DESPITE having an extra day this year, February in Hamilton has had virtually no rainfall - only 0.4 millimetres - setting an equal record for the month since records began in 1878.
The summer month does have the lowest average rainfall (30mm) but the only other time it’s been equally dry at this time of year was in 2009.
However, this summer is far from one of the driest overall – indeed it appears to be a tale of two halves, with significant rainfall falling up until the middle of January – 151mm in fact – but since January 17 the ‘tap’ has effectively been turned off.
Much of the change can be attributed to the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) – early in spring the measurement was a “strong positive” according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) but is now currently neutral.
“Events usually start around May or June, peak between August and October and then rapidly decay when the monsoon arrives in the southern hemisphere around the end of spring,” the BOM has said.
Farmers in the region will be looking forward to the autumn break around mid to late-April, with the hope being there won’t be a false break before then.
With water tanks getting low as a result of the prolonged dry spell, south-west region’s unofficial go-to expert for assessing private-property water quality, Larry Walker said it was a great idea for those reliant on tank water to check their water level regularly.
“So many people, when you actually talk them through what might have gone wrong - ‘why does it taste like that, why does it look like that?’ - they haven’t looked in their tank for 15 years or since they put it in,” he said.
Tom’s Water Cartage owner-operator, Christine Kenny said they were very busy with “not enough hours in the day” to service people in the local region who have been caught short in the last few weeks.
She said they were sending water to properties as far north as Harrow and Balmoral, and also to Narrawong and Digby.
“A lot of people have been caught on the hop, and don’t realise till they turn the tap on and see there’s no water or it’s going brown,” Ms Kenny said.
She said they tried to service people on the same day as “this year, people seem to be getting caught with absolutely no water”.
