Drought Australia: Parts of NSW, Victoria and Western Australia have lowest rainfall on record

A surprising map has revealed that a lack of rainfall has developed across large areas of Australia, showing the country is heading straight for drought.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s October drought report found that September rains were 70.8 percent below the 1961-1990 average and that it was the driest September in 123 years.

BoM rainfall totals also showed the east coast of Victoria and New South Wales and the Gasgoyne and Eucla districts of Western Australia meet the conditions to be declared drought.

BoM told Daily Mail Australia Melbourne and Sydney will heat up again in the coming days, with the hottest days of the week coming on Thursday in both capitals.

As another round of heat waves is set to hit the country, the latest rainfall data confirms what many already knew: large parts of the country are already in drought

While repeated spells of warm weather are welcome for many Australians and beach-goers, a drought is terrible news for the economy.

The BoM’s rainfall totals also showed the east coast of Victoria and New South Wales and the Gasgoyne and Eucla districts of Western Australia qualify for a drought declaration

Sydney is forecast to be 29C on Thursday while Melbourne will reach 26C. This is seven degrees above the average for both cities.

From next Friday a cold change will bring the mercury down again.

Hot weather is moving in from the west, where it is already baking hot. On Sunday Hayden in south west WA was 38C, almost 14C above average.

“The heat is already rising in south-west WA at the moment with temperatures 14C to 16C above average for this time of year,” said Sarah Scully, senior forecaster at the BoM.

Rainfall figures from the BoM’s new drought report show that large parts of the country meet the conditions to be in ‘meteorological drought’ – which is when rainfall falls well below average.

Some parts of the country have had less rain than they have seen in more than 120 years.

“Areas of ‘lowest on record’ rainfall from May to September have developed in the Gasgoyne and Eucla districts of Western Australia and along parts of the east coast of Victoria and New South Wales,” the BoM said.

For the five months through May 2023, many other areas experienced precipitation so low that it was either 5 or 10 percent below all record totals since 1900.

Twelve fire and emergency services organisations, including the Met Office, have issued a high-level warning to prepare now for the bushfire season.

The last time Australia suffered a major drought, from 2017-19 the cost to the country was around $63 billion

READ MORE: Why Australia faces its worst bushfire season in years

Australians have been hit with a stark warning that bushfires could ignite across the country much faster than summer, even within days.

The rain has created ‘surge fuel’ for the fires to spread, with large parts of NSW, Queensland and the Northern Territory at increased risk.

These areas included: the south-west coast and in the Eucla district of WA, along the west coast in South Australia, the east-central coast of Tasmania, south-central and eastern Victoria, eastern NSW, inland northern NSW.

Even the recent heavy rains and flooding that have trucked the Victorian alpine areas and the NSW south coast will do little to dent the overall drought picture.

That’s because once the drought starts, it takes months to ease, given how dry soils become.

It was also involved in south-east Queensland, particularly in Wide Bay and Burnett and Maranoa and Warrego.

Rainfall forecasts for the summer only cement the fact that the drought is here to stay for now.

Below average rainfall is likely to be very likely (60 per cent to more than 80 per cent chance) for November 2023 to January 2024 for ‘much of western, northern and southern Australia’.

Small areas of northern NSW may see increased rain.

While repeated spells of warm weather are welcome for many beach-seeking Australians and tourists, they are dire news for the economy.

The last time Australia suffered a major drought, from 2017-19 the cost to the country was around $63 billion.

While wildfires often make headlines, the percentage of that figure due to wildfires was about $10 billion.

About $53 billion was due to reduced farm earning capacity.

NSW and Queensland endured most of the 2017-19 drought.

The reason the WB has not declared a drought is that it is not the agency’s function; it is the work of state governments.

This is understandable because a drought declaration comes with a series of actions, such as water restrictions.

Dam storage levels remain low in parts of southern and central Queensland, parts of southeastern NSW, central Tasmania and urban areas of Perth