Indigenous Weather Knowledge

About Wunambal Gaambera seasonal calendar

The climate of Wunambal Gaambera Country is wet-dry monsoonal, characterised by uniformly high temperatures and solar radiation with distinctively seasonal rainfall.

 

Average monthly minimum and maximum temperatures range from 24 °C to 39 °C in October and from 12 °C to 33 °C in July. Frosts do not occur in the area, however, during the June–July period overnight minimum temperatures of less than 10 °C are not uncommon.

 

Rainfall is markedly seasonal, the bulk of the annual average of 1000–1400 mm occurring from November to April, with the Wunju season of January and February being the wettest months. Yurrma – the cooler months of May to September – are virtually rain free.

 

As temperatures and humidity rise during Yuwala, from September to November, rainfall increases but is still relatively low. Rainfall is also variable from season to season and place to place. Average rainfall varies from 1400 mm in the Mitchell Plateau area to just over 1000 mm further inland.

 

The dominant features of the climate are the annual period of aridity during each dry season and the uniformly high daytime temperatures.

 

Reference:

Uunguu Plants and Animals Book, Aboriginal biological knowledge from Wunambal Gaambera Country in the north-west Kimberley, Australia.

Jack Karadada, Lily Karadada, Wilfred Goonack, Geoffrey Mangolamara, William Bunjuck, Louis Kardada, Basil Djanghara, Sylvester Mangolamara, Janet Oobagooma, Agnes Charles, Dianna Williams, Regina Karadada, Thomas Saunders and Glenn Wightman.