The forecast through October indicates moderate to exceptional water deficits in a vast stretch of eastern Australia from Rockhampton, Queensland reaching south to Melbourne. Intense deficits are forecast in pockets of Tasmania, the southwestern tip of Western Australia, Northern Territory’s Top End, and New Caledonia.
Australia & New Zealand: Water deficits to remain intense in Tasmania
The forecast through September indicates mild water deficits in much of Australia with more intense anomalies in Tasmania, surrounding Melbourne, in the eastern Murray-Darling Basin, and reaching north to the Darling Downs and Brisbane. In New Zealand, deficits are forecast on North Island. Extreme to exceptional deficits will persist in New Caledonia.
Australia & New Zealand: Intense water deficits will persist in Tasmania & New Caledonia
The forecast through August 2019 indicates a transition away from widespread, exceptional water deficits in Australia to, overall, mild deficits or normal conditions. However, intense deficits are forecast for Tasmania, the southern tip of Western Australia, northern New Zealand, and New Caledonia. Moderate to severe deficits are expected from Brisbane to Canberra.
Australia & New Zealand: Intense water deficits forecast for Tasmania, Top End NT, & New Caledonia
The forecast through July indicates that widespread, exceptional water deficits will shrink considerably. Severe to exceptional deficits are, however, forecast in northern Australia from the Kimberly region through Top End, Northern Territory and along the southern shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Deficits will also be intense in the southern tip of Western Australia, Tasmania, New Caledonia, and North Island, New Zealand.
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.