AFTER two months of little to no rain, Swan Hill received a welcome drench in the first week of November.
A total 15.6mm fell at the Swan Hill Aerodrome across Saturday, Sunday and Monday while some surrounding areas received up to 23mm.
Goodnight recorded 11.5mm, Balranald 19mm, Moulamein, 13mm, Ultima 19.2mm, Quambatook 22mm and 23mm fell at Wycheproof.
In some places, more rain fell within 24 hours than in the months of September and October combined.
Just 5.2mm was measured across two days in Swan Hill last month, 15.7mm below the long-term average for October.
While the rain was well-received by many, the wet start to November has come at the wrong time for the region’s cropping farmers, many of whom have just started harvest.
“It’s nice, but it’s too late, we needed it a month ago,” Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) grains group president Ashley Fraser told The Guardian.
Mr Fraser described the latest rain event as a “double-edged sword”.
“It’s good for one thing, but bad for another,” he said.
“It will probably be useful for those in later areas or with later season varieties, but there is also a lot of hay on the ground at present, while in the Mallee the harvest was really getting going so it is going to delay that.”
Mr Fraser measured between 32mm to 47mm on his farm in north-eastern Victoria and had canola due for windowing next week but would not be impacted by the rain, he said.
