Titbit: Going to be Perth’s Driest July on Record (2012)

Anybody who has been listening to the news on TV over the last week or so will already know this but I just thought it was worth jotting it down really quickly. Assuming there is no ‘useful’ rain over the next five days, and the weather bureau are not expecting any, then Perth (in Western Australia, Australia) is going to experience its driest July since 1876; which was around about when regular weather records for Perth were started.

Don’t believe me? Check out this article at the Weather Channel or this one at The West.

The previous lowest for July was about 62mm.

The average for July is 170mm.

But this July so far we have had less than 28mm—less than half the previous lowest rainfall.

As Winter comes to an end (there is one month to go) the metropolitan dams are barely at 30 percent capacity.

This is bad news all around. It means the Water Corporation is going to have to pull every gallon they can from the precious, and rapidly dwindling, underground aquifer reserves. And even this is not going to be enough to cover the amount of water used by Perth and surrounds last year.

This just underlines the fact that we live in the driest city, which happen to be in the driest state, which—as it happens—is part of the most arid country on the planet.

Strewth! . . . If it was illegal to wash your car using a running hose last year then it is probably going to be illegal to even wash your car with a bucket this year. There is going to be lots of dirty cars driving around.

Barry’s Tip: Don’t expect the price of water to go down any time soon.