NOVEMBER is not called heartbreak month in the bush for nothing – it’s a time when early summer storms begin building on the horizon and lightning starts crackling in the heat of the afternoon.
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It’s also a time when graziers watch anxiously at the build-up, hoping the storm has got their name on it, and trying not to feel too disappointed when it takes off in a different direction.
It’s likely to be the scenario for many landholders over the next day or two with an upper level trough expected to generate plenty of storms across the west over the next two days.
Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) senior forecaster, Brett Harrison, told Queensland Country Life that storms should occur in a line from Charters Towers to Cunnamulla.
“Those storms will go as far west as Windorah and as far east as Emerald and Roma,” he said.
“The best totals are expected through the Central West, places like Longreach, Blackall and even Charleville tomorrow, where we should see some pretty widespread thunderstorms.”
“We are expecting the better storms to produce about 20-30mm but there is a chance of some isolated storms dropping up to 50 or 60mm.”
Another trough is expected to approach the Maranoa and Warrego on the weekend and produce showers and storms through those districts, as well as the Darling Downs and Granite Belt.
Mr Harrison said it was still too early to predict what totals might eventuate from that system.
Follow-up rain would also be welcomed by landholders who received up to 50mm in storms across the Central Highlands and Central West last week.
Some of the best rain fell at Everton, north-east of Aramac where water diviner Bob Murphy had the water come to him for a change, recording 125mm in a storm which ran water into a creek behind his homestead.
The same line of storms brought 110mm and a light dusting of hail to the bottom half of Tumbar south of Jericho, while the homestead recorded 74mm and Marston station had 43mm.
Some of it was very heavy according to Allison Doyle, dumping 56mm in 30 minutes, but it was a welcome sight for the 15 dry dams on the property, the last of which had been cleaned out the day before.
According to ABC Capricornia, a wild storm last week ripped the roof off Bruce Roberts’ homestead near Springsure in an event he described as the worst he had seen in more than 50 years.
"Blew all the windows in in the house and we just ducked for cover basically," he said.
"We went to the opposite side of the house and got near a doorway so we could start running if she started falling apart.
"Never seen anything like it, now I know what cyclones must be like when they hit, it was very scary.
"I've been here for almost 58 years and I've never seen anything as bad as it in my life, the sheds and everything wrecked today."
Drought-stricken graziers south of Blackall shared unequal quantities of heartbreak and happiness, even on the same property.
The Pearson family at Terrick had just 8mm while their Milton Park block to the north was drenched in a 43mm storm that bogged their lick truck for the night.
Rain would be a welcome relief across Queensland.
On Monday, Queensland Agriculture Minister John McVeigh confirmed more than 62 per cent of Queensland is now in drought with the Balonne and Maranoa Council regions added to the growing list of drought declared areas in the State.
The number of local government areas now drought declared stands at 26, including six partially declared.
There are also 40 Individually Droughted Property (IDP) declarations in place in a number of other local government areas.
