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For the 4 and 13-month periods ending 30th June 2008
Rainfall deficiencies persist over much of Australia
LINKS:
rainfall deficiencies definition
4-month rainfall deficiencies
13-month rainfall deficiencies
After Australia’s driest
May on record, June 2008 brought some relief, especially
to northern NSW, southern Queensland and the central NT. However, large parts of
Australia experienced average to below average rainfall, which was not enough to relieve short- or
long-term deficiencies. Deficiencies at the 13-month timescale highlight areas that received little rainfall
relief from the previous year's La Niña event, with large areas of deficiencies through central and southern
parts of Australia.
For the 4-month period from March 2008 to June 2008, areas of serious to
severe rainfall deficiencies covered large parts of central and southeastern Queensland, much of Victoria,
eastern Tasmania, western SA, the southwestern corner of the NT and a large area in central parts of southern
WA. In northern Australia this was indicative of an early end to the wet season, whilst southern Australia has
generally experienced a poor start to the southern wet season. Some southern parts of the NT and Queensland
into northeastern SA and northwestern NSW have had short-term deficiencies ease, due to a rainfall event in
the area at the start of June.
Rainfall deficiencies for the 13-month period from June 2007 to June
2008 remain evident over much of SA and southern NT and also in parts of southern WA, western parts
of both Queensland and NSW, western and central Victoria and northern and eastern Tasmania. Over the
13-month period, much of eastern Australia had some benefit from above average rainfall associated with the
2007/08 La Niña event. However, this was mainly over late 2007 to around February 2008, with typically
below average rainfall since. Although Victoria received average to above average falls over summer, the
combination of very much below average rainfall since the start of autumn and a dry winter in 2007, has resulted
in central and western parts of the state being in decile 1 for the 13-month period. Tasmania, central areas
of Australia and some southern parts of WA, which did not receive as much relief from the La Niña event,
have also seen typically below average falls in recent months, leading to a continuation of rainfall deficiencies
over the 13-month period. Patches of lowest on record rainfall for the period are seen in eastern Tasmania around
Hobart, southern SA to the east of Ceduna, the NT to the east of Alice Springs and in some small patches in WA
to the northeast of Esperance.
The deficiencies discussed above have occurred against a backdrop of decade-long rainfall
deficits and record high temperatures that have severely stressed water supplies in the
east and southwest of the country. Several years of above average rainfall are required
to remove the very long-term deficits. The combination of record heat and widespread
drought during the past five to ten years over large parts of southern and eastern
Australia is without historical precedent and is, at least partly, a result of climate
change.
For more information go to a
Special Climate
Statement on the six years of widespread drought in southern and eastern
Australia, November 2001 to October 2007
Rainfall
deficiency maps for standard periods out to three years are
available.
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:
Lyn Bettio on (03) 9669 4165
Clinton Rakich on (03) 9669 4671
David Jones on (03) 9669 4085
External Sites Relating to Drought
The Bureau of Meteorology does not make formal drought declarations
as these are done by either the relevant State Governments or by the
Australian Government. The Australian Government Program is called
Exceptional Circumstances
and it is administered by the Federal Department of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF). General information about Australian
Government drought assistance is available at
http://www.daff.gov.au/droughtassist.
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