S. Australian Drought Worse Than That Of 1930s - Max. November Temps 8 Degrees Above Normal Highs

[hatrack]

SOUTHERN Australia stands to have the worst drought conditions since the 1930s as maximum summer temperatures soar, Victoria's rural fire authority says.

In a weather presentation to federal Victorian MPs at Parliament House in Canberra, Country Fire Authority chief fire officer Russell Rees also said there was a 55 per cent chance of summer temperatures being hotter.

November maximum temperatures in much of southern Australia are running at eight degrees "or thereabouts" hotter than average, he added. "I'm just stating the facts, all right," the Black Saturday bushfires veteran said. Without mentioning the 1939 Black Friday bushfires, in which 71 people died in Victoria, Mr Rees said drought conditions could end up being the worst in seven decades.

"Even if we have average rainfall for the rest of the year, we will probably end up in a climate scenario similar to 1938-39, or worst than, in terms of rainfall deficit," Mr Rees told the MPs associated with the Victorian bushfire reconstruction effort. "So, the picture is not pretty."

EDIT

http://www.thechronicle.com.au/story/2009/11/26/drought-conditions-worse-than-1930s/