SWINGIN’ IN THE RAIN
Matthew Coppin, Daniel Grisdale and Ben Kennedy played cricket on The Strand yesterday as heavy rain rolled in. The dreary day was a welcome relief from hot summer temperatures this week.
DESPITE the heat, the buildup, the ever- circling black and purple storm clouds and an abundance of emu chicks, the wet season so far scores 0 out of 10 for effort.
Retired Maxwelton grazier Bob Forster, from Charters Towers, bases his meticulously calculated meteorological observations on the abundance or otherwise of emu chicks.
Big clutches of chicks means a lot of rain. Small clutches of chicks means little rain.
This year, after reports of large clutches of emu chicks, he offered the opinion that it meant “floods, scuds and scattered cyclones”.
“It’s all about survival. If there are less chicks they will be easier to raise if there is no rain,” he said.
Discussing the sighting of an emu with nine chicks at Clermont in October, Mr Forster said the weather gods were lacing up their boots for a big season.
“An emu with nine chicks is a good sign. This will be a La Nina ( wet) year, not an El Nino ( dry) year,” he said.
We are still waiting for Mr Forster’s prediction to ring true.
So far, in terms of rain, it has been a case of hit and miss. Mostly it has been miss.
Townsville stock and station agent Darrol Crouch said some properties in the western districts along the Flinders Highway received relief rain in November, but there had been “little to nothing” since then.
“It got off to a promising start, but there has been no follow- up,” he said.
He said most of the better falls leading into Christmas were in the greater Georgetown and Mount Surprise areas.
He said a weak or failed wet season would see cattle coming to market in large numbers early as landholders scrambled to lighten numbers as grass supplies dwindled.
“It will be the same pattern as the last few drought years if we don’t get rain. It could mean that the meatworks at Townsville will open before Easter,” he said.
One of the best falls after 9am yesterday was 59mm at Cardwell Gap, north of Ingham. In the 24 hours to 9am yesterday, the best fall was at the Valley of Lagoons on the headwaters of the Burdekin River inland from Ingham where 89mm was recorded.
But, at Charters Towers to the south, only 0.2mm was measured.
A Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said no rain was recorded in the same 24- hour period in Hughenden, Richmond, Julia Creek, Cloncurry and Mount Isa.
Pentland, on the Flinders Highway recorded zero rain, but nearby Glen Houghton Road received 12mm.
It is early days and there is still hope that Mr Forster’s emu chick theory will bear fruit.