A northwest cloud band stretching through the nation’s interior may not have delivered the spectacular widespread rainfall we tend to see with such systems, but it has resulted in some unseasonable rainfall in the south of the Northern Territory. While observational data is sparse in that area and rainfall data does still need to be verified, Territory Grape Farm in Anmatjere, about 160 km north of Alice Springs, looks to have recorded 22mm in the 24 hours to 9am this morning, more than four and a half times its July monthly average rainfall.  

It wouldn’t be the first time this month that a decent amount of rain has fallen over Anmatjere. As this meteorologist reported towards the beginning of July, Anmatjere received a 24-hour rainfall total of 23.3mm - its highest daily rainfall for the month of July in 18 years. Today’s rainfall may only be 1.3mm shy of that total, but if verified, it would rank as the second highest daily July rainfall total since July 2005.  

Having also received another 16.6mm earlier this month, and pending verification of today’s data, Anmatjere may now have received a total of 61.8mm so far, with only two more days left of the month. As you can see in the image below, this tracks with what the Australian Bureau of Meteorology has been seeing across the NT. 

Northern Territory rainfall map for July 2023 to date. The approximate location of Territory Grape Farm in Anmatjere is circled in black, showing that the area has received approximately 50-100mm so far this month. Source: Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology. 

That being the case, this could very well be the wettest July in Anmatjere’s 35-year observation history, beating the previous record by a whopping 27.6mm. This would be even more notable when one considers that in July of most years Anmatjere has seen absolutely no rain fall at all. Time will tell if this record holds.