It's Almost As Though Perthites Have Never Seen Rain

It's rained on 14 out of the last 18 days in Perth. A few days back I tried to buy a replacement umbrella as my expensive golf brolly had bitten the dust. The local Bunnings warehouse had all sold out. That meant getting wet a couple of times before purchasing a travel brolly. I was unable to find a proper umbrella at another Bunnings warehouse, at Kmart, at Coles, at Officeworks or at Woolies. You'd think that people in Perth, Perthites, had never seen rain.

With another four days of rain forecast it looks like I might get wet a couple more times yet.

Bit Wet

Strange weather we're having. They're playing tennis at Wimbledon yet it's wet in Perth. Surely all the rain is supposed to be concentrated in postcode SW19 5AE at this time of year.

It was still dry when we went to training last night but was pouring before we'd finished. One family wanted to borrow my umbrella so that they could get their car and bring it to the training facility to pick up the kids. Only problem was that the umbrella is slightly damaged and is very difficult to close. Another family member had to run out to the car to retrieve it and got rather wet in the process. Whoops. Tried to help out but was a little unsuccessful.

Driving home I remembered that the council depot always has the entrance flooded with the tiniest bit of rain so I took a different route. The water where I went was still up to the sideboard height on vehicles. I even saw one person pushing their car in the rain and through the water.

The missus and I went for a walk last night to inspect the nearby roads. She has gumboots and I don't so she enjoyed herself a bit more. We received 2" of rain, which was quite a decent drop, so it's understandable that there was a bit lying about.

Flooded road and footpath

Ankle deep

Council depot entrance

Something Wrong With The Weather Bureau's Gauge?

I wonder. It has rained for practically the whole day. People coming into work this morning were complaining about it having poured on them. Luckily I started a little earlier and missed it all. It was pizzling in the morning and came down a bit more strongly, with a good deal of wind mind you, when we went for our lunch time walk. We even took umbrellas and waterproof jackets with us but cut the walk short. All afternoon it continued to rain. All evening it has rained. And still the weather bureau tells me that Perth has had only 12.8mm (1/2") of precipitation in the 12 hours since 9am. Rubbish! The rain has been quite a bit heavier than 1mm/hr. I can remember only one other time where it rained all day and that day had a minimum temperature of 10 degrees C and a maximum of only 11 degrees C. Diurnal range of 1 degree Celsius is almost unheard of.

I wonder if their rainfall gauge is broken.

My Wife The Weather Girl

My wife should really get a job as a weather girl. When I mentioned this morning that it was going to rain and that I should take my umbrella she said that it wouldn't rain today but would tomorrow. So, I didn't take my brolly. Lo and behold it starting raining before I arrived at the bus stop. Alighting from the bus I had to make a quick dash to work. At least I didn't get drenched like a few other people.

Just for the record we've had 26.8mm of rain so far today, just over the inch mark, and it rained nearly all the working day. Apparently we are in front of the average rainfall for the year. Mandurah, about 60km south, had 60mm. Miky appears perfectly suited to inform us of the coming weather.

I Like To Laugh At People

When people are not thinking ahead far enough I like to laugh at their misfortune. If they are not forward planning enough then they deserve to be laughed at. For instance, when it is obviously going to be a wet day and they don't take an umbrella. I'll have a small chuckle at those with jackets on because they won't get very wet. Their preparedness wasn't too bad. Those that just wear thin shirts and get soaked to the skin deserve a hearty guffaw. It is funny to see individuals wet right through.

Yesterday I joined these people. I became one who didn't take an umbrella to work and wasn't prepared for the rain. Ok, I didn't see the news or hear what the weather was going to be like but when I left home there were some threatening clouds. Although these clouds were unlikely to get me before I arrived at the bus stop and being summer, when it doesn't rain a hell of a lot, the morning shower wasn't going to bother me. It did rain just before our lunchtime walk though.

At knock-off time the missus rang me and said that it was pouring. Funny thing was that it wasn't raining where I was. Couple of spots of rain hit me before I reached the bus stop but whilst waiting for the bus it poured. Normally no problem but it was so windy that the rain came straight inside the bus shelter and it was soaking. And I received a reasonable soaking.

Ah well, I don't mind laughing at myself.

Sunday Special - Go Out, Get Wet, Eat

Bit of a strange start to the day. I checked out the Internet for places in Hawaii to visit and then Yu-Jin started playing one of his computer games. Promptly at 8:07 the power was turned off. Western Power had to replace some power poles that were in our section of the grid and power wasn't due to be turned back on until 3pm. That changed our plans rapidly and meant no washing could be done and we were quite limited in how much we could clean the house. And it didn't go down too well with Miky as she had planned to work all day and it's a bit difficult to use an electric sewing machine without electron flow. No, I'm not tight enough to have a pedal-powered sewing machine. Miky and Yu-Jin also borrowed five DVDs the night before so it meant that they wouldn't be getting any use either.

In what is turning out to be a regular activity we went out, got wet and ate. Went to Subiaco to do the fruit and veg shopping. The weather forecast was, "fine and cloudy". Notice there was no mention of rain? Pottered about, did some window shopping, made a booking for a restaurant and at almost exactly 12 o'clock it started to rain.

Had lunch at our pretty much favourite restaurant, Senoji, and got a bit wet on the walk from the car. It wasn't supposed to be raining hence I didn't take an umbrella.
For a fine and cloudy day it rained continuously until 5pm. Then the rain was sporadic until well into the night. According to the Bureau of Meterology we have had 40.4mm of rain. Not bad for a "fine and cloudy" day.

I hope his doesn't become habitual.

Who's Idea For A Walk Was It?

Miky thought that Sunday morning would be ideal for an early morning walk. So, we got in the car and went to South Perth to walk along the foreshore. The weather report on the radio forecast some showers in the morning but the newsreader added his own bit along the lines of, "I think that the rain has finished."

It was dry for the first six or seven minutes. Then it started raining. We sheltered under a tree. Then it got heavier. And heavier. And it set in. We decided to make a dash to the Bellhouse Cafe for a hot drink and were soaked by the time we arrived. Not wanting to have a takeaway drink we asked for a table and were lucky to obtain one as we didn't have a booking. A breakfast menu was presented and my, the pancakes looked attractive. We also ordered toast with our hot drinks.

Can't say I enjoy paying $8 per pancake or $2 per piece of toast. Our "hot drinks" cost over $32 in the finish. And, of course, it stopped raining just before the food arrived.

There were a few spots of rain on the walk back to the car also. Who's idea was it for a morning walk?