NEWS
Record rainfall brings hope
Senwes area receives the highest rainfall in April in 104 years – 188,7 mm
Danie Niehaus' Afrikaans song says “Dis reën dis wind dis water en die son kom eers
weer later”. It was also the case for producers in the Senwes area over the past four and
a half weeks in April 2019.
By Aubrey Kruger
Senwes Scenario Editor
I
n During this period the average rain-
fall in our area was a massive 188,7
mm - the highest rainfall in April in 104
years. Senior Grain Analyst at Senwes,
Thys Grobbelaar, said that it broke the
existing record. The previous highest
rainfall was 117 mm during the 1942/43
season. To put it into perspective, the
long-term average rainfall for April in the
Senwes area is a mere 40,5 mm. In other
words, it is more than four and a half times
the long-term average.
Places with the highest rainfall in April
were Winburg silo where 280 mm was
measured, Arlington silo with 275 mm and
Theunissen silo with 257 mm. At the other
end of the scale we have Jan Kempdorp
silo with the lowest rainfall, namely 108
mm, as well as Gottenburg silo at 113 mm
and Heilbron silo at 114 mm, just below the
previous average rainfall record for April.
The winners since the beginning of the
2018/19 season (1 July 2018 until 30 April
2019) were Enselspruit silo with 792,5
mm, followed by Raathsvlei silo with 710,6
mm and Arlington silo a few drops behind
them with 709 mm. Amongst those with the
lowest rainfall during this period were Jan
Kempdorp with 270,2 mm, Hartswater silo
with 327,5 mm and Petrusburg silo with
390 mm.
It is evident from the statistics that we
received 333,3% more in April this year
than in the corresponding period of the
previous year, and the cumulative rainfall
for the season to date, was 106,1% of the
33-year average.
Grobbelaar also said: ”We are experi-
encing one of the strangest seasons since
accurate rainfall records commenced.” We
have only had four seasons over the past
104 seasons during which the 1 July to 31
December rainfall had been less than this
season for the same period. The average
rainfall for the pre-season from 1 July to
31 December was 232 mm. The average
of the past season was a mere 118 mm.
The dryest pre-season for the period since
rainfall statistics commenced, was 88 mm
during the 1945/46 season.
Grobbelaar also said that we should
remember that rainfall in the eastern
districts was very close to normal for the
pre-season period. The cumulative rain-
fall for the more western districts was, in
many instances, significantly lower and
in a few instances the lowest recorded
rainfall history. Examples are Regina with
only 56 mm, Viljoenskroon with 85 mm,
Vierfontein with 84 mm, Bothaville with 91
mm and Odendaalsrus with 78 mm. The
more westerly districts, such as Bultfontein
and Wesselsbron, received good rain
during August 2018, which increased their
pre-season rainfall figures.
Despite the very dry pre-season, some
of the districts will realise very good yields.
What do we learn from this? That we
should never lose hope. Rain does not only
bring relief, but also hope. All the best with
the season, producers.
*In the schematic representations, the rain-
fall for April 2019 in the traditional Senwes
area of operation can be studied in more
detail.
The rainfall for April 2019 in the traditional Senwes area.
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SENWES SCENARIO | WINTER 2019