Tamworth has recorded one of its wettest autumns in years, with Keepit Dam receiving its wettest day in 62 years, according to the Bureau of Meteorology latest seasonal summary.
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But at the end of the state's coolest and wettest autumn in eight years the city's water reserve remains low.
Keepit Dam recorded its wettest day since 1959 on March 26, with 71mm falling on its water gauge, the Bureau revealed.
The city received 171.6mm of rain through the three autumn months, on top of a very wet start to 2020. That's over half again above average.
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The good news is the BoM forecasts that's a trend that is set to continue.
Chairman of Tamworth's NSW Farmers branch Kevin Tongue said it was a beautiful sight to see full water gauges and positive rainfall predictions for the first time in years.
"Autumn was brilliant. With the temperatures not stinking hot and not really cold, which gave us a great body of feed, ideal in May for sowing a winter crop," he said.
He said the forecasts and full water gauges were bringing back confidence to the agriculture sector.
"[If] we've got money to spend mate we'll spend it locally. That will help the economy of the businesses in the smaller towns as well as the major towns."
But with dams like Keepit and Chaffey still low irrigators aren't getting full water allocations and won't be doing as well as graziers, he said.
The BoM's recently-released seasonal summary shows NSW recorded its wettest autumn since 2012, in a season that set records tumbling in Tamworth.
This year's autumn was the mildest in 28 years, with a daytime average maximum temperature of just 23.5 degrees, nearly two degrees below average of 25.3 degrees.
Paradoxically, nights were also milder than average - the average minimum temperature was 9.8 degrees, 0.3 degrees above normal.
The BoM Airport station also recorded the mildest autumn day in 29 years, with the mercury falling short of 10 for the first time since 2000 on May 23.
Andrew Messenger
Politics, environment and energy journalist at the Northern Daily Leader. I also write about health, bushfires and occasionally music. I'm a Brisbane boy by way of Charleville and Hobart who now lives in in beautiful New England. Get me at andrew.messenger@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Politics, environment and energy journalist at the Northern Daily Leader. I also write about health, bushfires and occasionally music. I'm a Brisbane boy by way of Charleville and Hobart who now lives in in beautiful New England. Get me at andrew.messenger@austcommunitymedia.com.au
