10 May 2023

Weipa the wettest place in the Cape

| Matt Nicholls
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THE Weipa Airport was the wettest place in Cape York across the wet season, with more than 2.3 metres of rain recorded at the Bureau of Meteorology site.

It means the mining town is once again the recipient of the region’s figurative Golden Gumboot, winning it back from Lockhart River, which claimed it in 2021.

The official reading at Weipa Airport between October and the end of April was 2378.2mm, ahead of Weipa suburb Rocky Point at 2255.5mm.

Unsurprisingly, RAAF Base Scherger was third at 2097.4mm.

Lockhart River nearly pulled a Steven Bradbury.

The east coast community was suffering from a relatively dry wet season until April, but more than 900mm fell in the last month to lift them to fourth place with a total of 1860.6mm.

Laura once again had the driest rain gauge in the region, with just 794.7mm recorded for the wet season.

The small town was also the driest community in 2020-21 but received an extra 143mm.

There were some big winners and big losers across the latest wet season, with Merluna Station one of the victors.

The cattle station, located between Weipa and Archer River, recorded 1609mm for the season, more than 300mm up on the previous wet.

Weipa Airport, Southwell Station, Cooktown and Cape Flattery also received better rainfall than the previous wet season.

Although finishing fourth in the overall tally, Lockhart River had the worst wet season in comparison to the previous one.

They were short 460.8mm on last year’s tally.

Horn Island, Moreton Telegraph Station, Bramwell Station and the Archer River Roadhouse also recorded less rain than the previous season, but still copped more than enough.

There is still a chance for some unseasonable rain in early May according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

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