Rainfall report for 2023
2023 turned out to be a below-average rainfall year.
The almost-year-long drought in 2019 saw us receive 298 mm rain compared to the average of 770 mm. We lost many trees that year including old trees which you'd think would have had well established root systems. The following 3 years saw well above average rainfall of 944, 1,005, and 976 mm respectively.
Last year, 2023, saw a total rainfall of 665 mm with an unusually dry 6 months from May to October. Those 6 months all had below average rainfall giving a total of 98.9 mm compared to the average of 253 for that period.
In total, 9 months of the year had below average rainfall. The consequence being that the young trees which had begun to grow from seed after those 3 wet years, died. Other trees, even though not deciduous, dropped leaves in an attempt to minimise water loss via transpiration.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology declared an El Niño event towards the latter half of the year and this is expected to continue for another at least another few months. This means we'll continue to see higher than average temperatures and lower than average rainfall.
Those dead regrowth trees
This is day 2 of #100DaysToOffload