Central Tablelands Local Land Services

Conditions remain variable across the region.

• Despite widespread rainfall during May, much of the region continues to manage drought conditions. The effects of recent rainfall on regions in a NSW-CDI drought category will become more evident over the next few weeks.
• Rainfall has provided opportunities to sow later season crops, likely increased confidence for areas where cereal or fodder crops were sown early.
• Conditions have improved in the south, including regions around Eugowra, Cowra, Manildra and Cudal.
• There are areas where pasture growth may be slowing and becoming dormant as cooler temperatures are experienced.
• On ground reports suggest that producers are optimistic but remain cautious entering winter; and continue to monitor forecasts and outlooks.
• For areas managing longer term drought conditions, follow-up rainfall is crucial in improving conditions moving into winter.
• In regions currently in the NSW-CDI Non-Drought category, the underlying drought indicators generally remain strong.

Click on the scroll bar below the map to compare with previous months.

The most likely outcome from the DPIRD’s Drought Forecast is for most of the northern part of the region to remain in the Drought Affected category by the end of August 2026 (issued 31 May 2026).

• Southeastern parts of the region will likely remain or transition to the NSW-CDI Non-Drought category at the end of August 2026.
• Areas in the southwest of the region are likely to remain in the Recovery category.
• There is moderate to high model agreement and low to high past accuracy for this forecast period.

Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)

Plant greenness levels are highly variable across the region.

• Most areas in the south and east are recording near average to above average values, influenced by follow-up rainfall in early May.
• The full influence of rainfall in late May will be available in the next Update.

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.

Individual drought indicators

Drought indicators remain variable across the region, with improvement observed at some locations.  

• Further rainfall over winter will be needed to continue recent improvements in the underlying indicators at Bathurst and Cowra.
• Autumn rainfall was insufficient to improve the underlying indicators at Mudgee. Further rainfall will be needed to ensure the region does not transition into the NSW-CDI Drought category.

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.dpird.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.