Paul Rosser 
83.5mm fell in May in Aldinga, with a massive 38mm on 30th May. YTD is now 157.0mm. Rain fell on 16 of the 31 days in May.
How does this compare with other years?
May YTD
2022 83.5mm 157.0mm
2021 38.5mm 120.0mm
2020 70.5mm 180.5mm
2019 104.5mm 118.0mm
2018 60.5mm 87.5mm
2017 23.5mm 170.0mm
2016 56.0mm 161.0mm
2015 60.5mm 195.0mm
2014 74.0mm 182.0mm
2013 62.0mm 129.0mm
2012 35.0mm 177.0mm
The season has well and truly broken. I’ve noticed the farmer on the top of Bowering Hill has seeded, and his crop is up to a 100mm already. I also noted that the dam adjacent to our place overflowed on the 30th May, and the Willunga Creek also flowed for the first time this year. It ran at about 150mm for a good 24 hours.
La Niña is fading in the Pacific, back to neutral at present, while the Indian Ocean is cooling in the south but remaining relatively warm in the north around Broome and the Arafura Sea. The highs have moved north allowing the cold wet fronts to flow through to us, hence the rain over the last month. This will continue throughout winter and could very well last into early spring. A wetter than average winter is therefore probable. This will be good for our gardens and tanks.
The Murray Darling system is running at 89% which is very good, meaning our irrigators have full water rights at present and we’ll see environmental flows into South Australia, if the eastern states don’t play silly buggers, harvesting flood plains.
Our soil is returning to good wet levels down to 150mm but it hasn’t got through to one metre mark as yet. This will occur as the season continues and the rainfall meets its forecast levels. Watering is over for the winter. Temperatures for winter will be around average for both day and night.
That’s it for autumn reports. Let’s see how winter goes for 2022.
Image by Kerrod Trott.
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