Farmers relieved as rains forecast after driest June in 42 years for Ararat and Stawell
June rainfall one for the record books | Photos, chart
Dobie lamb farmer Charlie de Fegely and his son Richard, who like many farmers are looking forward to rain. Picture: PETER PICKERING
Rain arrives in Dobie, south-east of Ararat, on Monday after one of the driest June months on record. Picture: PETER PICKERING
Dobie lamb farmer Richard de Fegely. Picture: PETER PICKERING
SOLID rain on Monday and optimistic forecasts have brought to an end one of the driest June months for Ararat and Stawell on record.
Bureau of Meteorology climatologist Blair Trewin said June had been the driest month sine the 1970s.
“It was extremely dry right across Victoria but Ararat rainfall for the month was 12.2 millimetres, which was only about 20 per cent of average,” Mr Trewin said. “That made it the third driest June for Ararat and records go back to 1862 so that’s pretty significant.
“The two other times it was that dry were in 1969 and 1975.”
Stawell had four millimetres of rain in June when the expected average was more 60mm.
Ripper #frost in #Stawell. #Grampians#jackfrost#freezing#brrrrr#icy#tonguestucktothepole#eskimopic.twitter.com/AFJKDtnMOp
— Thomas Parkes (@_thomasparkes) June 30, 2017
“As you would expect for a very dry month, the range between daytime and nighttime temperatures was bigger than usual,” Mr Trewin said.
“Daytime temperatures were about one degree above average but overnight minimums were about 1.5 degrees below average.”
LIVE weather radar
Mr Trewin said the next few days should see a more typical winter pattern with westerly winds, more regular fronts and more rain.
“We had an unusually high and southward positioned sub-tropical high-pressure belt right over southern Australia, so it was a really dry month right across from southern WA to Victoria,” he said.
Dobie farmer Charlie de Fegely raises mainly lambs on his property south-east of Ararat and was optimistic about the coming season.
“August, September and October are the key months for us – in fact we can have little rain now as long as we know it’s coming later in the year.
“A lot of croppers have got their crops up and they’re looking handy, but they are desperately looking for spring rain more than sheep people do.”
Mr de Fegely said the frost had slowed pasture growth but the rain should now bring it back.
“To just look at one month is misleading; we’ve had one of the best autumns probably in my farming career,” he said.
Mr de Fegely said farmers in the region were waiting on the spring weather.