October’s rainfall has been one of the highest on record since 1900 across Australia, but according to the Bureau of Meteorology (The Bureau), that won’t be the end of it. 

With great irony, The Bureau released their Drought Statement early this month, which showed that rainfall was the highest on record for large parts of the Murray-Darling Basin across New South Wales and Victoria. 

Although drought conditions grow further and further away, there are still hotspots with dry conditions taking a toll on western Tasmania and northern parts of the Northern Territory. 

Across the Murray-Darling Basin, combined storages are 101 per cent full as 21 flood warnings for NSW rivers remain at the time of reporting. 

Local storage levels are up from 90 per cent at the end of October last year. 

According to Climate Outlooks for the coming three months, rain remains a constant but set to peak in November. 

“For the fortnight 7 to 20 November, above median rainfall is likely for most of the eastern half of mainland Australia,” The Bureau reported. 

Across the Western Plains, this looks like 65-70 per cent chance of exceeding the median rainfall from November to January. 

The rain will be accompanied by below median temperatures for New South Wales, with more than twice the average chance of unusually cool maximum temperatures for most of the state. 

The Bureau reported that global warming caused by human activities has played a major role in the temperature and rainfall variability occurring across Australia. 

“Australia’s climate has warmed by around 1.47 degrees celsius in the period between 1910 and 2020, leading to increased frequency of extreme heat events, and increased proportion of rainfall from high intensity, short duration rainfall events, particularly across northern Australia,” The Bureau reported. 

Flood warnings remain in place for the Namoi, Macquarie, Bogan, Lachlan, Barwon and Darling Rivers.