Australia has been blighted by a persistent drought in recent years. Although there has been relief in most parts, others are still suffering - namely Victoria and New South Wales. The ongoing drought has just produced the longest autumn dry spell in Sydney since records began in 1859.

During the 55 day period from 7th April to 31st May 2004, a total of less than 10mm of rain has fallen in the city. The last time such a small amount of rain was recorded was fifty years ago during a dry spell of 48 days in autumn 1954.

The total rainfall in the past three months in total adds up to just 142mm, giving Sydney its driest autumn since 1965 when only 136mm was recorded.

The dry weather is quite exceptional given that autumn is normally Sydney's wettest season with an average seasonal rainfall of 383mm.

In terms of 'rain days' - the number of days in the season when rain is recorded - Sydney only clocked up 16 days during autumn. This is the lowest number of rain days since 1888 when there were only 14 days with rain.

Australia is one of the largest grain exporters in the world, but its crops suffered very badly in 2002 and 2003 during the worst drought to hit the country for 100 years. Until recently, it was feared that the whole of Australia would be affected by another crop-devastating drought, but in actual fact, apart from the very dry parts of New South Wales and Victoria, most of the country has seen good rains in the past few weeks.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology is continuing to forecast normal rainfall for the coming winter months.

Weather News from the last five days:
31/05/2004
30/05/2004
29/05/2004
28/05/2004
27/05/2004

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