General News
5 June, 2024
Rainfall causes chaos across the North West
Events were called off and travellers were stranded as a result of the rain.
A rain band followed by a sudden cold snap caused drama across the region over the weekend.
Outback travellers were forced to hold off their movements in the desert country around Birdsville and Bedourie, while events in the North West were cancelled or suffered from poor attendances.
The Cloncurry races were called off and eventually moved to Mount Isa on Sunday, while hockey and senior rugby league games were abandoned.
The Hughenden Show also reported lower than usual gate takings due to the cold weather.
Around an inch fell in parts of the Boulia Shire, while Camooweal and Mount Isa had around 15mm.
Julia Creek had 10mm and some stations recorded similar falls near Cloncurry.
While it created havoc for event organisers, Boulia mayor Rick Britton said reports of 25mm on beef properties would be welcomed across the 61,000km2 shire.
However, he said some of the Flinders grasses, which provided an important feed in the months leading up to winter, could be unpalatable to cattle.
“Having 25-30mm across the shire is probably enough to blacken off some of the Flinders grasses but I think overall it will still be more of a positive than a negative,” he said.
“West of Boulia it has been as dry as chips – they have been waiting a long while for that rain, so they will get very minimal growth. But it will still put them in good stead if we do get an early wet in November.
“You can have rain at any time of the year in this area and you will get some growth on the ground because we have nice warm sunny days.”
Cr Britton said there had been high rainfall on the eastern side of the shire earlier this year yet a prolonged dry spell on the western side.
“Boulia Shire is so big you can have a drought, fire and flood all on the same day and you don’t even know that they are happening. It is just such a big area,” he said.