Issued on 6 October 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.
6-month rainfall 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. Rainfall deficiencies for this period are also evident on the central NSW coast and the border region of northeast NSW - southeast Queensland.
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8-month rainfall deficiencies
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.
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48-month rainfall deficiencies
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.
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