We’re in for a wet week.
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Obviously those rain-summoning dances have paid off.
But keep on casting those Wiccan spells, and making sacrifices to the Aztec rain god Tlaloc – because the drought hasn’t broken yet.
Armidale has received its first significant rainfall in months.
31.6 mm of rain fell between 9am yesterday and 9am this morning (46.6 mm at the airport).
Some areas to the north got isolated higher falls, caused by thunderstorms yesterday afternoon and evening.
Armidale has already exceeded its average monthly rainfall for October, with 14 more days to go.
The October average for the township is 68 mm; 75.2 mm in total had fallen up to 9am this morning.
The airport, 93 metres higher than the city, gets 72.2 mm average in October; 80 mm has fallen so far this year.
While above average, these figures are nowhere near the highest October values – a whopping 153.8 mm for 1997.
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting showers and thunderstorms every day till Wednesday.
Today, for instance, has a 60% chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon, with a thunderstorm in the afternoon and early evening. 1 to 4 mm are expected to fall.
Sunday will be the wettest day, with up to 10 mm expected to fall, and a very high (95%) chance of showers, probably in the morning and afternoon, with a thunderstorm.
The rainfall, though, doesn’t mean the drought has broken.
“While this has been a very good soaking of rain,” the Bureau of Meteorology said, “we've still got quite a way to go."
It takes time to moisten the soil and rehabilitate crops – particularly after a dry winter and September.
We still need 200 to 300 mm of good, solid rain to end the drought.
So keep on doing that voodoo that you do so well.
Keep a weather eye out on the Bureau of Meteorology (http://www.bom.gov.au/nsw/forecasts/armidale.shtml) and The Weather at Armidale NSW (www.weatherarmidale.com).