So, is the drought over? Daytime maximum temperatures were the warmest on record for New South Wales and Victoria, and second-warmest for South Australia, the Northern Territory and Australia as a whole.The year ended with some record-breaking heat events. The very much below average streamflow in the Moore River and Gingin Brook north of Perth also reflect the long-term very dry soil conditions in this area.After a drier than average July across most of the southern half of Australia, root-zone soil moisture (in the top 100 cm) remains below average over very large areas. Every drought is different, but when it comes to the current drought conditions across the Murray-Darling Basin, BOM says it is now "the most severe in 120 years of records". Soil moisture data is from the Bureau's Australian Water Resources Assessment Landscape (AWRA-L) model, developed through the Water Information Research and Development Alliance between the Bureau and CSIRO.Despite the month overall being very dry, there were areas that received above average rainfall in southwest Western Australia, the northeast coast of the Top End, far north coast of Queensland and most of Tasmania.Rainfall deficiencies have increased in both areal extent and severity for almost all of New South Wales, inland southern Queensland, northern Victoria (less so in southeast either side of the Victoria and New South Wales border), eastern Pastoral and southern Agricultural regions of South Australia, and southern and Gascoyne coast of Western Australia at both the 7- and 16-month timescales.The southern wet season spans April to November and corresponds to the southern agricultural cropping season. The drought crippling eastern Australia shows no sign of ending anytime soon with warmer than average spring conditions ahead. The addition of these climate-resilient water sources buffers the supply system against extended dry periods. The filling season in the southern Basin will generally continue until the end of September.The Namoi, Castlereagh, and Macquarie rivers received valuable inflows in July, increasing river levels to above average across most gauges.
Deficiencies are also in place across much of the Northern Territory; nearly all of South Australia; the southeastern quarter of Queensland; much of New South Wales except areas of the central coast and a broad band through the central west from around Griffith to the Queensland border north of Bourke; and across eastern Victoria and the northern border regions of that State.The area of lowest on record rainfall for the 28-month period has increased month-on-month. Dr Braganza said it was the sixth-driest year for New South Wales, but overall, it was not record-breaking. "2017 and 2018 saw us reach those really high temperatures consistently across eastern Australia without that additional push from El Nino, [it] highlights the importance of the background warming trend in Australia. For this period, 83% of New South Wales falls below the 10th percentile. Compared to the previous Drought Statement, deficiencies have increased in severity and spread through most of New South Wales and northern Victoria (apart from the far southeast corner near the border), southern Queensland, the eastern half of South Australia in the Agricultural and east Pastoral regions and in the southwest coast of Western Australia. These include areas on the south coast and west coast of Western Australia; along the border of New South Wales and South Australia, extending into parts of the Lake Eyre / Kati Thanda catchment; and parts of northeast New South Wales and greater southeastern Queensland.Rainfall deficiencies have affected much of the southeastern quarter of Australia The size of the rainfall deficit accumulated over annual and longer timescales prior to 2020 remains very large over much of Australia. Deficiencies also continue along the western and southern coast of Western Australia from Shark Bay to around Esperance and have expanded further inland into southeast Wheatbelt region.Serious to severe rainfall deficiencies are evident across most of the northern two-thirds of New South Wales except the north coast, much of the southeast corner of South Australia, southern Agricultural and Pastoral regions and along the Eyre Peninsula, Warrego and central west Queensland, and coastal areas of the Southwest Land Division in Western Australia.Some areas of northern inland and the southeast coast of New South Wales have registered lowest on record rain for the 16 months from April 2017 to July 2018.Some rain in southern Queensland in July and central north New South Wales during June has increased lower-layer soil moisture (from 10 cm to 100 cm deep) for July in these regions, but soils remain relatively dry over much of the eastern three quarters of the mainland, and very dry in several areas.Soils have moistened in the southwest corner and northwest of Western Australia and a large area in the Southern Interior, with some areas showing above average soil moisture. The impact of the longer dry on water resources is still evident, especially in northern parts of the Murray–Darling Basin where total storages are still low (see Water storage levels increased slightly in most of the major storages in the Murray–Darling Basin during July. Lake Hume again had the most significant increase of 12%, bringing it to 49% of capacity. Flows are reaching the Lower Lakes in South Australia with more than 65 GL of water being released into the Coorong.Minor flows are being maintained down the Lower Darling River with releases from the Menindee Lakes, but there are no significant flows in the Darling upstream of Menindee Lakes.The total water storage levels in the South West Coast drainage division are at 41.1% of capacity.