Good Rain – But Summer Coming – Next Week! We had some good rain overnight across our region – but once again very little made it over the hills and into areas that really need it. Here’s the totals to 9am this morning:

Recent rains have increased the levels in the Bellinger but without deep soaking rains it’s likely to fall again fairly quickly. Here’s the latest graph:

We’ve got some clearing showers today but then it looks like a drying trend for the next week or so…the chance of the odd shower but not much…and one thing that looks like coming up is our first Spring heatwave. The heat generator across WA is really kicking into gear so we’re increasingly likely t0 see heat spikes as changes move through. It’s nearly a week off so time for this to change…but here’s the current forecast temps across NE NSW next Monday. Combine this with low humidity levels away from the coast and some gusty winds, and we’re likely to see a matching spike in fire danger levels in areas that missed out on recent rains:

Looking further ahead the Southern Oscillation appears to be heading towards it’s long forecast drop. This will likely result in an increased risk of hotter and drier weather for our part of the world over the next couple of months…but an increased risk doesn’t mean it will be dry and hot…just that the chances of drier and hotter weather will be running above the seasonal average. If we get some rain with changes that move through we could well get off fairly unscathed…but a different story inland. Something to watch.