Australia: Rain At Last

A welcome band of drenching rain has swept across southeastern Australia but hopeful farmers have been warned there is still no sign of a break in the drought, reports Adelaide Now.

Residents of Australia’s cities, increasingly burdened with harsh water restrictions, are praying that further heavy rains will fall in reservoir catchment areas.

Farmers in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales celebrated a long-awaited dousing of their parched crops as falls topped 60mm in some areas overnight.

Victorian farmer John Piccirillo said he “did a little jig” last night as rain began to fall on his property near Mildura in Victoria’s northwest. “I’d forgotten what it looks like,” he said. “We haven’t had this sort of rain in a while.”

One of a number of farmers around the Murray-Darling Basin whose irrigation allocations are under threat by the drought, Mr Piccirillo said the 25mm of rain that soaked his citrus and grape crops overnight gave him hope. “It is a help,” he said. “What we really need is for the rain to fall in the catchment (area) and shore up water supply.”

Despite the change, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned the rain is not nearly enough to end the drought. Mike Bergin, manager of the Bureau of Meteorology’s national meteorological centre in Melbourne, said while rainfall had topped 60mm in the Adelaide Hills there was “no real joy” for farmers. “It’s rain and they’re not about to knock it back that’s for sure, but it’s not the salvation they’re looking for,” he said. “Hundreds of millimetres is the answer. We’d need to see rain events like this, more of them and (continuing) for quite some time. This doesn’t even come close.”

The drenching rain moved into southeastern Australia last night, bringing falls of up to 25mm throughout New South Wales and western Victoria.

More rain is predicted over Southern Australia next week as a second frontal system moves over Western Australia and into Victoria.