It’s pouring with rain as I type up this report. We’ve had 16.5mm already at 2.00pm today (4th October) & it is still raining.
Back to September figures, we had 50.5mm for September, taking our YTD up to 385.0mm. It rained on 14 of the 30 days in September.
How did this compare with other Septembers:
2022 50.5mm 385.0mm
2021 44.0mm 400.5mm
2020 46.5mm 400.5mm
2019 41.0mm 304.5mm
2018 19.0mm 268.0mm
2017 52.0mm 444.5mm
2016 112.5mm 543.0mm ( this was the year we got 670.0mm for the year)
2015 29.0mm 391.0mm
2014 31.0mm 345.0mm
2013 54.0mm 460.0mm
2012 27.0mm 462.0mm
So, this September was the fourth best out of the last eleven years. It was above average when compared to the last 100 years as well. We should get 400.0mm for 2022 but 500.0mm is a bit iffy, so to speak. Above average rainfall is forecast for the last three months of 2022 so we’ll keep our fingers crossed for a good result for the year.
As I said forecast for the last quarter is good – above average rainfall, soil moisture to one metre is average, daytime temperatures will be below average & night time are expected to be above average because of cloud cover density. The good news is the Murray Darling Basin storage/stream flow is at 93% currently & LaNina will kick in late this month with lots of rain (& more flooding for poor people in NSW & Queensland). Bushfire possibility is rated as average in South Australia. Just on that, many Villagers are concerned about the grass levels in the Bowering Hill Conservation Area. The Government is strapped for cash as a result of the pandemic & continuing healthcare crisis but the Ranger is hopeful that we’ll get a grass cut or two in before Xmas 2022. I will be liaising with her regularly from this point on & the Willunga Basin Environment Centre has sought some grant money for work on our Northern boundary, as a fall back position to keep people safe over the summer. We should hear how this application went in the next three weeks.
The Indian Ocean Diapole & the Pacific Ocean La Niña are causing heated waters to the north west & north east of Australia, which could mean we have rain from those directions over the next three months. The last two La Niñas didn’t reach South Australia but it is thought this one may reach the Yorke Peninsula. We’ll just have to wait & see what unfolds.
As some of you know I have been a bush care worker for Trees for Life on a site at the top of Willunga Hill for thirty years. It is a fantastic site that last had a bushfire in 1938. It relatively weed free as a result of our hours & hours of work. In the last 20 years four of us have eradicated three hectares of Periwinkle, 15 hectares of Broom, reduced Monodinia to virtually nil, removed around 20 Aleppo Pines & currently we are working on Freesias & Sparaxis. It is predominantly hand weeding with little poisons being used these days, which is great. Over the years we have been guided by a number of Rangers from Trees for Life & together our extensive knowledge & sheer hard work have rejuvenated & maintained a truly beautiful site.
It is hard to work these days & to not be standing on Orchids as one works, which are “wall to wall” this year. I also put time in at five other sites, Dimblebedinga site, Aldinga Beach South & North, Snapper Point & Telegraph Road up by Mt Terrible. There are about ten of us that look after these sites. They are a great Team of Volunteers. As well as that, TFL grows a million trees per year & direct seeds about five million trees & understory per year. A majority of the AAEV’s trees & shrubs came from Trees for Life over the last ten years. A wonderful organisation is Trees for Life.
Finally, we are now entering into the Kaurna Season called Wirltuti, a season of high winds, lightening & thunder. It is a time of growth in indigenous plants & native animals, which live in a symbiotic relationship, now threatened by white people. The First Nations People moved back to the coast at this time & lived among the reed beds & the dunes. It was a time for curing skins. A time for eating eggs, lizards, crabs, fish & crustaceans. Tiger, brown & black snakes came out of hibernation, as they still do. Each weather report I’ll trace their lifestyle as the seasons change.
That’s it for now, catch you next month.