A quieter week on our shores to usher in a new season – but there was plenty going on right around the world, and we’ve been busy keeping our readers up to date this week!

First of all, our nearest neighbours across the ditch have been battling the elements all year – and this week we’ve seen several problems come to a head.
Southern parts of Australia saw some of the heaviest falls in recent memory this week, after persistent moist easterly winds fed into ta huge, slow moving system. Coffs Harbour recorded 42mm in the 24 hour period to 9am, while South West Rocks collected 41mm.
It was a similar story over the South Coast where moisture laden sea breezes dumped 38mm over Jervis Bay and Narooma.
Victoria and New South Wales were soaked between Sunday and Tuesday too, with the system refusing to budge until midweek – bringing in winter with a splash!
In Queensland, however, a year of devastating drought has culminated in an expansion to the State Government’s record spend on drought assistance.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has dedicated an unprecedented $18.7 million further dollars to the drought assistance package, which will include water and freight rebates, land rent relief and the building of community resilience.

Further afield, in Tehran, Iraq, residents were horrified to see the sky turn black on Wednesday, as a huge dust storm enveloped large parts of the city’s skyline.
Check out the truly remarkable footage, here.

Over stateside, this week was eventful both inside and out – as first of all, President Obama proposed wide ranging changes to EPA regulations, in an attempt to cut carbon emissions from power plants by 30%.
“Nationwide, by 2030, this rule would achieve CO2 emission reductions from the power sector of approximately 30 percent from CO2 emission levels in 2005,” the proposed regulation says.
Across the country, over in the Midwest, hail stones the size of baseballs had Omaha and Nebraska residents running for cover on Wednesday – in Nebraska, the hail pummelled 4,300 vehicles at Woodhouse Auto Family in Blair, about 30 miles from Omaha.
Hoods were dented and windshields were shattered, CNN affiliate KMTV reported.
Company officials Wednesday estimated damages at $162 million.

A new study may have proved that humans are sexist in the way they perceive storms – with male storm names perceived as ‘scarier’ than female ones.
The study, which didn’t involve any experts in meteorology or disaster science, was published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Atlantic hurricane season started on Sunday, US time.
The study claimed that hurricanes with feminine names turn out to be deadlier in the United States than their more macho-sounding counterparts, probably because their monikers make people underestimate their danger, the researchers concluded.

Back on home soil, researchers at the Government’s atmospheric forecast agency, NIWA, have released their latest climate outlook – covering June, July and August – and it’s looking like a milder winter is on the cards.
The data shows sea-level pressures are expected to be lower than normal to the northeast of the country and lower than normal pressures are predicted over the whole country for the three months.
Sea surface temperatures are expected to be near average off the west coast and above average to the east – which will mean warmer-than-usual conditions, overall.

Finally, check out Philip Duncan’s latest weather video, for what you can expect for the rest of the weekend!

– Drew Chappell for Weatherwatch.co.nz

– Picture: CNN