NSW out of drought!

For the first time in 9 years, the entire state of NSW has been declared drought-free.

At the height of the drought in early 2003, as much as 95.5% of the state. But there has been a huge turn-around in the weather, and consequently drought figures, even in just the last few months alone. As early as January this year 82% of the state was still in drought. This figure dropped to just 7% in April following heavy rains in February and March. Any remaining drought areas through winter were washed away by heavy rains in early September.

Not only has the drought been broken but dam storages are at their best in years. One of the most impressive increases has been in the Hume Dam which was near zero last year yet now it's almost full! The total volume across all NSW dams is now 62%, and increase of 29% from last year. Storages in the Murray Darling have also seen a big boost with the total volume across all dams now at 72.4%, up from 29.1% last year. Many dams in the Murray Darling Basin are even 100% full including the Beardmore, Burrendong, Burrinjuck and Lake Menindee.

And there is more rain to come!! The primary reason for all this rain is a moderate to strong La Nina in the Pacific Ocean. La Nina events typically produce above average rainfall across northern and eastern Australia- and this year hasn't disappointed! Under La Nina conditions, we get warmer than normal sea surface temperatures off our northern coastline which leads to more moisture, evaporation, cloud formation and rain! La Nina is expected to stick around until early 2011 so it's likely that above average rain will continue through Spring and Summer.