Following the identification of a gap in the country’s weather radar network, the Bureau of Meteorology, Agriculture Victoria, Wimmera Development Association and other key community partners have worked together to establish a weather radar for the Wimmera Southern Mallee region located on private farmland near the township of Rainbow.
With the nearest weather stations located in Mildura and Mount Gambier, the region has long been considered a black hole. Accurate data on approaching rain was unable to be sourced from Mildura and Mount Gambier.
This meant farmers in one of the country’s most productive farming regions were making costly decisions without the information they needed.
The Wimmera Southern Mallee station went live in March this year. It can deliver real-time weather information, including short-term rainfall forecasts.
The establishment of this new weather station has numerous benefits including:
- improving farm business strategic decision-making especially around times of sowing, harvesting, chemical and fertiliser applications as well as the movement of stock
- enabling farm businesses to better manage weather-related risks
- improving decision-making by farmers that will enhance yields and reduce wasted costs
- providing short-term weather forecasting, enabling farm businesses to be more responsive to changing weather conditions
- increasing safety for communities during extreme weather and emergency management incidents.
Find out more about the Rainbow Radar project here