North West Local Land Services

On-ground conditions are variable across the region, with recent rainfall not being sufficient to bring widespread change in conditions.

• Conditions have remained relatively stable since the last Update, with average, but highly variable rainfall in January.
• Some locations are monitoring feed and water supplies due to warmer temperatures throughout much of January.
• Continued rainfall is needed to see a transition to the Recovery category for many locations.
• Summer cropping programs, including dryland cotton and sorghum are monitoring soil moisture levels and forecasts closely.
• The drought forecast suggests that the majority of the region will be in the Non-Drought category by the end of April 2025, with parts of the region remaining in the Drought Affected.

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Normalised Difference Vegetation Index

Plant greenness levels remain variable across the region for the November to January period; anomalies remain below average for parts of the region.

Note that some of the extremely negative NDVI areas (brown patches) are water bodies.

The NDVI anomaly is a useful measure of vegetation density and plant health. It estimates the amount of green vegetation there is in the landscape compared to what is expected at the given time of year, against the baseline period 1987 - 2020.

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Individual Drought Indicators

Drought indicators remain variable across the region.

• There has been a decline in the Rainfall Index values at Moree and Tamworth. This has been due to a longer-term rainfall deficiency over summer.
• Follow-up rainfall is needed to improve the RI values for many regions and maintain the positive production outlooks.

To access a Drought History chart for your Parish, visit the Seasonal Conditions Information Portal.