Monday May 5, 05:15 PM

'Moon man' forecasts more rain for Queensland

By 7News The long-range weather forecaster who predicted south-east Queensland's early-year downpour and the subsequent dry months says the worst of the drought is behind us.

At home in New Zealand, they call him 'the moon man' because of his unorthodox method of predicting the weather using the moon.

At Wivenhoe Dam, he could be any other tourist admiring the views. But Ken Ring comes with some promising news.

He is predicting about 800mm of rain at the dams for the next year and 'maybe about 1200' for the next year.

About 460mm has fallen already this year and Ken says we could get another 400mm before 2009.

"Most of it in June," Ken said. "I've got two or three times the average coming in June."

Then, he says, we can expect July and September to be dry before the rains kick in again towards the end of the year.

Ken reckons the drought peaked in 2006 and while it's been a slow road back, we can now expect to see more rainfall over a long period of time.

But he warns the severe drought isn't a one-off: it's a pattern that will continue to repeat.

"Anything that happens on earth is a multiple of between 36 and 38 years," Ken said. "So you have a drought in the same place about every nine years."

Ken developed his theory while living by the water in the early 1970s.

"I started noticing that the big storms accompanied the very big tides," Ken said.

So he decided the moon influences the weather, as well as the tides. And because the moon's movements are so reliable, he can forecast years in advance.

Seven years ago, Ken entered daily forecasts into his website.

"It's really been unchanged for seven year," Ken said. "Now, it could've been 100 years, you know, I'm not tied to time."