Despite this week’s wet weather, Wagga’s rainfall for the year is still sitting at a devastating 49 per cent below the yearly average.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A total of 9.6 millimetres fell in Wagga on Wednesday with another 2.2 following on Thursday, while Albury recorded a much stronger 25 millimetres.
The Bureau of Meteorology's Nigel Smedley said that while any amount of rain is welcome, forecasts were not showing much sign of improvement.
“The long term outlook for October, November, and December is, unfortunately, less rainfall and slightly above average daytime and nighttime temperatures – so it’s going to be hot and dry, unfortunately,” Mr Smedley said.
“For the year, we’ve had 242.8 millimetres, which is 49 per cent below average or, in other worse, 236 millimetres below average.”
Wagga’s rainfall was much stronger last October, with a total of 55.4 millimetres falling.
NSW Farmers Wagga district branch chairman Alan Brown said the region’s farmers desperately needed the follow-up rain expected next week.
“It's an absolute mixed bag because the rainfall was highly variable, down to 10 millimetres and up to 30 millimetres in the immediate area around Wagga,” Mr Brown said.
“If we could just snag some unexpected rain – just a couple of regional falls in the remainder of the growing season – it would allow farmers to harvest grain.”
Mr Smedley said there is a medium chance of another couple of showers on Tuesday or Wednesday, but that is not expected to exceed a couple of millimetres.
READ MORE:
