Wetter conditions ahead

La Niña eases, but its influence on the Australian climate may continue over the coming months with the chance of wetter conditions and cooler daytime temperatures, particularly over northern and eastern Australia. See the March to May Seasonal Climate Outlook for details.

Seasonal Streamflow Forecasts

The streamflow forecasts for February to April are favouring near median or high flows for the majority of forecast sites in Victoria and New South Wales.

National Water Storage data

Map of Australia showing water storage icons

	Latest	Previous year
	% full	% full
Australia	78.1%	74.2%
ACT	99.7%	100.0%
NSW	74.2%	69.8%
NT	94.0%	98.1%
Qld	94.2%	99.5%
SA	90.5%	96.8%
Tas	67.5%	60.4%
Vic	74.6%	71%
WA	93.1%	85.4%

Capital cities	Latest	Previous year
Adelaide	56.4%	75.3%
Brisbane	85.0%	99.3%
Canberra	99.9%	100.0%
Darwin	94.0%	98.1%
Hobart	97.1%	100.0%
Melbourne	64.5%	53.4%
Perth	24.9%	21.2%
Sydney	85.3%	72.8%

Bureau of Meteorology
Mailing Address:
Bureau of Meteorology
Communication Section
700 Collins St
Docklands, Victoria 3008
www.bom.gov.au

February 2012

2011: two La Niñas make it cooler and wetter

The climate of 2011 was dominated by two La Niña events: a strong event peaking over the summer of 2010–11 and a second La Niña which developed in late 2011. This contributed to record rainfall for Australia over a two-year period and cooler than average temperatures over most of Australia last year, particularly in the northern parts.

These conditions are explained in the newly released Annual Climate Summary 2011 and analysed against longer-term trends.

Read more

Water storage welcomes new arrivals

The Bureau's national Water Storage website has expanded its reach and now includes data from 19 providers. This brings the total number of publicly-owned water storages reported on the website to 276, with further additions planned this year.

Information from Victoria's North East Region Water Corporation (North East Water) is now available, featuring current water storage levels and volumes for Lake Kerford and McCall Say, Loombah and Nil Gully reservoirs. Storage information from Towoomba Regional Council for Cressbrook Creek, Perseverance and Cooby Creek is also online.

Read more

Behind the Australian Water Resources Assessment

Data and metadata for figures in the Australian Water Resources Assessment 2010 are now available for download. This is the first time such data have been made available for an Australian water resource assessment.

Zip files of data for each figure are provided for the national and regional chapters of the report.

Read more

New publication: dynamic modelling approach for streamflow forecasting

Front cover of experimental evaluation report

Is it possible to provide accurate and reliable seasonal streamflow forecasts using a dynamic hydrologic modelling approach?

This question has been addressed through an experimental evaluation report published by the Bureau this month. The report is based on a project that evaluated the performance of the dynamic modelling approach for key water supply catchments in the Murray–Darling Basin, where statistical seasonal streamflow forecasts are currently available.

Read more

National Groundwater Information System

A project bringing together State and Territory groundwater data to improve our collective understanding of this resource throughout Australia is underway. The National Groundwater Information System aims to build a nationally consistent groundwater information system to produce water information and products.

The project’s first phase provides hydrogeological context for borehole information collected through the Water Regulations 2008, including groundwater level and pressure observations and groundwater use.

Read more

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