Record evaporation rates across eastern Australia exacerbate drought

Australia's evaporation levels are running at record rates, especially across eastern states, increasing the misery for drought-hit farmers and raising bushfire risks as the mercury starts to climb.

Cold can deceive: Just because temperatures are low –
such as this empty dam near Oberon in the NSW central
 west – it doesn't mean moisture loss from evaporation is low.

While rainfall deficiencies have drawn much attention, stronger-than-usual winds, abnormally sunny days and low humidity have combined to push up evaporation levels, Bureau of Meteorology data shows.

Across the nation, evaporation last month averaged 145.21 millimetres, well above the 128.6 mm typical for July, and the most on record for data going back to 1975, said Karl Braganza, head of climate monitoring at the bureau.

The national tally beat the previous record in 2002. On a regional level, the evaporation rate was the highest on record for Victoria, and also smashed previous records for eastern Australia as a whole.

Read the story by Peter Hannam from The Sydney Morning Herald - “Record evaporation rates across eastern Australia exacerbate drought.”