Dry August weather in Tasmania set to continue in spring

All eyes are the water gauges, and in the case of our Sheffield reader Pauline Macmillan, on the water trough, as spring arrives without the much needed rain.

Last week saw some rainfall in the west and light showers in the south, but anyone who recorded over 2mm was doing well.

Further falls on Tuesday night of up to 35mm in the west didn’t reach the north or south of the state where it’s needed most.

The month of August was an "anomaly", according to Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Michael Conway, with rainfall in the south and east 25-50mm below average, 50-100mm below average in the north and 100-120mm below average in parts of the central west.

“That’s a pretty dry August for Tasmania - the whole state is recording below average rainfall with parts of the west and east coast very much below,” Mr Conway said.

“It’s meant to be the wettest time of the year like they’re experiencing in South Australia and northern Victoria.”

Irrigators will be turned on early if the predicted dry continues, with no rain of any substance expected in September by the BOM and the long-range forecast to November is also predicted to provide lower than average rainfall.

Ground level moisture, even at the shallowest of root depth, is recording below average through the north and the west, ranging to parts of the south east although most of the state’s upper root zone is similarly dry.