It is Raining in February 2016

Rain fell in late January.......so lowest ever records of rain for January were not broken.

But that said.......the total amount for January was VERY low, compared to the average or median values.

Rain started to fall over the last weekend of January and has continued into the first week of February.  The met bureau describes it as a weak monsoon burst, but heck.......it is raining, and quite regularly, the sky is overcast and cloudy.......typical monsoon conditions, and predicted to continue next week as well.  

And Darwin River dam is inching closer to being full, as are local aquifers.

And it is considerably  cooler.  Blessed relief from the burning sun, although there is mostly enough solar energy to keep the solar HWS ticking over nicely.

Pleasant weather.

Frog Weather

Yes, frog weather has arrived in the north over the past week.

With close to 600mm in the rain gauge since the week prior to Christmas, including one big day with close to 200mm [ many other places with much more than this, and on multiple days] the monsoon arrived in serious mode.  Ground developed a serious squelch - absolutely saturated!

Unfortunately these conditions also accentuate conditions for the nasty soil borne disease meliodosis - often fatal.  Our neighbour was infected and although now on the mend, had a nasty,awful,  horrible time and seems to have suffered quite badly with pain.  He is recovering, thankfully.  At least locally in Darwin, if you present at emergency at the hospital, they are sufficiently aware of the issue to start treatment quickly - a major step to prevent death.  I noted when at the doctor myself a few days ago - there was a poster about the disease on the wall - a needed warning!  

The rain was however, a pleasant relief, given the dry, yet humid weather of the past two months of so.

Now - New Years Eve - it is drier, with no rain for a couple of days, although humid with rain around - just not in the rain gauge!

The expected cyclone fizzled into a tropical low as it moved SE across the NT- mainly because it failed to move over water and pick up intensity, yet it was an important and major event, as it moved SE to South bringing RAIN .

It brought good drought breaking rain to the parched areas of western and south western Queensland, Barkly Tablelands, the SE of the Northern Territory and is continuing to move south with more rains forecast at least for today in those regions.

Western Queensland was in serious drought - and had been for some years.  I bet there are some glimmers of smiles on property owners faces now.  BUT........it will be a long and difficult time back to recovery, as most places have got rid of stock and no doubt prices for new stock will rise as demand escalates over the next few weeks or more.  

They do need more rain- not necessarily huge quantities just a more normal rainy season the help rebuild pastures, vegetation and soil cover.  Lets hope they really have a decent rainy season.

For Darwin, a few days without rain are welcome - gets the solar HWS charged up, and allows a few activities outside.  The cloud cover is still around which keeps pool water temperatures a bit lower, and the monsoon wind flow is still strong at around 20 - 35km/hr from the west, also creating a few miserable choppy waves at local beaches.

Still plenty of green tree frogs around at night though, enjoying the change in weather!  AND - so far seen no cane toads this past week or two. Even a healthy and fat Torres Strait Pigeon or two around.

Torres Strait pigeon on African Mahogany tree

Murraya in Full Flower - Sunday Morning Coming Down

Must have looked fantastic, but then it rained..................and it was on the ground.

Many around Rapid Creek looked similar on Sunday, with white flowers as a ground carpet, knocked off by rain and wind.

Murraya in flower

Sunday morning - coming down!

The Dry Season? Maybe?

Nice to have a weekend with sunshine, clear cloudless blue skies, low humidity and no rain, after the past few were wet.

It might be the start of our wonderful dry season - maybe.

Temperatures are still high in the day, but there have been a few locations with below 20C nights around the outskirts of Darwin over the past two mornings.  Has to be a good sign.

Then late today, some clouds developed to the SE - often a sign of showers to come.

Enjoying the weather while I can........but not to be surprised if there are a few more showers to come.  Hey.......might not be too bad if it waters the garden though.

Happy Monsoon Frog

A weather change is wonderful, and we have a monsoon!!

Late, yes and expected to be a short burst, but it is a monsoon.  For so long it has been hanging out north of the Australian coast and bringing unusual heavy rain to Singapore in January and February.

Even the infamous Edith River bridge might have been flooded, and no doubt there will be some water flowing out of the Mt Todd minesite downstream for a few days while the river is flowing strongly.

Around the Top End - rainfalls of 50 - 100mm have been recorded.

AND........the clouds are in, and the temperature a more bearable 28 - 30C, not the hot violent blast of bright sunshine and 34C.  What a difference a few degrees can make.

Bring it on.

McDonalds Ludmilla - Hamburger Joint Or Road and Car Wash?

What a stupid franchisee! What a bad example to the rest of the community! What a waste!

Very obviously the franchisee could not give a rat’s. Maybe the franchisor might though.

It is the wet season and two nights ago around 30 -50mm of rain fell in Darwin, enough for at least 5 or 6 days to keep the garden and lawns growing.

Not only that, but both November and December have been quite wet with plenty of regular rain. It is over two months since most people needed to use irrigation at home, except for maybe the odd pot plant.

Yes, good old McDonald’s on Bagot Road / Pfitzer Drive corner at Ludmilla where thousands of cars move past both day and night, is still watering the lawn. Not only that, they are watering every evening, and also watering most of the road on both Pfitzer Drive and some onto Bagot road. It is so bad on Pfitzer Drive that the road is showing signs of damage from the water. Your car is watered as you enter the carpark.

There is a simple switch –called a rain off switch, that holds the settings, but stop the irrigation system operating. This is a switch one uses to turn the system off......when it rains. Very easy, very simple. Should have been activated about two month’s ago.

I am sure they can afford the water bill, but why use it?

What a shame they are so silly that they cannot turn it off when it is not needed.

The Missing Monsoon

We sort of lucked out, with Cyclone Grant passing by Darwin for Christmas 2011. Or is that got lucky?

Not so lucky, definitely, were people south of Darwin, around 250kms or so, a little north of Katherine, who copped a massive flash flood caused by monsoonal rain – some [almost] 400mm of overnight rain. This caused monumental road and rail line damage, including a major derailment and probably some environmental issues due to copper concentrate going in the river from the derailment and severely damaged several bridges, effectively cutting Darwin off from the rest of the country.



The rail line might be out for months is my guess, but the road [Stuart Highway] is now reopened, albeit on reduced service levels [ speed and some other restrictions] initially, with work to fix it probably also likely to take months and several millions of dollars [ remember – still 3-4 months of wet season to come yet].

A major disaster event.

Plenty of photos on the internet.

Since Boxing Day though, rain has stopped in Darwin. The weather is back to 35C days, clear skies and ultra high humidity, along with hot nights [29C at night].

This afternoon, and not before time, we have had around 15mm in a storm, but we are missing some monsoonal weather. Cloudy skies, occasional rain showers, and cooler [say tolerable 30 -31C days, 24-25C nights] conditions. While extended monsoonal weather makes for very poor clothes drying and does get you down a bit after several weeks, it does allow tempers to ease due to cooler conditions, and there is a reasonably steady north west monsoonal breeze, also aiding one feeling a bit cooler . A week of monsoonal weather with 10 - 20mm of rain daily would cool things down.

The monsoon has gone away, maybe sucked into Queensland as part of the tail end of ex Tropical Cyclone Grant.

Can we please have a slightly cooler few days, with some cloud cover?????

[photo taken NT Department of C and I, 2011]

Lightning - Sears the Eyeballs

Storms, fierce storms - are common across the Top End in the rainy season.



Having been away for a little while one can forget they occur.

First morning home, around 0400 it came........an eyesearing blast that was like fierce sunshine that penetrated the eyelids, definitely waking you up, followed immediately by a levitating thunderball. Yes, one thinks, we are home - welcome to the Top End!!

Quite a storm, even by local standards with about 35mm of rain in 20 minutes or so, and some very fierce lightning and thunder following the early blast, and all without much wind. And it only happened in a fairly narrow strip along the coast with only a few millimetres of rain at the airport which is about 3 kilometres from the ocean.

There have been a few storms around Darwin while away, but this was special it seems and made the front page of the local newspaper.

THIS Monsoon Burst is Easing--- at Last!!

Yesterday was Australia Day, as well, it was also Republic Day in India.

Yes, Australia and India share the same National Day.

A public holiday in both countries too, with a range of events and festivities.

And importantly for Darwin........it did not rain!!! Well, at least not during the daylight hours, just a little overnight before Australia Day. Last night we even had a starry night in Darwin, first stars seen for many weeks, after a good colourful tropical sunset.

Today..........a great day of clear skies and plenty of sunshine [plenty of humidity too] ........with a fierce thunderstorm right on dusk, with a few mm of rain, then clearing to a cloudy evening.

It seems that the monsoonal weather is easing, at last! People were a bit stir crazy, so much cloudy skies, rain, rain, rain and then more rain.

The rain has brought out the horrible cane toads, and there were two despatched to the nether world late last week - one in the driveway [ despatched with a shovel], another just down the street in the middle of the road.......squish.........under the car wheels! They were added to the compost pile and do make good compost.

We do not seem to have many in our neighbourhood, and eliminating those seen is a necessary job.

Cramped Vision

Oh dear................five long weeks [plus] without a new post.

Doesn't time fly if you are having fun......or busy? Several trips away to distant places, work [not done while away], and a bit of writers block do not aid the sensible scribbling on paper.

That in itself raises some issues. We all seem to use keyboards today, but the easy flow of pen or pencil on paper is quite inspiring.

I spent many months away from family working overseas in some pretty remote regions where letters were it! No phones, telegrams, faxes, let alone computers and e-mail [some of these places still exist you know]. Often letters were quite soliloqual [ except I guess technically a soliloquy is a spoken, not a written piece] conveying observations, events and miscellanea, getting my personal view to the readers in my family. But I actually enjoyed the flow of words across the page.

Keyboards are not quite the same. NEVER.

A hand written note is the exception today............and it is always nice to get one. Or send one too, as a short thank you, bereavement note, even as a card.

BUT.............back to the keyboard.

Darwin can be an odd place........it is mid May, and it has been seriously raining and expected to continue. The local newspaper found an old news item today - May 18 1989, with a photo of heavy rain on that day - 89mm [that is quite a bit], so it is not necessarily rare. But unusual, well yes, if in volume! Especially since it has been about five weeks without much rain except for a few less than 1mm scuds.

However, good for the garden, lawns and will save irrigating.


Interesting conjunction between blog posts and rain.............maybe the recent irrigating rain has allowed the fingers to function again!

The End of the Drought?

As ex tropical cyclone Laurence moves east across temperate Australia, it is delivering flood rains to much of western and south western NSW, after already dumping heavy rains across the inland areas. Rainfalls of over 100mm, and up to 200mm, are being predicted for many areas of NSW and South west Queensland over today, Christmas Day and through to tomorrow. This is the best one day and two day falls in over ten years!

Many rivers and low areas are expected to flood. Some have already. BUT, hey......this might be drought breaking rain.

The national met bureau says it all.........monster rain clouds across eastern Australia.

What a Blow - Cyclone Laurence!

Cyclone Laurence is crossing the NW WA coast as I write this, with winds around 290km/hr, a Cat 5 cyclone.

Although the area is relatively uninhabited, poor old Sandfire Roadhouse is getting a big blast .......AGAIN. Not a nice Christmas present.

This is real "Cyclone Alley" in Australia.

For more read: http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/wrap_fwo.pl?IDW24100.txt

There is a link to the cyclone track here -http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDW60281.shtml

It is likely to bring refreshing rain and winds predicted above 100km/hr to Central Australia over the next few days, and might extend the rain into the dry western areas of NSW as well after that.

Frog Night

Last night was Frog Night. It rained, about 25mm, the best fall so far this Wet Season and the first decent fall for a month. It rained steadily over about 45 minutes, then eased to a sprinkle.

And the green tree frogs started to bark, and bark.........so loud it was hard to hear inside the house.

Many do not believe how loud they can be and how many there are around, especially in our area. Most local gardens have good surface mulch and they seem to enjoy living in that, but last night they were out singing in their numbers.

Only the males make a loud bark........looking for a mate. That is one way I guess, you need to let them know you are around.

Tonight the noise is not so loud, but there are still quite a few lurking around in the garden.

The green tree frogs seem to have not suffered major reductions in numbers due to the arrival of the horrible Cane Toads, at least so far in urban areas.

While they are very loud after rain it is nice to know they are around. But ladies, take care when going to the toilet; at least turn on the light...........green tree frogs in the loo are common and the hands are clammy. [so I am told!] Definitely better than a redback spider on the toilet seat though.

It Rained Today

It just goes to show you cannot trust the weather to behave when you need it to do so.

It rained this morning.........just at the time most people were on their way to work. But no, not just some rain. Yesterday was dry, and the ominous signs of the monsoon moving offshore were quite obvious. Were we to have some more dry days? There had been 26 days in a row with rain, Sunday was dry. Maybe a few dry days would be good.

But this morning it rained, very seriously! About 40mm [ more in some areas around Darwin] in about 20 -25 minutes, equivalent to about 100mm in an hour intensity. That is serious rain!

Traffic quickly switched to "wet mode" - headlights on, a bit more care, lots of splashing water off the road and a slightly slower pace. And people were caught out big time, with quite a few drenched bodies seen.........had gone out without the mandatory umbrella!

And now, 40 minutes later the clouds are rising, and blue sky is slowly appearing across the southern sky as the storm clouds disappear to the north, offshore.

But it will be wet underfoot for some time still as the ground slowly moves the water overland or absorbs it.

Local Fauna

Parrots are a significant part of the Australian bird fauna. And none probably as ubiquitous as the galah.

These grey and pink parrots are great talkers in captivity, and long lived. They seem to be everywhere across Australia, and can be the biggest problem to grain growers......they eat the seed when it is sown, and then eat the seed once the crop matures, expecially for sorghum and millets.

But today it is very wet [60mm of rain in about 2 hours] and they were seen scavenging by the roadside........eating some local grass seeds.

They can be a pest on the road, and I must confess to having hit a few in motorcars, and even the odd broken windscreen. They tend to suddenly fly off the roadside, invariably one or a few heading across the road into the path of the traffic.

They did that almost immediately after the photo!

Cyclone Billy Arrives

Not only do we have the monsoon front deep over the Northern Territory, now we have our first [ well second actually but first, Anika was near Christmas Island, a long way out to the west] cyclone of the season - Cyclone Billy.

Looks as if areas around the NT /WA border area will be the recipients, although it is Category 1, and winds are only at 100kms/hr, so far.

Darwin has a lot of squally, windy rain tonight, but nothing seriously problematical. Just a typical monsoonal night, with wind and rain!

There are a few people we know in the area where the cyclone is heading, but this is a fairly low key cyclone .....so far. One thing you learn about cyclones, is that they are unpredictable.

Let us hope all is well for those much closer than us.

The image is copyright Bureau of Meteorology, and off their website, with the image from the Wyndham radar.
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR072.shtml

It updates regularly.....and will be doing that tonight. I am sure the forecasters will be also watching it closely.

NEW Victoria River Bridge

On the road again..........in November and yes, an airconditioned car is delightful on long trips in 40C weather. A quick 1200kms round trip to collect grass plants, and take some photos.

It can be very wet in the Northern Territory. And the rivers can rise to very great heights.

This bridge on the right is relatively new, but still has managed to be submerged for many weeks in several of the last few rainy seasons, including nearly 6 weeks last wet season from late January 2008. The river appears very benign now, in November, at the end of the Dry Season, with a few long waterholes, and little, if any, flow, except maybe after a big storm nearby. But come January and February and that water hole is part of a torrent that can be 3-6 metres above the existing bridge. For weeks at a time!

This is National Highway 1, the main circular road around Australia, and this section provides the main link between northern Australia and Perth. Not having a road connection for many weeks is a bit of a disaster.

The project will build the new bridge, about 10m above the present one, and redevelop a large section of the road, on either side, above flood heights. As you can imagine, the river spreads out almost across the entire Victoria River gorge when in full flood. The new road sections need to be mostly above that datum level.

Early days yet, but the new bridge is making good progress.

Rain and Thunder

Rain.........that is the wet stuff that comes out of the sky isn't it?

Has not been too much here lately. After a great start in mid October, it stopped raining. That is over three weeks ago!

Hot dry and then hot and dry some more. But tonight it sounds promising.........real thunder nearby.

Maybe we will get some decent rain overnight. Inland, a few places had a big storm around dusk tonight, with Batchelor [ 100km S] receiving over 30mm in about 30 minutes.

The thunder is tantalising close and, as usual, our "fierce" Ridgeback dog has decided that coming into the laundry inside the house is a good option. She loathes thunder and firecrackers [ the noisy bunger types], and is very happy to retire gracefully on a mat.
On the thunder and lightning scene, Darwin is one of the top locations world wide for lightning strikes [ and related thunder]. Neck and neck with some parts of Java, Indonesia for top spot. You can get some fantastic sky shows and spectacular photos are relatively common, both by amateurs and professional photographers.


It sounds promising.......and the weather radar sort of indicates we may have rain. You beauty!

For some fantastic storm photos, including quite a few in Darwin by Ern Mainka - go to www.redbubble.com/search/lightning%20thunderstorm

photo credits - No they are NOT mine. Top one - Joe Holmes. Typical of the view across Darwin Harbour in a good storm!

Lower one - unknown, but publicly available x Flickr.

Di-Hydrogen MonOxide - DHMO - the quiet killer

Monsoon frogs, in fact all frogs, do rely on access to that recognised environmental toxicant, DHMO , or dihydrogen monoxide.

It is very common in most tropical regions although less common for a significant part of the year in the monsoonal and mediterrean regions.

Many environmnetal groups rail against the material, citing it as a serious concern, especially when mixed with common pollutants such as sewerage.

More detail is available on the website www.dhmo.org where a lot of detail is available to enhance your understanding of this substance.

It's RAINING

Yes, the Dry Season is over.

Tonight, as in right now, it is raining. A good solid shower, and the green tree frogs are croaking big time.

No wonder the green tree frog loooks happy!

On Sunday 21 September, the rain gauge at Darwin Airport had gone 165 days without registering a single rain event. This is the longest spell of rain-free days recorded at Darwin Airport’s official recording site since records began in 1941. The previous longest dry spell was 164 days, from 7 May to 17 October 1976.


The most recent rainfall event recorded at the Darwin site was on 9 April. While Darwin’s dry season is aptly named, its unusual not to get some rain over the period. In fact, Darwin Airport has never recorded a completely dry dry-season, which runs from 1 May to 30 September.


A radio report indicated that at the airport some 3-5 kms south of here, there was a smidgin of rain earlier today, but none here.


Even the dog was distraught, and somewhat confused about this strange wet stuff coming out of the sky.


In the previous longest event, the following pre-wet season was particularly torrid, with lots of hot sticky weather and little follow up rain. And it was awful! Particularly as it was only a year or so after Cyclone Tracey, and many people, including us, were still living in makeshift houses, caravans or similar while rebuilding their own houses.


Hopefully there will be regular follow up showers. They certainly clear the air.