June Driest On Record For W. Australia, 3rd Driest For Victoria

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THE long dry just keeps setting records and challenging farmers' ability to manage. June was the driest on record for Western Australia, the third-driest for Victoria and the fifth-driest nationwide. The Bureau of Meteorology reports a large area of southwest WA and of central NSW have just had the driest autumn and driest early winter on record.

Perth also had its lowest rainfall for June; Melbourne had its second-lowest June rainfall on record; and Adelaide had its third-driest June. A number of sites in Tasmania, including Launceston, had their driest June on record. Hobart has its second-driest since observations began in 1882.

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David Jones from the National Climate Centre said: "It is very significant that the climate there has been getting drier for 30 years, and yet we have seen a whole bunch of record low rainfall totals this year. The region is running the driest start to a year on record." Scientists accept that the southwest is experiencing climate change. Dr Jones said all the forecasts he had seen indicated that south-west WA would continue to dry out over the coming century. He said analyses by the CSIRO and the International Panel on Climate Change also suggested there would be drying over south coastal parts of Australia, with southwest Victoria and southeast SA, in particular, and much of Victoria, likely to get drier. Dr Jones said Victoria had not had a good rainfall year since 1997. "We have six months to go in the year, but we certainly seem to be continuing that pattern of dry conditions," he said.

Southeast Queensland is experiencing the worst drought in more than 100 years. Water supplies are at an all-time low. Level 3 water restrictions have been introduced, banning the watering of gardens with hoses and sprinklers. The food bowl of Australia, the Murray-Darling Basin, is setting "dry" records daily, according to River Murray Water manager David Dreverman. It was the driest five-year sequence on record, he said.

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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19768883-30417,00.html