Severe weather warning

A severe weather warning for the south of Victoria could put an end to Shepparton’s three-month dry spell, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Rainfall for February, March and April failed to break the 20 mm mark.

A severe change to our weather brings
Shepparton's three-month dry spell to an end.

Proving what many locals already knew, bureau figures showed April was the hottest on record with temperatures climbing to 4°C above the long-term average.

Agriculture Victoria seasonal risk agronomist Dale Grey said unlike daily temperatures, there was nothing statistically unusual about the dry spell.

‘‘The fact that the break hasn’t come (yet) is not abnormal around Shepparton,’’ he said.

‘‘The break is usually around the start to the middle of May. People might like it to rain on Anzac Day, but historically that’s not the case.’’

Mr Grey said the sooner the rains arrived the better for the region’s farmers, as the dry spell had impacted some industries.

‘‘Agronomically, if it rains earlier, everything is better . . . the irrigators in dairy have had to put a lot more water on than they would have liked to . . . They’ve probably all been scrambling to buy enough water to keep them going,’’ he said.

A keen gardener, Mr Grey said he suspected urban dwellers had also been forced to use more water than they would have liked to maintain their lawns and gardens.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s Dr Blair Trewin said April had been the driest month for Victoria as a whole since 1997.

‘‘That was fairly consistent across the board in northern Victoria. Shepparton came in with less than 7 mm.

‘‘It wasn’t their driest April on record, but it was certainly dry,’’ Dr Trewin said.

‘‘Shepparton also experienced its warmest April on record.’’

The bureau has issued a severe weather warning for today with winds in southern Victoria expected to average 60 km/h to 70 km/h, with peak gusts of 90 km/h.

Locally, there is a high chance of rain, with falls between 2 mm and 8 mm predicted.

Rain and winds should ease moving into the weekend.

Story from today’s Shepparton News - “Severe weather warning.”

North-west Queensland hit with heavy rain, flooding after long-awaited downpour

Severe weather warnings remain in place for parts of north-west Queensland, with heavy rain and damaging winds expected to hit the region for the rest of the weekend.

Short, sharp downpours such as that experienced in north-west
Queensland cause considerable damage, frequently outweighing
the benefits. Giru cane grower inspects the damage down to his
property following the burst of rain.

There has been flooding, roads have been cut off and some graziers have endured a sleepless night with cattle stranded in high water.

Read the ABC News story - “North-west Queensland hit with heavy rain, flooding after long-awaited downpour.”

(Heavy downpours following long dry spells such as that reported on here bring smiles to the faces of many, but it has been shown that the dry, hardened ground benefits little from such short, sharp and heavy rains as the concrete-like surface is largely impervious to the resultant water, and rather than soaking in, and so providing real benefit, it simple runs off, taking much of the rich and scarce topsoil with it - Robert McLean)

Victoria weather: Heavy rain, floods forecast across state as Premier warns of 'challenging period’

Victorians have been warned to prepare for a "very challenging period" over coming days, as unprecedented severe weather threatens public safety, Premier Daniel Andrews says.

More than 100mm could fall across Melbourne in the coming days.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has warned the state could be drenched with up to three times its monthly rainfall on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

State and local emergency control centres have been activated as emergency services work on a four-day plan to cope with possible flash flooding.

Mr Andrews told Parliament people must follow official warnings.

Read the ABC News story - “Victoria weather: Heavy rain, floods forecast across state as Premier warns of 'challenging period’.”

Melbourne weather: Month's worth of rain expected by Wednesday

A month's worth of rain is set to fall in Melbourne and other parts of Victoria by Wednesday, with a wider severe weather warning issued for the state.

Add caption

Thunderstorms swept over Melbourne's north and areas around Sunbury and Whittlesea on Monday night.

In Strath Creek, north of Melbourne, 54 millimetres of rain fell in just 30 minutes around 7pm.

Widespread rain and isolated thunderstorms are expected to develop across most of the state overnight, as a low-pressure trough over South Australia moves across northern Victoria.

Read the Melbourne Age story - “Melbourne weather: Month's worth of rain expected by Wednesday.”

'Overstated?' No, quite the contrary

Our climate, and so our
 weather, is most definitely
deteriorating.

Concerns that the impacts of our changing climate had been personally overestimated were somewhat assuaged with the publication of a story today in Britain’s Guardian newspaper.

The story, headed: “Climate change 'likely to be more severe than some models predict'”, warns readers that scientists analyzing climate models say we should expect high temperature rises – meaning more extreme weather, sooner.

“Climate change is likely to be more severe than some models have implied, according to a new study which ratchets up the possible temperature rises and subsequent climatic impacts”, the story says.