DRENCHED: Region receives monthly rainfall total overnight
The unseasonal soaking could make all the difference for producers on the Southern Downs and Granite Belt.
Warwick
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SOUTHERN Downs and Granite Belt residents found cause for celebration this morning, with both regions receiving their monthly rainfall totals overnight.
Warwick saw the biggest drenching on the Southern Downs, with the Environdata rain gauge on Percy St collecting 31.4mm in the last 12 hours alone.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the Granite Belt was hit hardest, with Applethorpe and Stanthorpe receiving 44mm, Wallangarra at 41mm, and Storm King Dam with 37mm.
BOM meteorologist Rosa Hoff said the region should make the most of the unseasonal overnight soaking, as it could be the last good rainfall residents see for a while.
“In combination with the rain we saw last week, most places around the Southern Downs and Granite Belt district have already received their monthly August rainfall, and we’re only halfway through,” Ms Hoff said.
“We’ll barely see any clouds around for the week ahead though. We’ll have a slight chance of some rainfall on the Granite Belt near Stanthorpe, but it’s mostly residual.
“It’s instead going to get quite cold, with the chance of some frost returning – very clear skies, but the temperatures will be what people will feel.”
Southern Downs Mayor Vic Pennisi said it was as yet uncertain what impact the downpour would have on dam levels, but it would help relieve water security concerns for the region’s producers.
“Farmers’ subsoil moisture would be better off, and they’ll catch a bit of overland flow – I don’t know that there’s enough to get the rivers running, but it’s all really nice rain and great to see,” Mr Pennisi said.
“It will breed hope into the community, and right this minute with Covid and everything else we’ve been through, it will build confidence in producers and the wider community.
“We’re so much better off than we were 12 months ago – we’re certainly still in the drought, but it’s wonderful to have got the rain we did.”
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