Chart of the day: is this the most severe drought in history?

Australia is no stranger to droughts, so how does the current big dry across southern Australia compare historically?

In 2018, autumn rainfall was the lowest since the 1902 Federation drought.

The chart below shows autumn rainfall compared to the long-term average, going back to 1900.

In 2018, autumn rainfall was 57 mm below average, the driest autumn since the 1902 Federation drought.

But the 2017-18 year overall was not one of the driest on record — there were 19 other years that were drier.

Read the ABC News story by Catharine Hanrahan from the digital storytelling team - “Chart of the day: is this the most severe drought in history?”