|
Statement on Drought for the 10 and 12-month
periods ending 31st December 2005
ISSUED 5th January 2006 by the National Climate Centre
Rainfall deficiencies persist in parts of eastern Australia
With generally below average rainfall across eastern Australia
in December, there was a persistence, or in some cases a modest
expansion, of areas experiencing rainfall deficiencies,
the Bureau of Meteorology announced today.
For the 10-month period from March to December,
serious rainfall deficiencies, with patches of severe deficiencies,
affect much of southern Victoria between the SA border and southwest
Gippsland. December rainfall was below the long-term mean in southwest
Victoria resulting in a slight intensification of the deficits in
comparison with the situation at the end of November. However, above
average falls to the southeast of Melbourne resulted in a slight decrease
in the coverage of rainfall deficits. This most recent period of deficient
rainfall in southern Victoria is included within a period of below average
to record low 9-year rainfall totals in the same area.
For the 12-month period from January to December,
the most significant rainfall deficiencies are located between Bourke (NSW)
and Charleville (Qld)), and over the southern and central parts of Cape
York Peninsula in northern Queensland. Both these areas increased in
intensity and spatial extent after December rainfall was less than half
of the long-term average.
There are several other relatively small patches scattered about the
country, which experienced rainfall deficiencies in the 2005 calendar year.
Rainfall deficiency
maps for longer periods indicate that deficiencies at the
three year timescale, which are particularly relevant to water supplies,
remain prevalent in parts of eastern Australia, especially in Queensland.
Note: The terms used to describe rainfall in these
Drought Statements have the following meanings -
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
Very much 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%
Very much above average
- rainfalls in the highest 10% of historical totals
For more information regarding this rainfall
deficiencies statement, please contact the following
climate meteorologists in the National Climate Centre:
Grant Beard on (03) 9669 4527
David Jones on (03) 9669 4085
Blair Trewin on (03) 9669 4603
External Sites Relating to Drought
The Bureau of Meteorology does not make formal drought declarations
as these are done by the relevant State Government Departments. The
Bureau of Rural Sciences (BRS), a scientific agency within the
Federal department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF),
administers the Drought
Exceptional Circumstances program.
|
