Australia Weather News

After receiving record-breaking rain in June and July, parts of western Queensland have received their best August rain in nearly 20 years.

David Wythes from the Bureau of Meteorology based in Longreach said it was another unseasonal soaking.

"Normally our average in Longreach is 11 millimetres and we have had 29 millimetres so far," he said.

"The last time it was this wet in August was back in 1998 on the 29th [which holds the August daily rainfall record].

"There have been wet Augusts before but certainly not in the last four years."

The rain is a welcome relief for graziers who have been struggling with the ongoing drought.

Glenn McCamley from South Galway station near Windorah, in far western Queensland, has measured 83 millimetres since Sunday.

"I've been at South Galway for five years and this is really the first decent lot of winter rain that we have received," he said.

"Last year we only had 70 millimetres of rain total for the year; our biggest fall was 15 millimetres.

"This year, we have had 415 millimetres year to date [and] our average is 240 millimetres, so we are nearly double our annual rainfall.

"It is unbelievable; to get double your rainfall is pretty unheard of down in this country."

Mr McCamley said the winter rain would set South Galway up for a good spring.

"There are wildflowers around here everywhere and with this rain, there will be new grasses coming through," he said.

"We will see some really good weight gains in the cattle coming out of winter and into spring...and that is the name of the game.

"This rain will set us up for a good spring but we will still need a summer flood to get us going again into next year."

The rain has also boosted spirits.

"It definitely puts a smile on your face and puts a bit of a bounce in your step," Mr McCamley said.

It is a similar situation for any grazier under the rain in western Queensland.

Ranald Noble from Tarbarah station south-west of Blackall has measured 50 millimetres and said there was no better sound than rain falling on the roof.

"You can't take that away from any bloke who lives in the bush, that noise is unbelievable; it is the most soothing noise any grazier could wish to have," he said.

"People now just have a different walk about them, a casual feeling about them.

"You can see they have a better vision of where they are going; it is just great — you can see it on their faces."

Mr Noble said he had never seen pasture response like he had in his paddocks at the moment.

"I don't think I have seen so many different herbages since probably the 1980s," he said.

"It is just incredible. I have never seen clover as thick as this at Tarbarah, which is just unbelievable.

"I haven't been to Ireland but people say Ireland is very green. Well, I have never seen Blackall so green, it is just incredibly green.

"Wherever you drive, it is just green all over the Blackall district; it is great to see."

Meantime, grain growers on the Darling Downs are celebrating good falls, after previously missing out on much of the rain that has fallen further west this winter.

Grain grower and Agforce grains president, Wayne Newton, said 30 to 40mm of rain had already been recorded in the region this week.

"Over the last few months [south-west Queensland] has had excellent rain; their crops are doing really well and they've got excellent sub-soil moisture," he said.

"But when you come back through to the Darling Downs itself, since summer, we've been pretty light on with falls.

"[We've had] just enough to get crops planted and established, but really, they're not sitting on great sub-soil moisture.

"So a good rainfall event at this time of year is going to be really great."

But Mr Newton said more rain was needed to get the summer cropping season off to a good start for sorghum and cotton growers.

"We're still looking for some more moisture; the profiles are pretty empty after last year's summer crops so we could certainly take some more moisture to really give us full confidence for the coming season," he said.