The season so far-dry hot and stable

Despite being a primary area for dairy production in Australia , the area generally known as the Heytesbury has been very dry .
The last significant rain was in late November . While the Otway hinterland ( elevations over 130 mASL) is expected to stay green and growing  with some grass production into December ( growing season of 10-11 months ) we are getting near to a 4 month dry break .
Why is it so hard for farmers?
The moist summer element provides the sort of extra production that makes for a profit  (often around  90% of the income and 7-9 mth growing season is needed to pay bills )

Are the media right to focus on " wettest and driest and hottest MONTHS "  hey talk about months instead of seasons and doing that you find"unusual" months really easy.  They need to do maths in the real world and make real world comparisons .
The dumb part of this nonsense is illustrated by the fact that it can rain really heavy on the last /first days of a neighbouring month.   4 cycles in the 100 years we have been measuring could mean 400 different cycles in all of those seasons OR lots of external influences and random combinations of ash , cloud and radiation.  Ask questions -

Meanwhile we will keep hearing about the biggest and the worst 

Still learning about Erosion

While not really SW news this post reminds me of the things we may learn about our area from studying Mars. There could be impact craters in our area but unlike Mars they don't always hang around to be seen .
see the link http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Why_Wind_Is_The_Driving_Force_On_Mars_999.html
Mars is fun because we can't go there and we can only guess. The interesting difference between the two planets is that on earth water provides a lot of "sand" (where on Mars it appears there are  a lot less sources and   -and created by ice and ash ?? Because on earth sand soon grows a cover, its only in deserts and dry patches/periods   we see it move on the wind .Interestingly while the atmospheres are different, sand can find its way up to high levels ( the story about first pictures in 1971.)

There is however evidence of huge sand transport along the coast . mouth of some our rivers , Aire Hopkins ,Murray.  Post a picture if one of you asks for a picture