Exceptional water deficits observed in recent months over much of Australia should diminish considerably in the near-term and through April 2018. However, significant deficits are forecast through October in: Western Australia from the Hamersley Range to the southernmost tip; southeastern Australia and Tasmania; the north across Northern Territory and Queensland; and, New Caledonia. Deficits may be exceptional north and south of Perth; east of Melbourne; central Tasmania; around the Gulf of Carpentaria; and Darwin. Along Queensland’s northeast coast surpluses will persist near Mackay. Past October moderate deficits will continue to emerge in Victoria and New South Wales.
Australia & New Zealand: Water deficits to persist in southwest WA and Tasmania
Widespread exceptional water deficits from Northern Territory into Queensland are expected to dissipate. However, intense deficit conditions will persist through September in the southwestern extents of Western Australia, Darwin, Tasmania, coastal Victoria into New South Wales, and New Caledonia, and may persist into early 2018 from Perth south. Observed surpluses in the northwest and eastern Queensland will moderate but persist through December.
Australia & New Zealand: Water deficits persist in Darwin, Tasmania, Perth, New Caledonia
Widespread extreme water deficits spanning the middle of the country are expected to subside in the June through August forecast period. Deficits will persist in the Darwin region of the Northern Territory, on Tasmania, and in the southwestern extents of Western Australia through November. Recent surplus conditions in northern Western Australia, east of Darwin, and along the central Queensland coast are expected persist through November. In the December through February 2018 forecast period conditions are forecast to normalize with the exception of moderate deficits south of Darwin and in the Perth region of Western Australia.
Australia & New Zealand: Severe deficits forecast in Tasmania
The May through July forecast indicates that Australia will transition away from widespread and intense water deficits observed February through April. However, severe to exceptional deficits are forecast for southwestern Western Australia, the Darwin Region of Northern Territory, Tasmania, New South Wales, Victoria, much of the Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland, and New Caledonia. Surpluses are expected to persist in northeastern Queensland, and a large block of surpluses in eastern Kimberly, Western Australia will transition to both deficits and surpluses. After July deficits will continue to retreat in Australia, except in Tasmania, leaving much of the country in near-normal conditions.
Australia & New Zealand: Exceptional water deficits to emerge in Tasmania
The April through June outlook indicates significant improvement as widespread and exceptional water anomalies are no longer evident in the forecast for South Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales. However, severe to exceptional deficits are expected to emerge throughout Tasmania and in Western Australia. Moderate deficits are forecast for central Australia, New Caledonia, and southern South Island, New Zealand. Surpluses will continue to emerge in eastern Queensland, and surpluses in the Kimberley Plateau in the northwest will diminish. After June primarily abnormal deficits will prevail over most of the country, with more severe deficits in eastern Tasmania, Western Australia, and in the north near Darwin.