburg said Redcliffe had recorded 1118.8mm this year. Its previous record was 1066.2mm, set in 1999.
The wet conditions extended as far north as Hervey Bay, where 1067.8mm fell at the airport, beating the 2004 record of 938.5mm.
Weatherzone forecaster Josh Fisher said January was usually one of Brisbane's wetter months.
"This year we had more than double the average monthly rainfall," he said. "Now the (rain bearing) La Nina is trending into a (drought-bearing) El Nino in spring and summer, so we are expecting slightly drier conditions."
Mr Fisher said constant high-pressure systems had brought moisture on to the east coast. About 60 per cent of Queensland recorded above-average rainfall in June.
Successive wet years have boosted the agricultural sector, with the statistics bureau reporting the national value of agriculture had increased by 16 per cent in 2010-11, to $46 billion.
But Queensland's sugarcane, bananas, pineapple and pawpaw growers did not share in the windfall, after being hit hard by flooding and Cyclone Yasi.
Wheat production was up by more than 25 per cent, to 27 million tonnes. Rice and cotton also rose, as did barley, canola, sorghum, mandarins and strawberries.
Beef cattle numbers increased significantly, while sheep and lamb numbers were recovering from long-term decline due to drought and high prices. Crop sale values increased by almost one-fifth, to $25 billion.
Livestock with slaughtering and other sales increased 8 per cent to $13.8 billion.
Forecasters say crop yields may vary because of the risk of an El Nino.
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