Gippsland has been spared another drenching, as weather patterns start to come from the west, according to Bureau of Meteorology senior duty forecaster Rod Dickson.
A deep low pressure system, and associated fronts, brought good falls to the west last week and into the weekend.
“In terms of the month so far, there’s parts of the north and west that have already received their average rainfall for August, and that’s extended to some parts of Central Victoria, with storms dumping about 20 millimetres of rain on Monday,” Mr Dickson said.
There’s parts of the north and west that have already received their average rainfall for August.
- Rod Dickson, Bureau of Meteorology senior duty forecaster
“The only area that has been the driest has been Gippsland, as we tend to have more systems coming in from the west, throughout August.
“They were well above average throughout June and July, some places had two or three times their average rainfall.”
He said a series of east coast lows had brought soaking rain to Gippsland, but that pattern had now shifted.
The rain had started to ease to showers, earlier this week, a pattern which was expected to continue into the weekend.
Mr Dickson said the bureau was expecting showers over southern and mountain areas, with the bulk of the rain affecting southern Queensland and northern New South Wales, rather than Victoria.
“It’s just going to be a cool week with showers in the south, probably a bit more widespread on Thursday, as a weak front goes through.”
Murray McDonald, Timmering, has enjoyed the rainfall on his 2000 acre (809 hectare) farm.
“It was a difficult summer, but this rain is as good as it’s been in a while,” Mr McDonald said.
“There was a bit of rain in late April, and it’s been consistent since.”
Mr McDonald has about 2000 Merino sheep on his property.
He also used to run cattle but has recently phased that part of his business out.
“I’ve been phasing out cattle for a few years now, and have been a sheep-only farm for just 12 months,” he said.
The farm received 10mm of rain over the weekend, and Mr McDonald said the farm was “looking as good as it has ever looked”.
