Rainfall variations in south-eastern Australia part 1: Consolidating evidence from pre-instrumental documentary sources, 1788-1860

Abstract

This study fills an important gap in south-eastern Australia's climate record by compiling qualitative historical data from the time of first European settlement of Australia in 1788 until widespread meteorological observations become available in 1860. In this study, we consolidate twelve documentary-based rainfall chronologies for five sub-regions of south-eastern Australia (SEA) over the 1788-1860 period using a range of secondary historical sources. Our analysis identified 27 drought years in SEA between 1788 and 1860, and 14years of high rainfall in New South Wales (NSW) between 1788 and 1840. Given that our current understanding of Australian drought is still largely confined to the po..