Final drought statement for 2009
The final drought statement for 2009 is covered below.
Rainfall deciles:
The first plot covering the whole of 2009 shows the Rainfall Deciles for the Murray Darling Basin and shows that rainfall was below average for much of eastern and northern Victoria. It also shows that rainfall was well below average across much of southern Victoria east from Melbourne to the New South Wales state border as well as very dry conditions prevailing around Wagga Wagga and west of Canberra. Generally western Victoria fared better and appears to be satisfactory.
Rainfall anomalies:
In western Victoria, rainfall returned to normal or near normal with the yearly anomalies within 0 to 100 mm of average or slightly below average. It is noted that a few areas received slightly above average rainfall over the course of 2009. Generally Western Victoria pulled out of drought and saw improvements.
However across much of the north and east of the state as well as southern New South Wales, rainfall deficits were much higher being 100 to 200 mm below average and even up to 200 mm below average (Although some affected regions are placed within the 200 to 400 mm banding - Below Average shown as yellow on the plot).
12 month drought statement:
Following good spring rains and some helpful rains in some localities throughout December such as around Melbourne and Bairnsdale, the 3 month, 6 month and 9 month rainfall deficiencies have almost been removed. It is only the long term deficiencies that remain.
The 12 month rainfall deficiency plot highlights ongoing rainfall deficits and drought across southern and eastern Victoria including small areas west of Canberra mainly around and near Wagga Wagga.
It appears that this topic can be concluded at this point following good rains at the commencement of January 2010 across many regions. Such good rains have been reasonably widespread across the state although while more is needed, it is a more positive start to the year when compared to the start of 2009 which precipitated this topic. Lets hope the improvements continue throughout 2010.
The plots referred to above are attached below. The plots have been generated using the Bureau of Meteorology "Water and the Land" 5/1/2010.
Harley Pearman
