Short but sharp - The 1982-83 droughts

In terms of short-term rainfall deficiencies (up to one year) and their overall impact, the 1982-83 drought was perhaps the worst in Australia for the 20th Century.

In autumn 1982 reasonable rains were fairly widespread, except for southern Western Australia, which had an exceptionally dry autumn. With the coming of winter, however, intense drought became established in most areas east of a line from Alice Springs to Ceduna. There were frequent sharp frosts in June and July, accompanying clear skies and low atmospheric moisture levels. By the end of August the wheat crop in eastern Australia was on the verge of failure, and sheep prices plummeted as graziers reduced flocks. Very dry conditions persisted through spring over eastern Australia (except in coastal areas of northern New South Wales), with extensive areas experiencing record or near-record low rainfall totals from April to December.

By November, dry soil in northwestern Victoria was blown away as dust; water restrictions were imposed in Melbourne; and on 24 November the earliest Total Fire Ban in 40 years was proclaimed in Victoria. The upper Murrumbidgee River became a chain of waterholes: by year’s end reservoirs fell to levels not known for many years. The remains of Tallangatta and Bonnie Doon, Victorian towns relocated in the 1950s to allow enlargement of Lake Hume and Lake Eildon, emerged from the shrinking waters. The summer Wet season failed in the Northern Territory and north Queensland, with record low summer rainfall in some areas. What little rain there was often fell on bare earth and without follow-up, and was therefore of little use. Only northeastern NSW and southeastern Queensland truly escaped the drought.

The nadir was reached in February 1983, with record low rainfall in parts of Tasmania, and virtually none at all in Victoria. Fires flared in southeastern Tasmania on the 1st and 8th, spectacular dust-storms swept Victoria on the 8th, and the Ash Wednesday fires devastated Victoria and South Australia on the 16th. In far eastern Victoria, fires burned unchecked for most of the month. Relief came at last in March: ironically, the first rains arrived inopportunely at grape harvest time in South Australia and Victoria. An intense low pressure system then developed over northwestern Australia on the 12th, and over the next week drifted eastward with heavy rain and flooding. It then tracked south over NSW and Victoria to Tasmania by the 23rd. Substantial rain fell over almost all the drought area, with many record March totals. Abundant follow-up rains in April and May signified the end of the drought.

Total losses attributed to this drought exceeded $3 billion. Its association with the very strong El Niño event of 1982-83 marked the transformation of El Niño from abstract climate phenomenon to common lexicon, and set the scene for many of today’s climate forecasting techniques.

Lake Eildon, in Victoria, at an extremely low level. This scene has recurred several times during the more severe droughts of the 20th Century (photo courtesy of Catherine Beesley).

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