Paul Rosser 
A fairly normal dry January to open up 2023. We had 11.5mm for the month. It rained on just two days out of the 31 days.
Comparison with other years, since we arrived in the Village:
2023 11.5mm
2022 38.0mm
2021 12.0mm
2020 25.5mm
2019 1.0mm
2018 6.5mm
2017 62.0mm
2016 28.0mm
2015 31.0mm
2014 12.0mm
2013 7.0mm
2012 3.0mm
Average over this time is 20.0mm (rounded).
The dynamics of the weather are changing as La Niña moves to neutral, the Indian Ocean Dipole is in neutral & we may continue to get quite cold days occasionally as the Antarctic winds settle down after some bursts of cold air coming up to our south coast. The next three months will see average rainfall, slightly higher day & night time temperatures from mid February to the end of April. Flood watch is still appropriate for the River Murray & the lower lakes/ Coorong.
The Kaurna calendar is in their mid summer, a period known as Waritati. It is a warm time, with dry breezes & the occasional thunder storms. Has anybody sighted the Grey Teal Ducks that head south when the Darling floods? Kangaroo was their main meat & Yabbies were plentiful.
Our gardens may need the odd touch of water over the next month & fruit trees that are coming on to fruit need lots of water, which makes sense when you consider the water content of the fruit. Fruit trees love fertiliser, water & sunlight with thinning out of crops to produce large plump flesh. Make sure you pick up spent fruit as it is the main cause of fruit fly. Take two buckets when you pick, one for the good fruit & the other for the fruit on the ground.
Well, that’s it for this month – catch you in early March.
Paul
P.S. The cold snap we are having at present is the result of the Antarctic winds spinning off up to our southern coast. Some snow in the alps yesterday.
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