The wet season downunder: It's bucketing down!

Bernieh:

With rain like that...everthing will be green in no time. : > )

i was just thinking that Delonix....;-))

So true ... you can see the patches already.

I hope your drought tolerant plants are coping well....Lol.

TT ... would you believe I actually do lose some of my drought tolerant plants when we have a proper 'wet' season? Just can't win!

Looking at these pics,,some of your GoY profile about the droughts seems unbelievable......even though you do refer to the wet season...:o)

Yes TT the 'wet' season ... when we get one ... is short and sharp! So far in just 5 days, we've had around 300 mm of rain and there's a forecast of more coming. When it does rain, it literally pours in a very short period ... and then nothing for months on end.

I can remember how heavy it use to rain when i lived there, in Perth it could come down so hard for so long then it would stop the sun would come out and with in no time every where was dry again.

You're so right Carol ... it's driving rain, not the soft drizzly sort ... and then the sun comes out and bakes the earth very quickly once more.

Bernieh:

You've had quite a bit a rain in 5 days...more than San Diego's yearly rainfall by 2 inches/ 50 mm. : > )

And that's not all ... we've had another 75mm just today, Andy! Cyclone Olga reformed and started moving down the Cape ... we've had absolutely torrential rain non-stop all day.

Bernieh:

WOW!!! That's a tremendous amount of rain! I'm sure everything will be greening up very quickly now. : > )

Right now the humidity levels are very high, so the moisture is being sucked up pretty darn quickly ... but things will definitely be green for about a month ... so I'll enjoy it for now.

Bernieh:

Yes, enjoy it while you can. : > )

I'm doing the same thing here...all around San Diego it's starting to green up. We're suppose to get more El Niño storms this coming weekend. If this year is a typical strong El Niño year we should green up until maybe April. It would be so nice to see it green for a while...instead of the dry, brown and dusty. : > )

wow, sounds like you've had more than half of the normal rainfall we get here in a whole year, mind you we get a lot of damp days which build up. Great pics.... How is it now?

Hi Weatherwise ... the day this photo was taken we had around 82mm in one day ... in January we had 22 days when it rained to some degree ... and the total for the month was nearly 550mm, but most of that fell in the last week as a result of the monsoonal trough that was around.

February so far has been pretty dry ... only a shower or two. It doesn't take long for the water to drain away and to evaporate in our summer temps. Humidity levels are shocking of course - already 75% at 8.30 in the morning.

Bernieh:

It's not just the humidity that gets you...it's the very high dew points (which factors in the humidity and temps). : > )

When dew points are above 75 degrees F. / 24 degrees C. it is just torrid!

Just checked on the dew points right now ... it's 6.30 pm ... temp. is around 33 degrees C ... relative humidity is 77% ... and dew point is 25.8 degrees C. It's been an absolute stinker today and right now, at this time of evening, it's still a stinker!

Bernieh:

WOW!!! It must feel like you're in a steamy sauna.

I calculated with a temp of 33C. and a R.H. 77%...the heat index should feel like 115 degrees F / 46 degrees C.
If we had this type of heat here in inland San Diego...we would be under an "Excessive Heat Warning" issued by
our National Weather Service. Stay cool. That's dangerous heat!

You're absolutely spot on, Andy ... it's like a super steamy sauna here at the moment. But it's fairly normal for a true 'wet' season ... we're rather used to it, well as used to it as you can get. We still whine and moan about the conditions and wish we were somewhere else!

Bernieh:

That's so funny! We complain a lot here also...and our dew points don't usually get as high as you have there in the tropics. It has been especially hot here in summer since my neighbors had to cut down their dozen or so very tall Eucalyptus trees. My house just becomes an abosolute oven...and my airconditioner doesn't help much anymore.

Andy ... I'm lucky in that there are a couple of very tall corymbias and gums growing on the the western side of my place and they provide quite a bit of shade for the courtyard and part of our house ... every couple of years we get the tree trimmers in to give them all a good haircut before the cyclone/wet season and the house and courtyard are instantly hotter! So I can relate to your situation.

Bernieh:

You're very lucky to have those trees in your yard...I can imagine how hot your house would be if you didn't have them there. I know even with an airconditioner, it can take a lot of energy to cool a house.

The inside of my house is 10 - 12 degrees warmer in summer without the large Eucalyptus trees. My house used to run
from 80 - 85 degrees F/ 27 - 30 degrees C. inside which was tolerable...now by adding those extra degrees it becomes very miserable.