Heavy January rain has eased the drought in parts of Queensland and Victoria.
But areas in both states are still suffering a significant long-term dearth, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says.
Rain in the top 10 per cent of records fell in a wide area from the Kimberley region of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and across southeastern Australia as a slow-moving tropical low over the Kimberley and the monsoon trough combined with a low pressure trough and cold front in the south.
"This rainfall has moderated deficiencies in northwestern Victoria and adjacent areas and, to a lesser degree, moderated deficiencies in central northern and inland Queensland as well," the BOM's latest drought statement says.
Most of the southeast, with the exception of central and southern Victoria and the adjacent West and South Gippsland region, had January rainfall up to 1.5 times the January average.
Eastern South Australia and western NSW had up to three times the average January rainfall.
But while the rain was welcome, and had eased drought conditions in some areas, the statement came with a warning.
"It should be noted, however, that January and February are climatologically the driest months throughout much of this region, and the unseasonable January rainfall was not high enough to clear rainfall deficiencies between western Victoria and the central West Coast district of South Australia," it said.
"These deficiencies are strongly influenced by very dry conditions between August and October 2014."
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