The forecast through December indicates that exceptional water deficits will shrink and downgrade in Australia, but a broad path of severe to extreme deficit is forecast from Brisbane in the east past Melbourne in the south and in Tasmania. Nearly normal water conditions are expected in New Zealand. Severe to extreme deficits will persist in New Caledonia.
Australia & New Zealand: Intense water deficits to persist in eastern Australia
The forecast through November indicates severe to exceptional water deficits in eastern Australia from Rockhampton, Queensland to Melbourne, including the eastern Murray-Darling Basin. Deficits will shrink in Tasmania but will be severe. Nearly normal water conditions are expected in New Zealand. Severe to extreme deficits will persist in New Caledonia.
Australia & New Zealand: Intense water deficits will persist in Tasmania
The forecast through April indicates that the intense water deficits that have dominated many parts of Australia in prior months will nearly disappear. However, severe to exceptional deficits will persist in Tasmania; along Victoria’s coast; in northwestern New South Wales and the eastern portion of the Lake Eyre drainage basin; and in the Blackwood River region in the tip of Western Australia.
Australia & New Zealand: Water deficits to diminish except in SE Australia & New Caledonia
The forecast through March indicates that the intense water deficits that have dominated many parts of Australia in prior months will diminish considerably. However, severe to exceptional deficits will persist in Tasmania; along the southeastern coast of Australia from Adelaide past Melbourne; in the Strzelecki Desert in northwestern New South Wales; around Darwin in Northern Territory; and in the Blackwood River region near Busselton in the tip of Western Australia.
Australia & New Zealand: Water deficits to persist in TAS, VIC, & NSW
The forecast through February indicates that intense water deficits will nearly disappear, persisting in Tasmania, pockets of Victoria and New South Wales, and around Busselton in Western Australia. Deficits will be severe on the Murray River. Moderate deficits are forecast across northern Australia. In New Zealand, deficits are forecast in the north and surpluses in the south from Christchurch to Dunedin. Deficits in New Caledonia will moderate.