FARMERS' livelihoods revolve around the weather, particularly rainfall, so it is little wonder many have a vested interest in helping the Bureau of Meteorology provide accurate readings to other farmers, media and interested observers.
With rain earlier this year touted as once-in-100-year falls on the Eyre Peninsula and in Northern SA, Stock Journal spoke with long-term volunteer BOM rainfall observers about why they do it and where recent falls sit within their records books.
MOUNT BARRY - Tony and Jackie Williams
Mount Barry Station's Tony and Jackie Williams have been sending in their observations for 40 years.
The 4000-head cattle station is one of several pastoral properties owned and operated by the Williams Cattle Company and lies 100 kilometres north east of Coober Pedy.
"Most of us who live in the outback have got very sunburnt faces from looking up and trying to find a cloud," Tony said.
The Williams don't just send in rainfall numbers from the 150 millimetre annual average country, but also notify the BOM of any cyclonic activity, like a mini-tornado in 2003 which ripped the roof off their visitor's house.
Tony measures the rain and Jackie handles the admin of sending through the daily figures on the BOM's app.
Tony said they once had 120mm in 24 hours, but also vividly recalled 282mm falling across 15 days in March 1989 and 213mm in two days in January 1984.
"My take on the rainfall patterns up here is that over a 10-year period, you expect three dry to drought years, you expect three above average and the rest around that average of 150mm," he said.
"We've had some years where we've only had around 20mm. The new millennium wasn't that crash hot - we had some tough years there.
"2002 was a dry year and then we had the Millennium drought in '06, '07, '08 and in late 2010 it came good.
"In March 2011 we had the spin-off from Cyclone Yasi and got 127mm in two days. That was a ripper. There was widespread rain, lots of flooding and it set us up."
Tony said those types of events were crucial for pasture growth and water reserves. In January they received 168mm in 10 days at Mount Barry, while outstation Arckaringa received 213mm during the same period.
"Summer rains are the best. Your really good native grasses grow in the summer especially when you get a good soaking rain over a couple of days," he said."
WINTER SPRINGS - The Deer family
At Winter Springs, halfway between Kimba and Cowell, the Deer family have been sending rainfall readings to the BOM for 62 years.
Martin Deer said his father Frank had seen an advertisement looking for volunteer observers and was quick to put his hand up.
He sent in observations for decades before he passed, and his wife Lyn is still on the farm and reads the 10-inch rain gauge every day.
"We started out with paper forms that you'd fill in and send monthly, then we had a system where we could punch in the numbers through the phone, and now we use an app," Martin said.
This year will be one to remember for the Deers, who received 181.4mm on January 22, which almost doubled their previous highest tally in a 24-hour period.
The freak rain event left its mark on the property with fences washed away and paddocks damaged.
The farm had received 270mm by mid-February - not far from their annual average of 340mm.
"Since we've been reporting to the Bureau, 1994 was the driest year we've had with 135mm," Martin said.
"Doing the role also helps us keep good records of what has happened on the farm over the years."
TODMORDEN - Douglas Lillecrapp
As famously proclaimed in the poem My Country by Dorothea Mackellar, Australia is a land of droughts and flooding rains and a person that can bear witness to that is BOM volunteer Douglas Lillecrapp.
Douglas resides on Todmorden Station, a property north west of Oodnadatta spanning more than 7000 square kilometres, where Todmorden Cattle Company run Poll Herefords and Angus.
Readings from the Todmorden weather station have been sent to the Bureau since 1949 and Douglas has had the role of rainfall observer for more than a decade. Only reporting when there's enough rain for a reading, his liaisons with the Bureau can be frequent or few - depending on the year.
The driest year he can recall is 2020 when a measly 29mm fell in dribs and drabs of what he described as "ineffective rain", while 1974 was much kinder to the tune of 450mm.
"When there is rainfall around it is important to keep the Bureau information up to date," Douglas said.
"We're at the top end of the Oodnadatta track and it's helpful for people like the Transport Department who have to decide whether to close roads or not. If they have live data they can at least make informed decisions.
"It's also just an interest. It's surprising how many people out there have an interest in rainfall and weather patterns."
While 133mm is the most rain Douglas has reported in a 24-hour period, he said slow, soaking rains across longer periods were most beneficial for feed on station country.
One such event happened earlier this year, with 187mm falling between January 21 and February 2.
Douglas said the rain was much needed and the country was greening up quickly.
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