Autumn brings with it a period of transition, the time of year where you can see the colours of the land changing before your eyes.
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The deciduous trees and shrubs a painters dream of rusted reds, magentas and blues, a phenomenon that happens only once a year - And with the rain; an ever changing sky.
Climatologist for the Bureau of Meteorology, Agata Imielska, said that the Yass Valley can expect an above average rainfall for the rest of Autumn and into June, after a wet summer.
“NSW statewide average rainfall during summer was 15 per cent above the long-term average,” Ms Imielska said.
“April to June is likely to be wetter than normal, with night-time temperatures for the season highly likely to be warmer than normal during this time.”
The real difference this year, Ms Imielska explains, is the 70 per cent likelihood of El Niño occurring.
“The El Niño is often associated with a below-average winter with above-average daytime temperatures over the southern half of Australia,” she said.
“So for the next few months we should expect some heavy rain, but we are predicting that it will be a dry winter.”
Phil Graham, who works for the South East Local Land Services, said that the weather conditions for farmers at the moment are perfect, but is adamant that predicting the weather at more than one month in advance is difficult.
“The forecast for the first month out is pretty good and then it gets a bit wobbly. I think it’s important for people and farmers to look at it for the next month,” he said.
“The conditions right now are fantastic, and if we get (which it looks highly likely) some good falls of rain over the next five days that will really provide good pasture for winter time.
Mr Graham said that it is important to remember that in this environment there isn’t much of a break in the season.
“There have been a lot of years when the (autumn) rainfall hasn’t occurred until the middle of May, so this year is better than a long term friend... we have got to be happy with that.”
Mr Graham suggested that the El Niño tends to bring with it a dry spring, but again he doesn’t believe that accurate enough predictions can be made at this time of the year.
“A bigger El Niño tends to have an affect on our spring pasture production, so it’s great conditions until spring.”