Crikey it’s wet

[old man emu]

In my neck of the woods it's been dry for the first quarter of this year, just the occasional isolated storm. I see that the grain farmers have been ploughing, but I haven't lived here long enough to know when sowing begins. I suppose they will have to wait until they get a good fall and then hope for follow-up rain.

[spacesailor]

Like others have said , the coast is green.  So I've emptied  my water tank & will try to clean the silt stain out . Hadn't use any water from that tank for years .

spacesailor

[nomadpete]

24 minutes ago, spacesailor said:

Like others have said , the coast is green.  So I've emptied  my water tank & will try to clean the silt stain out . Hadn't use any water from that tank for years .

spacesailor

The way things are going down here most folk are ready to clean the silt out of their rainwater tanks.... with a dustpan and brush.

[willedoo]

5 hours ago, old man emu said:

I see that the grain farmers have been ploughing, but I haven't lived here long enough to know when sowing begins.

It varies with varieties, districts and moisture levels. Winter wheat crops can be planted mid April if there's enough soil moisture, but most wouldn't start until at least the end of April. Planting is usually over by mid June. Wheat crops mature at different times down the east coast. Queensland usually starts harvesting in mid October, later as you go down the coast. Some harvesting contractors start their season in central Queensland and work their way down to Victoria.

[red750]

Rain is now falling heavily, thunder cracking like a supersonic boom, cats and dogs going nuts. I have  couple of LED emergency lanterns at the ready. I hope the power doesn't go out, I've set one of my regular programmes to record at 8:30 pm. Hope I haven't mozzed it. It's not 6 pm yet and outside looks like daylight saving is already over.

[old man emu]

23 hours ago, old man emu said:

I suppose they will have to wait until they get a good fall

Well, that wasn't a long wait. Woke up to this:

[pmccarthy]

We had 66 mm overnight.

[facthunter]

Yes "OURS" was the BIG noisy one. A person in Daylesford almost drowned.in a gutter. .   Nev

[red750]

The weather here is stone crazy. I just went down the street a few minutes ago. Bright sunshine, just one or two spots on the windscreen, not enough for the wipers. Went into the shopping centre, bought a couple of Ozlotto tickets for tonight's $40 mil draw, bought a couple of grocery items and went back to the car. Half hour tops.

 

When I got to the car, luckily it was under cover, because the rain was bucketing down like there was no tomorrow. Sat in the car for five minutes, having a drink I had just bought. By the time I started the engine ready to back out, the sun was  shining again. Talk about four seasons in one day.

[nomadpete]

Well today has been exactly as forecast by BOM.

 

Light drizzle started before daybreak, built up to a bit over 1/2 an inch by late in the day, and tapering off now (5pm).

 

About 10,000 litres into our tanks - thanks.

 

It's been a dry summer, and although we are good for drinking water, the subsoil moisture won't be restored by this little fall.

[old man emu]

I got a good fall, but I don't have a gauge. Some heavy showers that got the drains running. Then it was humid for the rest of the day. Now it has cleared up and everything looks clean and bright. My drinking water tanks were topped up, although they were not down too far. You can only drink so many cups of coffee and tea per day. I'm looking out my window and the grasses look fresh and keen to do a bit before the chill of winter. 

[onetrack]

Rain gauge, Bunnings Bureau of Weather Observations Dept ....

 

https://www.bunnings.com.au/at-home-metal-rain-gauge_p3110596

[onetrack]

I find the 80 year weather cycle interesting. In 1980-1982 we had one of the worst droughts in living memory. Then the old timers told us it was the 80 year cycle aligning with the huge drought of 1900-1902. 

Then I started thinking about this drought period, and the 80 year cycle - and I recalled some of the old-timers telling me about the big drought of 1944-1945. So it looks like the 80 year cycle has clobbered us again.

 

https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/environment-drought-eastern-australia/

 

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/78388049?searchTerm=drought

[red750]

Half an hour after my last post, it was raining like mad, overflowing the gutters like Niagara Falls. Another half an hour and it has stopped again.

[facthunter]

That's what happens when you have fronts and cells going through with an unstable atmosphere. . More like spring than early Autumn. It least it's keeping things a bit green here. Well less dusty. Grass is not likely to shoot at this time of year. Nev

[old man emu]

You know that you are going to get a soaking when there is no wind and the rain is falling vertically.

 

[spacesailor]

It is wet , my cats litter box is flooded. 

She won't ' pee ' in it today .

spacesailor

[onetrack]

It's official. It's forgotten to rain in W.A., full stop. The heat is relentless, it's going to be 33° tomorrow, and 35° on Sunday! - and not a skerrick of rain in sight for a fortnight, at least!

 

https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/desperately-dry-in-southwest-wa/1889272

[old man emu]

Just looking at the rainfall recordings at a number of airports in the Central West of NSW it seems that the falls were around 25 to 30 mls at best. Closer to the Tablelands the falls got up to 50-odd at Tamworth. At least it was steady rain with some breaks in between to let it soak in. Those grain farmers who had done some ploughing will be happy that they did as the turned ground will capture more water than unturned ground. 

[facthunter]

The weeds shoot beautifully also. 

 WA has had a really BAD time. Drought and rain have a self perpetuating  cycle. Enough inland rain supplies a lot of water to evaporate  which helps clouds to form and more rain etc. Not as effective as an ocean but still  something.   Nev

[onetrack]

I thought the 1980 drought year was bad - but at least we didn't have the relentless, endless heat that we've been getting this Spring, Summer and Autumn in 1980.

But I do recall temperatures reaching 44° in the wheatbelt in February 1980.

 

The main thing that is imprinted in my brain, is that 1980 was the year our family went all out on a big cropping programme, with wheat and oat plantings on our own farm, and on leased farmland.

However, from the 2,500 acres of wheat we planted, we harvested just a single 8-tonne truckload of wheat! It was a shocker of a season, the worst in 80 years according to all the old-timers.

 

In a normal year we would've harvested at least 1500 tonnes of wheat off that area. Then came the double whammy of fuel prices quadrupling in a period of 18 mths - followed by interest rates going from around 7% to at least 16% on average. We were paying 23% on leases and hire purchase in that era - and I recall being slugged 30% interest on one particular HP contract!!

 

It was truly one of the most dreadful times to be in business, from 1980 to 1983.

[spacesailor]

The recession we had to have .

Political arsehole.

spacesailor

[Jerry_Atrick]

You're referring ot the 90s if your referencing Keating's famous line. Fraser was in until 1983. As I recall, his last term in office - unitl 1983 - he and his cabinet where known as thee razor gang.

 

@onetrack, feel for you and that part of the left side. Read that the water desalination plants are being used to truck drinking water, but there's only so much they can produce, and they're not the most environmentally friendly things. Obviously with the heat, the air can hold more moisture before it ha to let go.

Sadly, it is not lookng too good for the future: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-03/more-megadrought-warnings-climate-change-australia/103661658

 

Price of food will get more expensive.

 

 

 

[old man emu]

3 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Sadly, it is not lookng too good for the future: Price of food will get more expensive.

In WWII the British were encouraged to "Dig for Victory". In the future it might be "Dig for Survival". Might be a good idea to start creating a patch in which to grow veggies for the household. It would also be a good idea to practice freezing vegetables to store for out-of-season availability. 

 

In a family situation, growing vegetables should be specialised amongst the branches of the family if the kids have their own places. That way each branch doesn't produce the same things so that there is a glut that cannot be cleared. 

 

Of course, this idea only works if everyone has a little bit of space. Too bad if you live in a high-rise, although there is a lot of balcony gardening and vertical gardens.

[nomadpete]

13 minutes ago, old man emu said:

In WWII the British were encouraged to "Dig for Victory". In the future it might be "Dig for Survival". Might be a good idea to start creating a patch in which to grow veggies for the household. It would also be a good idea to practice freezing vegetables to store for out-of-season availability. 

 

In a family situation, growing vegetables should be specialised amongst the branches of the family if the kids have their own places. That way each branch doesn't produce the same things so that there is a glut that cannot be cleared. 

 

Of course, this idea only works if everyone has a little bit of space. Too bad if you live in a high-rise, although there is a lot of balcony gardening and vertical gardens.

That is a great idea. But only if there is water available for said veggie patch.