Australian Drought Eases, But Not Over

Speaking to a friend the other day, our conversation wound its way to the Australian drought. My side of the conversation consisted of imparting facts regarding the Indian Ocean Dipole’s effect on the La Nina, subsequently creating or worsening Australian drought conditions. Dave’s side of the conversation was to inform me that there are kids throughout the country – particularly on the eastern seaboard – that are for the first time in their lives seeing rain.

And these just aren’t 8-month old babies. Kids as old as 16 years old are witnessing rain fall on their very heads.

That rain, according to the National Climate Center (NCC), is an indicator of what might be called the end of our drought. And for this, the entire nation is beyond thankful. We’ve moved all the way through in to … well, whatever is past thankful!

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The NCC has announced that Australia has enjoyed its wettest summer in approximately seven years. The AP noted that this “effectively” ended “the drought in some areas.” They also said it’s been known as “The Big Dry,” which says a lot for their lack of reporting and much of their stereotyping Australia.

“The outlook is reasonably promising, it’s one of the more encouraging summers we’ve seen for a while,” NCC climatologist Blair Trewin said.

Sadly, the end of our drought is not a simple equation. We have, for the past few years, endured two separate droughts. A short-term drought has affected much of the country’s south-east (my area of the world), starting in 2006. However a longer-term drought has affected much of the country, including worst hit south east Queensland, southern Victoria and the south west of Western Australia (it’s a state, I promise; we just weren’t good at naming stuff.).

“That short-term drought is essentially behind us now,” Trewin said. “However, we’ve had in many areas a period of five to ten years where there has consistently been low rainfall over sustained periods.”

“The rainfall in New South Wales and Queensland is showing the patterns of a La Nina and the indications are that will continue in the autumn, which tips the odds in favour of above normal rainfall in south-eastern Australia. As to whether we get the sustained heavy rains needed to make a long-term difference is still a very open question.”

Needless to say, much of the country is rejoicing at the moment. We have, for the first time in a long while, an autumn which may very well act just like an autumn should. We’ve had a wet summer that hasn’t attempted to burn the entirety of the east coast to a crisp.

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