Current NSW drought - July 6 2008I found an excellent storey on the drought gripping inland NSW. While I have been finding articles and posting about the current drought situation and referring to Victoria, it is best that this one be placed here as it relates to the NSW situation only.
Drought Extends it's Grip SMH 6/7/2008
at
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/drought-extends-its-grip/2008/07/0Most critical elements are:-
a) Many drought ravaged farmers are now expecting a locust plague on top of crop failures. Rain desperately needed as another 2.3% of the state slips back into drought. In total 65% of the state is in drought with another 20.9% marginal.
b) Yet 14% is satisfactory which is the coastal belt.
c) During June, it was a horror month in some areas where 10 mm of rain fell. Although a useful rain event did occur around Griffith and Narrandera but those areas outside this region fared badly.
The exception was broken Hill where a staggering 80 mm fell but its average June rainfall is 17 mm (This is one anomaly).
A rain event is forecast this week but falls of 50 mm is required to put enough moisture into the ground to see out the rest of winter. Currently, most of the 5.2 Million hectares of crops planted is under incredible threat of failure.
As the drought tightens its grip across New South Wales, new areas to be added include Hillston, parts of Mudgee, Narribri and northern New England. This brings the total area of the state to 65% affected.
To reinforce this in the Riverina, some rainfall Tally's include:-
Corowa - Normal 48 mm, Received 14 mm
Culcairn - Normal 46 mm, Received 26 mm
Griffith - Normal 35 mm, Received 40 mm (Above average due to the single rain event).
Howlong Normal 45 mm, Received 12 mm
Narrandera Normal 34 mm, Received 62 mm (Well above average due to a rain event).
Albury - Normal 73 mm, Received a little over 21 mm.
Wagga - Normal 42 mm, Received 40 mm (There was some rain rain / shower activity here that helped).
(This concentrates in a region very badly affected by the drought).
Compare this to Sydney for June and no wonder why the coastal areas and Sydney is completely free of drought.
Belrose 206 mm, Turramurra 200 mm, St Ives 198 mm, Gordon West 165 mm, Avalon 146 mm, Berowra 142 mm, Glenorie 138 mm, Rose Bay 135 mm, Sydney 127 mm, Marsfield 125 mm.
(Top 10 wettest suburbs in Sydney)
(Driest localities in Sydney)
Ashfield 6 mm (
I think this might be an error and might need to be verified as it does not look right), Badgerys Creek 67 mm, Sydney Olympic Part 73 mm, Liverpool 82 mm, Bankstown 85 mm, Richmond 86 mm, Glenmore Park 87 mm, Concord 91 mm.
Looking at this, good rainfalls continue to occur on the coast like Sydney however good solid drought breaking rains continue to fail to reach the inland in the worst affected areas.
Harley Pearman
