275:. In southwestern Australia the rainy season was extraordinarily poor from beginning to end, with only one significant fall all through from May to October and severe frosts prevalent throughout. June, August, September and October were all record dry months in Victoria and Tasmania, and even unusually heavy July rainfall in Gippsland could do nothing to alleviate the drought. The result was, that with the northerly areas around the Darling Downs not well developed yet, Australia's wheat crop was almost completely lost after an exceptionally hot October in which temperatures reached over 36 °C (97 °F) even in Hobart. Wheat yields in Victoria were only around 0.10 tonne per hectare and in WA even lower.
387:
282:, the spring was the wettest on record. November and December were notably hot and humid, with rainfall near or above normal except in Tasmania and coastal Queensland during November. The southeast of Western Australia was particularly wet during these months, but in the desiccated agricultural regions the rain was much too late to save crops or pastures.
219:, South Australia and southwestern WA. August was particularly noteworthy as the most completely rainless month known in Queensland and New South Wales. The rain turned an unpromising wheat season into one of the best on record despite a violent cold outbreak in the east early in November when Melbourne recorded its lowest-ever maximum for that month on
125:
Apart from one big
September fall in Victoria, dry and often hot conditions did not ease until one of the heaviest downpours ever known in Western Queensland fell in late November. This was followed by heavy general falls in December except in Queensland and northeastern New South Wales. November was
456:
Warren, Herbert Norman; Results of rainfall observations made in
Queensland: supplementary volume: including rainfall tables, discussion of rainfall in districts and its relation to principal industries : also, temperature and humidity tables for certain selected stations and records of floods
296:
March 1915 rainfall of 2.8 millimetres (0.11 in) is its lowest ever and only 2 percent of its long-term March mean, whilst even normally-soaked Cairns received only 120 millimetres (4.7 in). April was equally dry in
Queensland and the Northern Territory and only Tasmania and an area near
71:, February 1911 stands as the third-wettest month since 1885 after October 1975 and February 1973. Heavy monsoonal rain drenched Queensland throughout the summer. These months, however, were virtually rainless in the southwestern quarter of the continent and quite dry in the Kimberley and Top End.
188:
in the city's history. Apart from the North Coast of New South Wales, March was particularly wet, so much so that major flooding occurred in most rivers between
Melbourne and Sydney. In Melbourne, the total of 23 rainy days is a record for any month between November and April and the low sunshine
158:
and 1998. The wheat areas of
Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria missed the heavy June falls completely but were very wet in July and the Western District of Victoria was relieved of anxiety by exceptionally heavy rainfall in the first eighteen days of September. Despite a dry October
499:
Green, H.J. and Watt, William Shand; Results of rainfall observations made in
Victoria: supplementary volume: including all available annual rainfall totals from 1326 stations for years 1911–1936 inclusive, and monthly and yearly totals from 239 representative stations for the entire periods for
295:
had a spell of ten successive rainy days – more than it normally has in
February and March combined. El Niño, however, remained powerful and eastern Australia was almost uniformly dry throughout the first three months of 1915 except for East Gippsland in January and Tasmania in March. Brisbane's
109:
and southeast
Queensland began to have major rainfall deficiencies in those months. By August dry conditions were, as is usual for El Niño years, general except in coastal districts of New South Wales and the southeast of Western Australia. Southwestern Australia was particularly hard-hit: wheat
320:
breaking out in the North Coast of New South Wales and southeastern
Queensland. Although occasional rain put many fires out in August and September, the dryness in these regions intensified greatly still in October and November due to extremely powerful westerly weather that saw New South Wales
371:
developed and produced starting in June exceptionally heavy rain across almost all inland areas of the continent. Adelaide set a record monthly rainfall of 218 millimetres (8.6 in) in June and there was major flooding of the whole city, whilst in July record rainfalls occurred throughout
153:
However, elsewhere exceptionally dry conditions continued until a series of low pressure systems in June and July provided record-breaking rainfalls for that time of year in inland
Queensland and New South Wales. Indeed, the winter averaged over those two states was nearly as wet as those of
366:
This year opened with heavy rain in Tasmania, southern Victoria and western Queensland, but the drought areas on the east coast did not gain relief until April. May, however was very dry except in a few coastal parts of New South Wales. This time, however, a powerful
303:
In May, however, a trend of wet weather established itself across western Victoria, South Australia and southern Western Australia and continued right through to September. This wetness was backed up by the mildest winter across the southeast until
321:
record its driest month of the twentieth century (statewide average rainfall 3.2 millimetres (0.13 in)). Despite patchy rain in December 1915 was still the driest calendar year on record in most of the North Coast of New South Wales and the
167:
This year opened with some heavy monsoonal rains over the more coastal areas of Queensland and the Northern Territory in January; however, the month was very dry in the southeast apart from southern Tasmania. February was dry west of a line from
290:
The heavy rainfall of November and December in Western Australia continued throughout the first two months of 1915, culminating in quite unseasonable downpours over the southwest at the end of February and beginning of March. During this period
204:, southwestern WA and the settled areas of South Australia were very dry, whilst most of New South Wales, Queensland and East Gippsland were wet. Apart from scattered coastal areas and the extreme southwest, July was exceptionally dry:
110:
crops failed completely in many places and led to a revolution in water supply and farming techniques to cope with rainfalls lower than previously known. In the humid forest belt, 1911 was the driest year of the twentieth century at
235:
January was very wet in the Top End, Kimberley and central Australia, but distinctly dry in the south of the continent, leading onto a major heatwave with exceptionally dry conditions in the far southeast during February, when
375:
Still, it was not until nearly continent-wide heavy rains and flooding from late September to mid-December that the drought disappeared fully from the eastern coastal areas, especially Gippsland.
94:
March in 138 years of record with only 21 millimetres (0.83 in) as against an average of 290 millimetres (11 in). April saw some good late wet season rains in the north due to a severe
358:
The year was, however, very wet in almost all of Western Australia, and also in western Tasmania and an area around Darwin, where December saw an extremely active monsoon with flooding.
278:
In coastal districts of New South Wales, however, the extraordinarily powerful anticyclones that desiccated the interior produced powerful onshore winds and extremely heavy rain: in
159:
outside of southeastern Queensland rainfall for the rest of the year was generally satisfactory throughout southern Australia, though the wet season did not start well in the north.
20:
consisted of a series of droughts that affected various regions of Australia between the years of 1911 and 1916. Most of the dry spells during this period can be related to three
134:
The hopes the good December rains gave soon disappeared as January was exceptionally dry almost throughout the continent except for a few normally-dry areas between Perth and
192:
The period around 12 April saw an extremely heavy if localised rainfall in the Albany district with totals of up to 175 millimetres (6.9 in) in a day near the
208:
did not receive any rain in June or July and Adelaide's rainfall for the period of only 32 millimetres (1.3 in) was less than in the disastrous year of 1982.
308:
began in 1980. Crops that barely grew in 1914 grew with extraordinary vigour, and flooding even occurred in the Wimmera, around Adelaide and more severely in the
576:
35:
The years before the drought had generally had satisfactory rainfall with impressive crop yields throughout most of the continent with the exception of the
447:
Wadham, Sir Samuel; Wilson, R. Kent and Wood, Joyce; Land Utilization in Australia (third edition); p. 144; published 1957 by Melbourne University Press.
200:. April was also very wet in the southern coastal districts of New South Wales, but May and June saw an unseasonal continuation of easterly winds. Thus,
252:
in March and wet conditions in southeastern Australia (especially Tasmania) in April were followed by a second heavy fall in a belt from Broome to the
105:
However, despite the "big wet" continuing in southern Victoria through May and June, southwestern Australia and to lesser extent the settled parts of
316:, the drought did not ease in Queensland, coastal New South Wales or Gippsland. Strong westerly winds and tinder-dry forests in August led to major
215:
The following three months saw an abrupt reversal, with dry conditions in Queensland and most of New South Wales contrasting with good rains in
626:
32:
until well after the last El Niño had firmly dissipated and trends toward very heavy rainfall developed in other areas of the continent.
63:, and February was a phenomenally wet month in Victoria and southwestern New South Wales, with places like Pooncarie on the lower
227:
streams; but, apart from one rain event mid-month with another record daily total in Adelaide, dry weather prevailed elsewhere.
666:
272:
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Green and Watt; Results of rainfall observations made in Victoria; published 1937 by Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology
477:
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in March, whilst a small coastal belt of the Wet Tropics had exceptionally heavy rainfall in April and May, with
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of just 11.4 °C (52.5 °F). December saw very wet conditions in Queensland, with record flows in some
139:
83:
261:
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87:
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184:
received a particularly intense fall of 56.9 millimetres (2.24 in) on the 17th, with the worst
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with a daily fall of 801 millimetres (31.5 in) and promising rains in southwestern Australia.
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82:'s rainfall of 191 millimetres (7.5 in) remains a March record. However, in the Top End and
598:
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event was producing heavy rain over eastern Australia. January was the wettest on record in
400:
122:, the most nearly perennial river in all of WA, ceased to flow during the ensuing summer.
8:
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68:
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with 544 millimetres (21.4 in) against a median of 1,289 millimetres (50.7 in)
271:
and dry, easterly winds that was at the time quite unprecedented and not rivalled until
322:
44:
24:
events in 1911, 1913 and 1914, though rainfall deficiencies actually began in northern
354:
with 423 millimetres (16.7 in) against a median of 749 millimetres (29.5 in)
220:
348:
with 730 millimetres (29 in) against a median of 1,410 millimetres (56 in)
425:
392:
95:
28:
before the first of these El Niños set in and did not ease in coastal districts of
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29:
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of Western Australia. Although September saw unseasonable rain as far north as
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the driest on record in many parts of western Victoria and eastern Queensland.
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610:
420:
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64:
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Early March saw exceptionally heavy rains in southern Victoria and eastern
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However, in the southern wheat belt May 1914 began a trend of powerful
216:
40:
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56:
21:
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which records are available up to the end of 1935; published 1937 by
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197:
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135:
79:
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recording 190 millimetres (7.5 in) for the month. Averaged over
36:
25:
429:. No. 16, 597. Queensland, Australia. 22 March 1911. p. 5
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75:
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had never disappeared at any point during the decade of the 1900s.
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and cyclones; published 1940 by Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology
39:
region, the coastal districts of New South Wales and southeastern
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recording 2,600 millimetres (100 in) for those two months.
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241:
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60:
292:
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143:
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was even remotely above average across the whole continent.
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only 3 millimetres (0.12 in). Torrential rains around
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were exceptionally severe and led to fears of crop losses.
382:
43:. In these areas, the rainfall deficiencies of the
138:. Major tropical cyclones provided respite to the
489:Melbourne Highest to Lowest Rainfall and Raindays
332:with 377.6 millimetres (14.87 in) against a
172:to Eucla and east from one between Melbourne and
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260:saw some of the heaviest rainfalls known until
189:hours of only four per day also unparalleled.
437:– via National Library of Australia.
325:of Queensland. Notable low falls include:
176:, but elsewhere some exceptionally heavy
196:and 114 millimetres (4.5 in) near
55:At the beginning of the year, a strong
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180:rains meant the month was a wet one.
86:, drought was already established as
336:of 1,143 millimetres (45.0 in)
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627:History of Australia (1901–1945)
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667:1910s disasters in Australia
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588:Port Macquarie climate data
535:Victoria September rainfall
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566:Climate data for Herberton
478:Queensland winter rainfall
18:1911–16 Australian drought
546:Victoria October rainfall
372:southwestern Queensland.
524:Victoria August rainfall
421:"A Devastating Calamity"
256:in May. The area around
672:1910s natural disasters
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230:
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682:1916 natural disasters
677:1911 natural disasters
617:Disasters in Australia
513:Victoria June rainfall
662:20th-century droughts
622:Droughts in Australia
599:Inverell climate data
502:Bureau of Meteorology
240:received no rain and
577:Lismore climate data
426:The Brisbane Courier
401:Drought in Australia
142:in February and the
467:NSW winter rainfall
225:Cape York Peninsula
323:Atherton Tableland
45:Federation Drought
657:1916 in Australia
652:1915 in Australia
647:1914 in Australia
642:1913 in Australia
637:1912 in Australia
632:1911 in Australia
221:Melbourne Cup Day
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107:South Australia
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30:New South Wales
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687:1910s droughts
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306:global warming
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194:Stirling Range
186:flash flooding
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112:Margaret River
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431:. Retrieved
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269:anticyclones
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264:that month.
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178:thunderstorm
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120:Warren River
116:Cape Leeuwin
104:
100:Port Douglas
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54:
34:
17:
15:
611:Categories
407:References
217:the Mallee
98:drenching
41:Queensland
330:Herberton
318:bushfires
314:Mount Isa
262:the 1970s
198:Katanning
174:Bundaberg
148:Innisfail
140:Kimberley
136:Geraldton
84:Kimberley
80:Melbourne
37:Gippsland
26:Australia
433:14 April
379:See also
352:Inverell
202:Tasmania
182:Adelaide
90:had its
76:Tasmania
69:Victoria
369:La Niña
340:Lismore
57:La Niña
22:El Niño
334:median
298:Onslow
242:Hobart
238:Orbost
210:Frosts
92:driest
88:Darwin
61:Sydney
293:Perth
258:Uluru
206:Ouyen
170:Derby
144:Eucla
435:2017
362:1916
286:1915
273:1982
250:Bega
248:and
246:Eden
231:1914
163:1913
156:1950
130:1912
114:and
51:1911
16:The
613::
423:.
78::
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