King Island hasn’t had rain since October 2023 other than 10 mls one day during March. The nostalgic patter of rain on a tin roof gave hope for a good drenching and the breaking of the island’s drought, but it was a bit of a joke and disappointing for most of the island.
The rain followed the same radar pattern of the past six months. The promise of good falls shifting down from the mainland and then on approach to King Island splitting and bypassing the island and then a rain band reforming and continuing onto Tasmania where they had solid rainfall.
The post-Easter rain did appear to be heavier in the north of the island. “Robbie Payne tipped 12 mls out of his gauge at Reekara – that was 24 hours April 1 to 2,” his daughter Steph Ellis said.
Moving around the island, the island’s high rainfall catchment area of Pegarah was disappointing and according to farmers “any rain is good rain” the falls made a negligible difference to the dry conditions.
The Lancaster’s dairy farm on Pegarah Road, despite the night rain only recorded 8ml.
The Conleys beef farm had just under 9ml, Nicole Conley said.
Jan van Ruiswyk’s property is more central in North Pegarah, and the sheep farmer was more upbeat than others. “We had a steady slow rain totaling 7.6mls,” he said.
Moving south, the Poulsen’s cattle property recorded 5ml for the same period and some in Grassy reported that they didn’t receive any.
The East Coast caught the edge of the band and some properties found puddles, but not enough to fill the muddy and cracked dams or to say the dry has broken.
The BoM weather observations at Currie and the King Island Airport in Loorana statistics show that 5.2ml of rain fell during the night.
Farmers are hopeful that the intermittent showers that have continued this week will be more widely spread and will be steady enough to soak into the soil’s parched crusts and will continue through autumn.
COVER PHOTO: Michael Laskey