Hunter Local Land Services

On-ground conditions maintained, with a positive production outlook across the region.

• October rainfall was average to below average across the region.
• Despite the lower-than-average rainfall October, long-term rainfall has been average to above average. This has maintained conditions and most of the region in the NSW-CDI Non-Drought category.

The DPRID Drought Forecast suggests that the entire region is likely to be in the Non-Drought category at the end of January 2026.

• There is high model agreement and low to high past accuracy for this forecast period.

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Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)

Plant greenness levels remain near average to above average for most of the region for the August to October period.

Note that some of the extremely negative NDVI areas (brown patches) are water bodies or from the influence of mining operations.

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 high across the region.

• Whilst still high, there has been a declining trend in the underlying drought indicators. DPIRD continues to monitor conditions closely.

Observing the trends of the underlying drought indicators of Soil Water, Plant Growth and Rainfall is useful in tracking long-term changes in conditions.

Find out more about the underlying drought indicators here: https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/climate_applications/interactive-drought-map/Learn-more/understanding-the-cdi-phases

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