Anatomy of a 'rain bomb': scientists strive to understand phenomenon that caused Australia's east coast floods

An 'atmospheric river' in the skies over Brisbane contained almost 16 times the amount of water in Sydney harbourGet our free news app; get our morning email briefingIt was dry and sunny in Melbourne 10 days ago when Kimberley Reid was looking at images being spat out by a weather forecasting model - all isobars, arrows and splodges of orange.The phenomenon forming in the atmosphere off Queensland's coast - about 1500 kilometres (930 miles) north-east of Reid's computer screen - was nothing remarkable yet, but the channels of moisture she saw in the pictures are the subject of her PhD. Continue reading...