Rainfall deficiencies develop along east coast; persist in southeast inland

For the 4-month period from April to July, severe rainfall deficiencies have developed along the east coast and Great Dividing Range from Mackay on Queensland’s central coast, to Bega in southern NSW. In addition, serious to severe deficits extend over much of the central highlands in Queensland, encompassing locations such as Clermont and Emerald. There are also scattered patches in the Lower West, Great Southern and Southern Coastal districts of WA that have been deficient in rainfall during the past four months.

For the 7-month period from January to July, serious to severe rainfall deficiencies extend over much of the southern half of NSW, the ACT and northern Victoria to the far east of SA. A small region on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula is also affected. Compared with the situation at the end of June, there were only minor changes to the areas affected, although deficiencies are no longer analysed along the Victoria/SA border. Sydney’s July rainfall was less than half of the long-term mean, and the total for the year-to-date is now about 425 mm below average! At Canberra Airport, the total since January is a paltry 106 mm, being just 31% of the long-term average.