claidheamhmor | It's rainin' again

I think we've had rain every day since around Christmas - sometimes just a sprinkle, sometimes a whole day of pouring rain. It's actually been lovely. It's not hugely unusual to have a lot of around around this time of year, though it's not common to have it so continuous. Of course, we had a number of long heat waves in November and December, so I guess it's not surprising.

To put it in perspective, though: Johannesburg (and most of Gauteng province and part of the Free State province) are supplied from the gigantic Vaal Dam, and we need the dam to have a lot of water to get through winter. Two weeks ago, the dam was at 23.9% full - very low. A week ago, it was 24.3%. Today, it's 47%. The dam, when full, is 321km² in area, with a capacity of 2.57 billion m³ (2.57 billion tonnes). That's an enormous amount of water in a week. (It is a bit more complicated, because it's part of a system of 7 dams, so the upstream dams are at or near capacity and releasing water).

We've just loving the weather. So are the flies and mosquitoes...

Here's Northcliff Hill on an overcast day. This is a full colour picture.