WET SEASON

• Tropical depressions, thunderstorms, north-west monsoons, tropical cyclones
• Rain falls heavily in a series of short periods of a few days duration, mostly at night with intermittent breaks of hot calm weather
• Humidity high, insect life profuse, streams flow, erosion occurs

HOT-WET-DRY TRANSITION

• Thunder-storms and monsoon wane
• Variable winds
• hot

COOL DRY SEASON

• south east winds
• wind strength varies in cyclic patterns
• lunar cycles intensify in June, July
• diurnal cycles at strongest from early morning to midday, cold and uncomfortable, but calm in evenings
• little (if any) rain

WARM DUSTY SEASON

• s.e.winds subside and intermittent north and n.w. breezes
• soils blow away, dust storms and whirlwinds
• temperature rises and most groundwater evaporated
• “morning glory” clouds common

HOT-DRY-WET TRANSITION

• calms and variable winds
• scattered afternoon thunderstorms increasing in intensity
• high humidity and temperature (32º.)

• the first monsoonal rain, kurburka
• birrinju – the period of heavy perpetual cyclonic rain
• mosquito time – ngukajilalke
• north-west winds – jirrkarampen wanngal and intermittent north-east winds – lilumpen wanngal
• rain depressions muthamangar (big rains)
• waterspouts sighted, thandaman, thandabi
•  

• south-east wind time, larumpen wannngal or ngyelukan.
• cold wind time, kuntha wannngal
• first south-east wind is yelmiyal
• at times the east wind also blows, liyalin

• jirrkaraalin , time of the “month fish”: dulnul and of the ripening of the pandanus nut – kuriyal time. bulthangkan, time of hot dusty weather
• morning glory cloud weel or making associated with month fish.
• Jirrkaram wind (north-west)

• “first rain” time. Wurrkur wunda
• the time when the country is hot, ngawan nyerrwe; and when the ground is hot kiyawinwarka[?]; and when people perspire, darrathalan; time of the lightning, binban.
• Wurrkur = water running on ground after first rain.

• wallabies (fat on new grass shoots)
• turtle hunting, fish schools and prawns netted
• frogs
• wild bee honey (“sugarbag”)
• goannas (fat due to plenitude of grasshoppers) wardirr fruit consumed after processing
• (mud crabs less plentiful)
• many vegetable harvests begin including the mangrove fruit marrin, the wild plum tree fruit murrben, the nuts of the bilkurr tree, the wulun fruit and the thalarr seeds
• the nyulangka fruit, the crow fruit dangakur, the fruit of the bambularr

• best dugong hunting (in evenings)
• freshwater turtle and fish from interior water-holes
• water lilies harvested
• the nyungar root is obtained in the interior, plus taltjir roots and wild potatoe, yarrpa (K.B. in A.D.A.:F50)
• turtle hunting
• panja corms of the swamp rush kurka, “dog-ball” fruit dirriyurru

• dulnhu fish caught
• jirdal fruit and wild fig kirrirr
• pandanus nut, kuriyal

• wild bee honey, wankabel
• frogs
• wardirr , the Cycad fruit harvested.
• Wild grape, benda
• snakes which chase frogs at night

• large wet weather camps on high sand ridges
• use of mosquito camps at times
• construction of wet weather shelters
• reduced movement
• plentiful water resources

• mosquito camps on beach or high dunes
• wet weather shelters transformed into shades

• use of wind breaks
• use of interior camps when winds are strongest, and associated food gathering in interior country
• dugong camps on the beach
• water lily camps on coast and interior
• dingo pups obtained
• wells dug in some camps

• windbreaks on beach
• use of shades frequent
• dulnhu camps on coast
• pandanus camps on coast
• well dug out for use

• use of shades in day
• first mosquito camps
• shades transformed into wet weather shelters
• use of wells and rock holes as water sources