MEDIA RELEASE - ISSUED 6^th OCTOBER 2000

Statement on Drought for the 6, 8, & 48-month periods ending 30^th September 2000

Rainfall deficits intensify in W.A.

The Bureau of Meteorology announced today that during the past six months large areas of southwest Western Australia have experienced severe rainfall deficiencies. Parts of southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales are similarly affected. Despite above average falls in September over much of southeastern Australia, parts of Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia are still experiencing longer-term deficiencies.

Relatively dry weather in September exacerbated rainfall deficiencies in Western Australia, southeast Queensland and New South Wales. For the six months from April to September 2000 a large region in the west of W.A. is experiencing severe deficits (see first map below). Rainfall deficiencies for this period are also evident on the central NSW coast and the border region of northeast NSW - southeast Queensland.

The eight months from February to September 2000 were also deficient in rainfall over southeast Queensland and northeast NSW, but in comparison to the 6 months the affected region spreads further north and east to the coast. (see second map below)

The rainfall for the past 48 months has been markedly below average over southern Victoria, the southeast of S.A., together with the north and east of Tasmania. Above average September rainfall barely changed this pattern. (see third map below)

Rainfall deficiency maps for standard periods (3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months) are updated monthly on the Bureau's web site, at http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/silo/rain_maps.cgi .

Note: The terms used to describe rainfall in these Drought Statements have the following meanings -

Well below average - rainfalls in the lowest 10% of historical totals
Below average - rainfalls in the lowest 30% of historical totals, but not in the lowest 10%
Average - rainfalls in the middle 40% of historical totals
Above average - rainfalls in the highest 30% of historical totals, but not in the highest 10%
Well above average - rainfalls in the highest 10% of historical totals
Serious deficiency - rainfalls in the lowest 10% of historical totals, but not in the lowest 5%
Severe deficiency - rainfalls in the lowest 5% of historical totals
Lowest on record - lowest since at least 1900 when the data analysed begin

For more information regarding this rainfall deficiencies statement, please contact the following climate meteorologists during normal business hours (EST) Monday to Friday: