Communities in Queensland's Gulf Country fear they will be "in a lot of trouble" if more rain does not fall before the wet season ends in less than seven weeks.
In the Gulf of Carpentaria's east, just over half the average rainfall has fallen so far.
"We should be standing in water right about now," cattle station owner Ashley Gallagher said.
Mr Gallagher, who also owns a butcher shop in Normanton, should have full dams for his cattle by now.
"I suppose it is a little bit concerning that it is the middle of February and only a few weeks left and there's areas that haven't had any rain," he said.
For prawn fishing fleet manager Phil Robson, this year's wet season has been "average" and it will potentially put a dampener on the prawn season starting on April 1.
"[We had] good early rains in early November, December but the follow-up rain has been light in patches," he said.
"While we've had some areas with reasonably good rain, it hasn't been across the board."
Drought on land, drought at sea
In the Gulf of Carpentaria, a successful fishing season depends on how much rain the wet season brings to northern Queensland.
Prawns and fish such as barramundi are flushed from the connecting river systems that flow into the Gulf.
It means if there are not enough flows, the larger catches will not reach the sea.
"If it's good early rain in January, we might get some decent-sized prawns. If it's late rain and they do get out where we can catch them, then there's a high likelihood that they'll be smaller," Mr Robson said.
"After the middle of March, if it hasn't rained, you give up and deal with what you've got and try and work around that."
'Patchy' rainfall
Normanton's average rainfall for January and February is 446.7 millimetres, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
So far, it has recorded 291.8mm.
Mr Gallagher said normally one rain event "of four or five inches" filled "all the dams in one hit".
"Normally you get that early in the season because of the wild thunderstorms," he said.
"This area is a pretty important area in that this is where we bring our weaners to. Once we wean calves, they all come to this paddock and feed off and water off this dam, so it needs to be full at some stage.
"It's not every dam and not every area.
"You only go a couple of kilometres further on and the dam is full up there, so you've just got to work around that I guess and where we put the cattle."
No road closures for travelling vet
Veterinarian Zoe O'Brien services the Gulf region and usually her work would be disrupted by flooded roads, but there's been nothing in her way this season.
"It's a late season. Usually, we've had some storms in October, November and getting decent rain in January which we haven't really had, so hopefully it's still coming," Dr O'Brien said.
"We need that good steady grass rain to make it nice and green and get everyone through the year and get those dams full.
"We don't get winter rain, so what we get at the start of the year is what we have to work with."
While the eastern Gulf has struggled for decent rain this season, it has been a different story in the west, where the towns of Doomadgee and Burketown were cut off by floodwater last month.
It's enough to make some Normanton residents look across to the west with envy.
"I don't know whether [we will get more rain] it makes a big change in everything we do," Mr Gallagher said.
