Monday, February 01, 2010

Here comes the rain again !

This is the time of the year when we expect statements like " the state is a tinderbox" ... when daily maximum temperatures are over 30C for weeks at a time, and my garden languishes, then bakes and scorches

January 2009 was the driest on record for this area - precisely 0.00mm of rain -
so the 20 something mm [ bit less than an inch ] that we received in the first 30 days of January 2010 may well have been piddling, but it was a whole lot better than last year.

Lunchtime yesterday rolled around and it had already reached and exceeded the expected max in the mid 30s, the sky was a clear cornflower blue that almost reconciled me to the outside temperature.
Almost
but not quite
and I have to say that I was a little sceptical about the 'possible thunderstorm' forecast

Oh ye of little faith!
... how could I have doubted the Bureau of Meteorology?

Even with the curtains drawn, by mid afternoon, I could tell that it was clouding over


then the wind picked up and the temp dropped 10 degrees in as many minutes
so I took camera [ and dog ] in hand, and went out to sit on the verandah to enjoy the man upstairs' light-and-sound show


Thunder and lightening a plenty for a while [ which I tried to photograph without any real hope of success ]
and then, as quickly as it had rolled in, the rain was gone


leaving as much in the rain gauge as had fallen for the whole rest of the month
a happier garden
less dust
four sodden and complaining goats
and this:
which is a pretty spectacular way to say good bye to January in my book

6 comments:

cleobytheseao said...

What a befitting end to January indeed, I never tire of watching the sky. An old lady recently said to me that she 'hated January' and was glad when it was over, all I could think of was wishing away a 12th of your life - with so many crafts around isn't it the perfect month to get involved without feeling too guilty? :)

ozjane said...

We are still waiting.....

Alice said...

Nothing like being able to watch a storm roll in, deliver the goods, and say 'goodbye' in such colourful fashion.

Nary a drop up here, but I'm hopeful for Thursday/Friday.

Alwen said...

I love a good rain.

Maybe we're not hogging all the moisture as snow this winter, so we left you some!

Lynne said...

Ah Australia - a land of contrasts! The forecast for our week at the beach has been showers every day - today we got them all at once! Driving rain, straight off the sea; now the sun is shining and it's only 9:20am!

Anonymous said...

WOW...such beautiful pictures!!!! Thanks for sharing!