Damn this weather

[nomadpete]

5 hours ago, Yenn said:

Nomad. Boyne smelter was probably in the design stages in 1969, but there was nothing on the ground until the mid seventies. The Gladstone power station was started in 1972 I think, but there was no connection to Boyne Island.

That was back in the good old days when we used to get a wet at the beginning of the year. In the days when the Boyne and Calliope rivers used to cut the Bruce highway just about every year. Back before there was a bridge to Boyne Island and we used to go over the causeway to get to the island at low tide.

Sorry Yenn, my memory cells had a hiccup. My time there started in 1977. Gladstone PS was running and so was the smelter. I think it was about 1979 Joh was trying to do the deal for another smelter and he sweetened it by guaranteeing cheap electricity to it, but the deal fell through.

[Yenn]

So that why he electrified the North coast rail  line. The only electric trains running in Qld are the coal trains, out to the mines and the once a day tilt train. I have heard that the wires are coming to the end of their life, due to wear. i wonder what will happen when they collapse.

[spacesailor]

Just string up New wre.

spacesailor

[willedoo]

A bit wet here at the moment. It hasn't stopped raining for a few days now. I've had about 600 mm since Wednesday and am isolated up here on the mountain. I feel sorry for the people down on the floodplain; they'll have a lot of mess to clean up when the water goes down. Gympie, north of here, is really copping it. A lot of reports of 300mm each day.

[Bruce Tuncks]

The best climate change -denier story was about the old Soviet Union and Siberia. Apparently you got a higher oil ration if the temperature you reported was colder...You can bet they got lots of record low temperatures.

BUT, I have noticed a lot of nitpicking about temperatures from arithmetically-challenged deniers. A typical case ...  " they said there would be a 1.5 degree increase and they were wrong so all of what they say is rubbish" and when you look things up, the increase was 1.4 degrees.

[facthunter]

Being stupid seems to be a deliberate choice.. Nev

[red750]

Accurate to within a bee's d1ck.

[old man emu]

Or more precise than a muggeseggele - a nonspecific very small length, referring to a housefly's ball sack.

[old man emu]

The farmers around my place were getting worried about the lack of rain over the past few days. The mud was dehydrating.

[facthunter]

Sell It 'Instant MUD. Just add water"  You'll be as happy as a pig. Nev

[onetrack]

The Carnarvon area of W.A., and the station area inland (the Murchison) has copped a hammering from rain. The Gascoyne River is in flood, which is unusual for this time of year. 

Unfortunately, the heavy rain has caused a lot of damage to Winter crops in the Carnarvon agricultural area, where crops such as tomatoes, capsicums, eggplant, chillies, sweetcorn, zucchini, pumpkins, melons, mangoes, cucumbers and beans are grown. The crop damage is substantial, and it's going to have an adverse effect on fruit and vegetable prices for us here in W.A.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-10/gascoyne-rain-worries-growers/101104378

[facthunter]

Lettuce rot with wet feet in Qld. We will have to be a bit more flexible. Cauliflower is affected also That's more important than Lettuce.  Nev

[onetrack]

I thought there were more farming operators producing hydroponic lettuce? It's a pretty easy arrangement to set up, but a bit capital intensive - however, the steady yields and consistent quality would ensure good returns. I see large amounts of hydroponic Truss tomatoes on offer regularly, they always look perfect without a single blemish, unlike the outdoor crops.

[red750]

[facthunter]

Hydroponic Tomatoes taste like $#!t, Grow your own and you'll never buy the others again. Buy tinned ones for cooking.  Nev

[onetrack]

I've stopped buying tinned tomatoes, because I struggle to find genuine, Australian-produced tinned tomatoes, that do not have colouring added. The Italian tinned tomatoes are full of tartrazine, preservatives, and other undesirable additives - and everyone knows, not a single tinned tomato comes out of Italy, without the Mafia getting their enforced cut.

 

I buy fresh local tomatoes and make my own tomato puree. I peel them (douse them in boiling hot water, and then cold water), cut them in halves and de-seed them, and then chop them up to make a puree, that I add to whatever I'm cooking, such as savoury mince.

[Jerry_Atrick]

My partner hates you, OT.. I am always on her back to now only buy bottled passata - and make our own puree...

 

(thanks, by the way!)

[facthunter]

SPC are from Shepperton. The larger ones would be the used commercially ones. Same with PIE Apple.  Nev

[Bruce Tuncks]

There are some growers north of Adelaide who have their private plots where they don't use much in the way of chemicals. Yes, the veggies have some blemishes but they don't give you cancer.

[facthunter]

Some of those sprays are extremely toxic. Where I had my Vineyard  (near Lake Boga) many of my neighbours died from chemicals. My SHOW went almost organic. Not interested in any other way.  but what you are  buying will have chemicals on it. unless you go to a lot of trouble to buy elsewhere. Nev

[red750]

18 days, only 2 without at least some rain, and only 1 above 15deg. Today topped out at 9.7 deg.

 

I've had it.

[facthunter]

Better than MARS or Afghanistan. Nev

[Yenn]

Where I am I am just wondering what is happening. We keep hearing about all the rain, but not getting it here. The La Nina was supposed to give us a wetter year than usual, but so far our wet season failed, only  about 60% of average.

We have nothing to complain about as November and May were wetter than ever before and they filled up our dam and have kept the grass green. So far it is a dry yea with the looks of a wet one. A couple of normal months and it will be all dry grass, ready for a good fire season, especially as it is difficult to get the grass burned nowadays.

I did see the effects of flooding in NSW and got stuck for a couple of days between Bellingen and Casino when the Bellinger river flooded.

[onetrack]

The East Coast, especially from the Illawarra to the Qld border is getting all the rain, we in W.A. are having a dry time of it. We got less than half our June rainfall in most of Southern W.A. 

So far, July is looking pretty dryish, too.

It's only because we had such a wet Winter last year, and especially good rains in April, that everything still looks O.K.

The wheatbelt crops (mostly Canola, Wheat, and Lupins), are doing quite nicely at present, but an extended dry spell will soon see them go backwards, and final yields at harvest will be down.

I suspect we'll end up with a below-average harvest at the current indications. Can't complain about that, because the last 2 years were bumper seasons.

 

Edited July 13, 2022 by onetrack

[facthunter]

All the rain really comes from the oceans and the warmer ones are particularly good at doing that. That airmass is classified as tropical maritime. Humid and hot.. IF a land area is saturated with water the inland humidity can supply more moisture to the atmosphere than other wise.. Lows can run further south down the coasts than in previous times.  Nev