At least part of the problem with the low rainfall is that the typhoon pattern this year seems to have most of them staying east of us - no straight runners and i don't think ppe has had one landfall typhoon this year - that must almost be a record.

There are currently two typhoons following this pattern.

As such, all the moisture is being sucked away from us. If a typhoon passes under us then we get rain from the poleward outflow but at the moment it's hot and dry and looks set to stay that way for the foreseeable future.