26 March 2009

Remember when it used to rain?

| Loose Brown
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Apologies all – the water use thread has sparked some thoughts.

I have many fond memories of growing up in Canberra. One of my favourites was walking in the rain when I was delivering junk mail. I used to get sopping wet walking around O’Connor and Lyneham – but I was a kid and didn’t really care. I knew that a warm shower and trakky daks were waiting for me at home.

I remember the lead up to sports or swimming carnivals and the like. We would listen to the radio to see if it was going to rain – it was a real possibility. If it was raining, we’d listen too because Turner Primary or Lyneham High would announce that the carnival was postponed and to come to school as normal for a day inside instead.

Riding around the place was great in the rain. Sometimes the drains would block up and you’d race your BMX through the water while standing up on the seat to avoid getting wet.

We’d all crane our necks in the car when passing over bridges to see how full the stormwater drains were.

Rain meant the half-pipe at the Belconnen skate park wasn’t an option – you’d slip over too much, so you’d think of something else to do.

The base of Bruce Ridge had a permanent reed bed pond that was always full of water and we’d trap tadpoles in glass jars and watch them grow legs at home.

Our hockey club was raising money to install a drainage system on Southwell Park to make it less muddy (no-one had heard of greywater recycling)!

Old people had plastic bags over their bicycle saddles so they could taken them off and use the dry seat when they had finished at the shops.

Mum used to be annoyed by ‘grass stains’ on our clothing.

I used to own and regularly use a rain jacket.

I’m sick of the extended, never farking ending drought/global warming/impending ice age/figment of my imagination.

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welkin31 said :

BoM drought maps that you can all make at;
http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/silo/rain_maps.cgi
show crystal clear that the ACT is NOT in drought over 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 or 24 month periods back from Feb 09. Only the 36 month period map shows we are in drought.
This means that the frequent claims that we are in drought are ignoring the last two years of medium band rain and relying on low rainfall from 2 to 3 years ago.

Hmmm, so what you are saying is that the empty lake george is just suffering from no rain 3 yrs ago and has since filled up with invisible water.
there has been rain in the last couple of years but always in small quantities and spread out. We haven’t had ground soaking rain in years. Even with Canberrans excessive over use of water our catchment dams have dropped 13% in the last 12 months giving us about 3 yrs more water with “medium band rainfall”.
I remember it raining every swimming carnival(pre civic pool bubble) and school fete like clockwork. ahhh the memories

BoM drought maps that you can all make at;
http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/silo/rain_maps.cgi
show crystal clear that the ACT is NOT in drought over 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 or 24 month periods back from Feb 09. Only the 36 month period map shows we are in drought.
This means that the frequent claims that we are in drought are ignoring the last two years of medium band rain and relying on low rainfall from 2 to 3 years ago.

SammyLivesHere said :

as Global Warming has to be art of the reason the winter rains have gone! On Friday I was caught in a rain downpour in the City, on Weds I was also caught in a big downpour in Barton, so there is rain – it’s just hard to tell these days where it’s going to fall.

O for goodness sake. It’s a drought clown. If you are so bloody good at research you should realise that the weather in the middle of a drought does not indicate that that’s what is going to happen with a 2 degree rise in temperature or that it will never rain again.

It’s arguments like your’s that undermine the belief that global warming is occurring and due to man’s activities.

SammyLivesHere5:33 pm 28 Mar 09

Yes, whilst investigating the storm water issues in the inner south I have been told of ‘the old Canberra’ weather pattern of days of long and steady rain….. Having been here only 8 years, and living in the inner south I have to say in all this time I can remember probably only a week a year of long, lovely, steady rain…. but the research also shows that Canberra has been subjected to many, many thunderstorms, lightning storms, hail storms; causing damage to houses, flash flooding, some deaths and lots of car accidents…. March was unusually dry – last year my home was under 40cm of water! mmm until my home was flooded I didn’t even notice how much it does rain here. Although it may not be the old long days of rain – when it rains here – it just comes down from the heavens in 10 very short devastating minutes…. turning off the lights tonight for 1-hour will hopefully help – as Global Warming has to be art of the reason the winter rains have gone! On Friday I was caught in a rain downpour in the City, on Weds I was also caught in a big downpour in Barton, so there is rain – it’s just hard to tell these days where it’s going to fall.

peterh said :

no, I am sure that if the water supply was nasty, everyone would be drinking tap water.

?????????????

peterh said :

I just think it is a shame that we lose drinking water to other water uses. can’t fix it, but I wonder what will happen when the levels get too low?

We are not in the middle of the Kalahari desert. We are in a drought. If the drought persists we may need to adjust.

All taps off. A spigot at the local shops for us to collect our 10 litres a day per person drinking water.

peterh said :

I do miss having a lawn, and letting the kids run through sprinklers, but I can always take them down to the oval in kambah, the big sprinklers are working nearly every day…

Bring the spawn to Snowtown, lush green lawns and sprinklers running every day.

monomania said :

peterh said :

Canberrans are spoilt with great water. shame of it is that the water supply is both drinking and using….

Once again rattling on about drinking and non drinking water. Can’t see the distinction if it’s relatively inexpensive to treat all water to the drinking water standard as it is in Canberra’s case. Taking water directly from a river or dam is far more cost effective that water harvesting, and greywater treatment or having a third pipe to supply non potable water.

no, I am sure that if the water supply was nasty, everyone would be drinking tap water. I just think it is a shame that we lose drinking water to other water uses. can’t fix it, but I wonder what will happen when the levels get too low?

peterh said :

Canberrans are spoilt with great water. shame of it is that the water supply is both drinking and using….

Once again rattling on about drinking and non drinking water. Can’t see the distinction if it’s relatively inexpensive to treat all water to the drinking water standard as it is in Canberra’s case. Taking water directly from a river or dam is far more cost effective that water harvesting, and greywater treatment or having a third pipe to supply non potable water.

That is very sobering, ant. You’re right. I have never experienced this. It wasn’t real to me at all. Thank you for helping me to understand a bit better.

speaking as someone who came from adelaide, and never, ever, on pain of death drank water from the town supply (there are just some things you never do) – mainly due to the taste, but mostly due to the taste, colour and viscosity, we all drank tank water. if the gum trees overhead changed the colour to brown, oh, well. Canberrans are spoilt with great water. shame of it is that the water supply is both drinking and using…. Brown water or cloudy water doesn’t bother me none. I do miss having a lawn, and letting the kids run through sprinklers, but I can always take them down to the oval in kambah, the big sprinklers are working nearly every day…

I do remember those days and days of sustained rain, it just rained. Nowadays we might get a couple of hours of this, if really really lucky. Lately, our best totals have come from storms, but if you get a lot of heavy rain over a short period, most of it runs off, it doesn’t geta chance to really sink in.

As for totals, Canberra’s totals over the last few years are shabby. Sometimes we get a good month, but the overall trend is scary. I remember when the Monaro region was in a perpetual drought, and that has crept north to us.

The rainfall total for March is going to be miniscule, and already some weather-types are feeling despondant about april too, evidently there’s nothing good in the offing.

I notice that town people often think we’re doing OK for rain because there was a storm at drive-home time, and they mutter about not being allowed to use drinking water to wash their cars, and seem to think that it’s a government plot. The people of Goulburn could explain that, once the water supply runs dry, there’s no water. The government can’t wave a magic wand and make some.

Hopefully the various governments can make the hard decisions to ensure that city people never have that sinking experience that many country people have had: you turn the tap, and a dirty trickle dribbles out.

Move to the west coast of the south island of NZ. I just came back from a place there that gets an average around 12 metres a year. Mind you the week I was there most of the time above the fox glacier climbing a few peaks next to mt Tasman it was bone dry lol.

Can I just mention that we all tend to have short memories but data show there is nothing exceptional dry about this decade when you examine long term rain data. Anyone who can use spreadsheet software can easily make graphs of rain history by downloading monthly data free from this helpful BoM webpage.
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/weather-data.shtml
You can also download station lists or you can get station numbers from maps eg
http://www.bom.gov.au/hydro/flood/nsw/southcoast.shtml
run you mouse over station dots to get station number. The 6 figure numbers starting 57 can not be used, but the 5 figure station numbers work in the top BoM webpage.
For those who want a quick look at long term rain history graphics, these are the only examples I am aware of, lets know if there are others on the net.
http://www.warwickhughes.com/blog/?p=179
The Water category has some provoking articles.
http://www.warwickhughes.com/blog/?cat=5
Finally a note on our short memories, March has not ended yet the months Nov-Dec-Jan were pretty fair for ACT rain but we are all complaining !

Re comment 5 by Pommy Bastard, I agree it is puzzling, happens many times, be nice to hear explanation from an informed observer.

lol that’s very civil of you guys and gals above 🙂

It’s sad when one goes outside, to check what that strange sound on the roof is, realising it is rain 🙁

The rain today was excellent tho, bring it on

see, the old man is right! ; )

Oh, astro! I’m sorry for misunderstanding you. You’re one of my favourite people here, which is why I felt a bit sad. I thought I must have said something to make you upset. I’d love to have a ginger beer with you!

: )

Happy Granny!

oh dear, i seem to have caused offence and i humbly and unreservedly apologise, granny – it was all, as bigfeet alludes, all playful banter. i seem to owe you a ginger beer or something similar when we meet. really, i enjoy your posts and was having fun, i am really sorry if i have been misinterpreted… please accept my sincere apology for any upset.

dang uninflexional internet. really, don’t mind me, i try only to follow my father’s words – it’s nice to be nice.

thanks, bigfeet. ; )

There are holes in the sky
where the rain gets in,
they are only little holes
which is why the rain is thin.

Spike Milligan (Circa 1970)

There’s a word for the distinctive smell when it starts to rain after a dry spell http://wordsmith.org/words/petrichor.html

I miss seeing lots of birds around, and watching them bathing up in the trees, either in the rain or rubbing themselves against wet leaves.

But I really miss being able to buy bales of good lucerne for $1/bale *sigh*

It does rain, always the day after I wash my car, and of course it rains dirt.

Oh wow. Talk about feeling the nostalgia… I remember growing up in Wanniassa and seeing the massive thunderstorms move in over the Brindabellas, and then playing outside in the downpour, getting completely soaked.

I remember having sex in the pouring rain off Namatjira drive, now you’d just be wallowing in the mud!

I know, bigfeet. I hope you are right.

Got soaked to the skin at least 5 times a few weekends ago.

Maybe the universe is trying to drop a hint?

Definitely less flow, there’s river valleys in the ACT where you can stand and look at flow debris 20 feet above your head. Sadly such days are gone.

The trouble with internet forums Granny is that the way you imagine things being read in your head is sometimes not the same way others read it. It has happened to me before, in my mind things being said between me and another had a playful banter tone, and it was only after about six posts that I realised that the other person was not reading them the same way.

Like Astro’s posts on here. I initially read through them and was quite surprised at your response at #57. They all seemed quite fun. So I went back and read them putting a different inflection and tone and you are right, they could be read that way.

But as I like to think the best of everyone, I think that there was no ridiculing of you, just some amusing chatter. But without the tone, inflection and body language we are used to in our normal dealings with people it sometimes does make it hard to tell.

funny you should mention the rain, or lack of rain. For the last week, i have been listening to rain on my Ipod to get me off to sleep.

Pretty sad. I’m thinking of moving to a place where it rains more….like Seattle.

Astrojax,

If I knew what I’d done I could apologise.

I am who I am.

I can’t stop you from ridiculing me, but it does make me feel introverted and unhappy and I consider it to be a form of bullying. Be mean enough to someone and they’ll leave, and you’ll never have to end up in the mod queue because there’s no flaming involved.

That won’t make me leave though, because I don’t like being silenced. Sometimes I have something important to say. Mostly I enjoy interacting with people I have come to think of as my friends. I am naive, but mostly what you see here is what you get. Those who know me outside RA will be able to tell you that I’m pretty much the same.

So laugh at me and make fun of me if you must. I like who I am and I’m not ashamed of it.

I remember running under the sprinkler, water fights with the hose and a low level crossing near my place when I was little. Whenever it rained heavily we would all go down to see the flood. It was quite exciting to see how far up the trees the water was.

Now they have put in a dam and removed all the trees along the riverbank for… some Shire Council reason or other. Damn shame.

On another note, I know its selfish of me but I would really appreciate it if the drought didn’t break for a week or so. I am waiting for the “roof guy” to call me about fixing my leaking roof tiles (water marks on my ceiling).

After that – bring it on !

i don’t really blame you, granny, i blame society… 😉

who wrote that poem, btw? ‘s fabulous!

Astro, did I spit in your beer or something?

aww you was seen lookin’ up into them with far too much of a poetic gleam an’ they jus’ run away… so’s all your mess, now come clean it up or no ice cream…

I love that poem!

We had a theatre troupe come and perform it once as part of a show they were taking round the local schools, and I got on the news which made it quite memorable at that age.

Anyhow, don’t you go blaming me for this mess! What have I ever done to clouds??

We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan,
In accents most forlorn,
Outside the church, ere Mass began,
One frosty Sunday morn.

“It’s looking crook,” said Daniel Croke;
“Bedad, it’s cruke, me lad,
For never since the banks went broke
Has seasons been so bad.”

“It’s dry, all right,” said young O’Neil,
With which astute remark
He squatted down upon his heel
And chewed a piece of bark.

There won’t be grass, in any case,
Enough to feed an ass;
There’s not a blade on Casey’s place
As I came down to Mass.”

i lived a few house down from a creek in sydney – used to sneak off there and share cigarettes bought one at a time at the same local shop i’d get huge bags of lollies for 2 for a cent… seems about that long ago it rained, tell ya. actually, i blame you granny – just to be different, ya un’erstand…

We used to go out to Ginninderra Creek and play there as kids. It was everything a creek should be.

I think Village Creek in Kambah is now a concrete drain.

Ginninderra Creek is quite nice. It’s a beautiful ride along the bike path from the Dam wall out to MacGregor. But it needs regular rain or it can get a bit stagnant and on the nose.

I miss the fact that our kids will never have water fights and play under the sprinkler

I let my 5yo run around under the sprinkler one weekend evening in January and all that achieved was that she slipped over on some wet concrete at the edge of the lawn and broke her arm. I guess that idea will get a luke-warm reception (at best) from now on.

I love cycling in the rain – once you’re wet through you can’t get any wetter. Have done heaps of mtb races in the wet (in summer) getting mud in places I didn’t even know I had.

I also love the smell of rain on hot dry earth and roads.

It started raining and thundering while I was walking home from work today but didn’t amount to much.

Why doesn’t Canberra have creeks? Why does it only have nasty concrete culverts?

I know the city fathers are proud to preside over an exhibition of just how ugly and ill-conceived 1950s and 60s town planning was, but really! Natural watercourses with reedbeds et al are environmentally friendly. Oh sorry. I forgot. The government and the Greens are only into token gestures.

I think it also has something to do with growing up. You tend to spend a lot more time inside things, like the office,house,CAR etc. It’s not often I spend my afternoons/weekends riding around on the pushie with my mates these days.

yeah, yeah. rub it in. (grumble, mutter)

We’ve just had a good half hour of rain in Gungahlin. It’s eased off now, but still sprinkling. I doesn’t even matter that I left the windows down on the car, and not the seats are soaked. It rained!!!!

The smell of damp soil and leaves after a heavy downpour. The gentle sound at night time that was just so relaxing after a busy day and helped you zone out for a restful slumber.

Instant Mash5:21 pm 26 Mar 09

Granny said :

I blame everybody!

That’s the spirit!

I blame everybody!

rain? you were lucky. we used to live in’t shoebox in’t middle ‘ut road.

i blame the BoM, meself. they just need to get better weather for us – it’s their job!

Instant Mash5:09 pm 26 Mar 09

It’s raining in Charnwood again, right now! 😀

It was a heavy down pour in Qbn at lunch but it didn’t even get to fyshwick. I blame the used car salesman who was running around winding up windows in front of me. He was the jinx this time.

My kids just walked in soaked and extremely happy!

apparently it rained in phillip, but i blinked and missed it…

More of these posts*, It’s raining right now up north side.

* Not really.

Instant Mash4:54 pm 26 Mar 09

Funnily enough, I’m rather soaked after just walking home from work IN THE RAIN.

p1 said :

Your raincoat is jinxing us all, p1. Get rid of the blessed thing!

But it cost a fortune and is in mint condition!

I left it at someone’s house last year and didn’t even notice it was missing for about six months when they brought it back.

On the rare occasions when it does rain, it is always at home in a cupboard, no use to anyone. maybe I should donate it to monsoonal QLD?

Well, at least you tried to get rid of it. Some personal possessions just can’t take a hint! So you’ll be happy to know that I forgive you for being a jinx. You can’t help it, so it’s simply not your fault.

*hehe*

mirage3 said :

Ah the memories! It’s all just wet dreams now.

LOL

Ah the memories! It’s all just wet dreams now.

BerraBoy68 said :

Grade 6, 1979 – St Thomas Aquinas Charnwood. The driving rain and wind knocked down the flag pole and blew in the windows of our classroom, causing mass panick and evacuation to the library (nut not until me and mate had to crawl back into teh clasroom amid wet paer, watersoaked carpet and broken glass to retreive the TV and new VCR player (Betamax of course!). Massive thunder and lightening. Walking home – (that’s right you namby pamby softy’s, we still walked home though this) several houses had lost their roof’s and trees were down everywhere. AND… it was wet… wet I tells ye..

Now when the odd drop falls from the sky I have to stop the kids from panicking and thinking its the end of the world.

charnwood primary was a big muddy mess on that day. AND I had to walk home, and it was uphill and the streets were like rivers. great fun. thanks for the reminder…

My toddler is frightened to walk barefoot on grass, after our spiky dead-straw backyard.

We did get 5 minutes of rain northside too. Might be just enough to keep a shrub or two going a few more weeks.

Yep, remember playing netball on the grass courts at Arawang (Stirling). By the afternoon games the courts would be pure mud with 14 girls attempting to run around but spending most of the time on their ass.

Now I sit in a windowless office so the closest thing I have to watching the weather is the Canberra Yacht Club webcams. A great view over the lake which lets me know what the world looks like.

http://www.canberrayachtclub.com.au/

Your raincoat is jinxing us all, p1. Get rid of the blessed thing!

But it cost a fortune and is in mint condition!

I left it at someone’s house last year and didn’t even notice it was missing for about six months when they brought it back.

On the rare occasions when it does rain, it is always at home in a cupboard, no use to anyone. maybe I should donate it to monsoonal QLD?

I just listen to Kyuss and enjoy that desert rock!

Do I jinx things if I mention it is bucketing down in Fyshwick right now?

BerraBoy, I’m just reminding you not to post after a few beers. Thank you!

: D

That dry dust settling into the earth smell – I miss that.

BerraBoy68 said :

Now when the odd drop falls from the sky I have to stop the kids from panicking and thinking its the end of the world.

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

*lol*

Oh, and can someone remind me not to post after a few beers please.. Spelling? Wots that!?

Grade 6, 1979 – St Thomas Aquinas Charnwood. The driving rain and wind knocked down the flag pole and blew in the windows of our classroom, causing mass panick and evacuation to the library (nut not until me and mate had to crawl back into teh clasroom amid wet paer, watersoaked carpet and broken glass to retreive the TV and new VCR player (Betamax of course!). Massive thunder and lightening. Walking home – (that’s right you namby pamby softy’s, we still walked home though this) several houses had lost their roof’s and trees were down everywhere. AND… it was wet… wet I tells ye..

Now when the odd drop falls from the sky I have to stop the kids from panicking and thinking its the end of the world.

Your raincoat is jinxing us all, p1. Get rid of the blessed thing!

Have to admit, my raincoat doesn’t get used very often.

Me too. Or experience real grass.

I remember a few months back, getting caught in 2 huge torrential downpours on my 16k ride home.

I got home, soaked to the bone, including squelchy shoes and socks, but was smiling ear to ear.

Whenever it rains, I always go outside and stand in it for a while.

I refuse to buy wet weather gear for riding to work as that will just jinx us forever.

Most of all, I miss the fact that our kids will never have water fights and play under the sprinkler.

I love your writing, Loose Brown. It was a very different Canberra. The other day when it rained for about two minutes I went and stood outside in it just because and just to remember.

ah, yes… southwell park was the mud pit on a good day’s game, we scored a goal with a lump of mud, our goalie was standing on the ball…. Up united!

ginninderra falls in full flood, without having to use the dam and spillway to generate any “normal” waterfalls, riding over the causeway on lake ginninderra in an inflatable boat, lying in the grass on a summer’s day, under some trees, not on a blanket, but on the sweet smelling grass, watching the storms roll in on a summer afternoon….

It’s raining in my heart.

Yeah deezagood – seems that it only ever rains for about 5 minutes, just enough to get everything damp, followed by strong winds blowing dust all over everything.

I looked at raincoats in the shops recently and then thought I wouldn’t bother – it is lucky to rain once a month, and i never have to go out in it.

I got excited today when I saw some cloud cover … but again, over she blew without a drop. I miss the rain 🙁 Hmmm – maybe I should plan a big BBQ (that has usually induced rain in the past)

Pommy bastard3:31 pm 26 Mar 09

If like me you are a regular viewer of the BOM radar site http://mirror.bom.gov.au/products/IDR403.loop.shtml you will have been treated over the last few days to the regular sight of large patches of rain approaching the ACT, then neatly parting and dissolving once they hit the borders of Canberra. Astonishing!

Slip’N’Slide down the grassy slope in the backyard was great !

We used to hang out under a drain bridge in Giralang and watch the water level rise whilst sneaking a smoke in (My friend lived in the first house closest to the end of the drains in Giralang).

We would ride from giralang to Jamison to Hawker to Giralang, rain hail or snow, and do sprints between ped bridges and rest under each one until the rain eased.

We used to forrage through the pond down the bottom of Giralang after each major storm, looking for tennis balls and the like.

I wish I could remember what it was like to blow my nose after I mowed the lawn and not end up with a hankie full of mud.

Die Lefty Scum3:13 pm 26 Mar 09

I remember floating little objects down the gutters until i’d traversed 3 suburbs. And I swear it rained for my birhday party 7 years straight in the 80’s. I blame this cursed luck for turning me into the bitter prick I am today.

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