Rain lashes NSW and Victoria but stock water still remains low

NSW and Victoria have received rain but farmers say stock water is still in short supply. See the latest on weather this week.

Wild weather and substantial rain have lashed parts of southern NSW and the Riverina in the past few days, but farmers say dams and stock water are still low.

Pat Bourke of Urana in southern NSW said the rain was fairly intense with big storms sweeping through his area.

“There were storms at Corowa, too, and we had about 30mm to 40mm in this area,” he said.

“The rain seemed to drift more to the west as you got to the Urana area, and overall, it was very patchy.”

Lightning also wreaked havoc, and a total of 2582ha at Morundah was burnt after a fire took hold.

Pat Bourke of Urana, Southern NSW. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

The NSW Rural Fire Service had the fire at Yamma Road, Morundah, which was listed as “under control” on Wednesday morning.

“It was fortunate about 8mm arrived at Morundah in a really short space of time to help control the fire,” he said.

Mr Bourke said the recent rain was beneficial for livestock producers and would boost lucerne crops.

But it wasn’t considered season-changing rain.

To the north at Junee, Tony Clough of Windermere measured 41mm of rain in the past week and said it would help to generate some growth.

“There are people out and about sowing and putting in some early oats,” he said.

Mr Clough said rainfall of 40mm to 140mm were experienced in his region, indicating just how patchy the storms were.

“We just need more water for our dams. The dams are dry,” he said.

Despite the recent rainfall, Mr Clough said stock water was still in short supply.

He said more rain for his area was forecast later this week on Friday and Saturday.

East Gippsland has received a late summer drenching with daily totals of more than 100mm, which have been described as an “early autumn break for us”.

Gippsland escaped the big dry in many areas of Victoria last month with East Gippsland the beneficiary of an intense east coast low at the weekend with Mt Moornapa, near Briagolong, receiving 107.8mm in the 24 hours to 9am Monday.

Close by at Reeves Knob there has been a three-day total of 252.4mm including 116.2mm in the 24 hours to 9am Tuesday.

Further east, Orbost had a daily total of 101.4mm to Monday 9am and a further 33.2mm to 9am Tuesday.

Chris Nixon, a cattle farmer at nearby Bete Bolong, welcomed similar totals.

“We’ve had over 100mm here,” he said.

“We’ve greened right up and had run off for dams which is good.

“It’s like an early autumn break for us.

“It’s excellent.”

Others areas to receive useful three-day totals were Stratford (107.4mm) and Lake Glenmaggie (128.2mm).

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, a total of 152mm fell at Orbost, Ensay had 82mm, Maffra, 69mm, Corryong, 32mm and Rutherglen, 29mm. Across the border in NSW, Orange, 106mm, Mudgee, 74mm, Junee, 72mm and Lake Cargelligo, 50mm.

In South Australia smaller amounts of rain were recorded with 11mm at Koonamore, and 8mm at Strathearn.