Lucy Carroll
Sydney notched up its driest January (click here) in more than a decade this month, with most of the state left parched and facing little rainfall for the rest of summer.
With only 17.4 millimetres of rain recorded in Sydney - far less than the average January fall of 102 millimetres - coastal areas have relied on sea breezes for protection against heatwave conditions affecting much of south-eastern Australia.
''The past two months have been significantly drier than average,'' said Sean Carson, a meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology. ''We had some very wet years in 2009 and 2010, which means dam levels have been in good shape - until now.''
He said the last decent rainfall recorded was on Christmas Day, but since then a high pressure system off the Tasman Sea has led to hot and dry conditions.
In inland NSW, Gunnedah has had virtually no rainfall, collecting only 0.2 millimetres, and Quirindi has recorded less than 1 millimetre.
NSW Farmers spokesman Mitchell Clapham said surface water dams in northern NSW were almost completely dry.
''We haven't had any useful run-off rain in 12 months,'' he said. ''It's followed an unusually dry spring. Some areas north of Walgett haven't even sowed a crop.''
Last January, Sydney was drenched in 140 millimetres of rain.
Australia is not any different than the USA. Wet in areas when storms occur, but, regions are in severe drought with no end in sight.
January 30, 2014
Tropical Cyclone Dylan (click here) has been upgraded to a category 2 storm as it continues its path towards the north Queensland coast.
Boats have been ripped from moorings and washing up on beaches as north Queensland battens down for the season's first cyclone.
Dylan, a category one storm, was about 205 kilometres north-east of Townsville at 4pm, 260 kilometres north of Proserpine, moving west south-west at 12km/h towards the Queensland coast....
