Australia had its third-wettest year on record in 2011, a year that saw both major flooding and drought relief across the “Island Continent,” the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said Wednesday in its yearly climate statement.

Torrential rain in January sparked early year floods, causing tragic loss of life and leaving widespread major property damage in Queensland, including the city of Brisbane.

February’s mighty Tropical Cyclone Yasi, which devastated a stretch of Queensland coast, bolstered rainfall deep into the Australian interior.

Troublesome, long-lived flooding beset agricultural lands of Victoria and western New South Wales into March.

This abnormally wet year featured the wettest month of March in the nation’s climate history.

States also set all-time record highs for monthly rainfall. Victoria did so in January, as did South Australia in February. The sodden month of March had record wet in both Northern Territory and Queensland.

Also significant was that rainfall for 2010-2011 was second highest on record for back-to-back years, the BoM said.

La Nina’s influence was cited as a key to bringing the exceptional rainfall, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said in its yearly climate statement for 2011. La Nina’s eastern Pacific cooling coincided with unusually warm waters bordering Australia. Warming of tropical seas can boost rainfall regionally.

Australian mean rainfall for 2011 was 699 mm (27.5 inches), or 234 mm (9.2 inches) above normal, the BoM said. Two-year mean rainfall for 2010-2011 was 1402 mm (55.2 inches), narrowly missing the record high of 1407 mm set in 1973-1974. Australian record-keeping began in 1900.

Meanwhile, the widespread, plentiful rains weighed upon yearly temperature across the country, as it was the first cooler than average year since 2001.

The cooling was attributable to the raininess of the year, the BoM indicated. Indeed, the coolest parts of Australia were found in its northern half, areas which weather is most influenced by tropical moisture.

Flooding Brisbane River at Brisbane, Queensland, in January 2011. (AP Photo)