How much rain did you get?
It was the most popular question asked down the main street on Monday morning following Sunday’s welcome rainfall.
“The boys absolutely love rain,” said Wee Waarian Mareka Deacon whose sons, three-year-old Sam and one-year-old Ben soaked up the ‘wet stuff’ and enjoyed the rare novelty of playing in puddles.
Mrs Deacon said the 25 millimetres received in Wee Waa on Sunday was probably the most rainfall one-year-old Ben had ever experienced.
Hardly drought-breaking but a morale boost for the region and a timely reminder it can still rain as gauges hit double figures.
The Narrabri Shire Weather Station Network said the weather event spanned from Tasmania to southern Queensland.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature skipped a few locations in between but falls as big as 100 mm were recorded at Bourke as the water gushed over the town’s weir for the first time in 483 days.
Narrabri, Boggabri and Burren Junction all recorded about 19 mm while Merah North received 13 mm and there were recordings around Bellata of between 16 and 30 mm.
As the rain poured down, social media news feeds from the bush filled up with celebratory images of people rejoicing across the state from a Tottenham farmer dancing in the rain in his underwear to pub-goers slipping and sliding in the mud outside The Port Of Bourke Hotel.
The fire crews on Mount Kaputar were also cheering as they witnessed a change in extreme weather conditions.
“Sunday’s rain was brilliant,” said Rural Fire Service superintendent Michael Brooks who has been battling the large blaze on Mount Kaputar with crews for more than a fortnight.
“On Saturday we had the fire at a contained and patrolled status and the rain was just brilliant, it consolidated our work.
“Like everyone we would love more but also the humidity rise and temperature and wind speed drop has really helped us.”
Send it down, Huey!
