Uluru Waterfalls

Waterfalls in the desert are an unexpected sight, especially when they happen at a famous landmark that doesn’t normally have waterfalls. Anyone at Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, in central Australia on Christmas Day was treated to the unusual sight of large waterfalls coming down the giant sandstone rock formation.

Uluru actually gets 307 millimeters (12 inches) of rain annually, with an average of 40 millimeters (1.5 inches) falling in December. However, on Christmas Day, a deep low-pressure system brought 232 millimeters (9 inches) of rain in about 24 hours. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology called it a twice-in-a-century weather event.

Uluru is 348 meters high, which is about 24 meters taller than the Eiffel Tower, so the waterfalls must have been an impressive sight, at least until it became necessary to close Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park due to flooding. The flood also reached two towns and did some damage.

Park rangers don’t know when the park will reopen. They are monitoring the conditions and will reopen it when it’s safe to do so.

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Photo Credit: Parks Australia

References: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-38435586http://bit.ly/2ib4GUOhttp://parksaustralia.gov.au/uluru/

(Source: facebook.com)