Rather than getting bogged down in the forecast, Lauren Lewis has chosen to rely on a much simpler weather model - her senses.
"When we can hear the rain on the roof or smell it, that's when it is raining and that's what we live by," the Meekatharra pastoralist said.
"Otherwise if you pin your hopes on the forecast, it can be super disheartening."
There is no denying the rain that fell this month, with 76 millimetres and 59mm drenching the Lewis family's Murchison Downs and Yarrabubba stations respectively.
The double-digit rainfall, spread across three separate events, was a welcome sight for the desert country desperate for a drink after a string of below-average seasons.
"We are very lucky, eceived in December or January wouldn't have been beneficial.
"Whereas now the temperature has dropped by 10 degrees and humidity is high again, so conditions have eased, which will keep the moisture in the ground.
"We have had some rainfall in January, which did fry up in the heat, but also added moisture in the ground, topped up by the recent dosings."
Ms Lewis said conditions at both stations had been dismal - last year 90 per cent of Yarrabubba's 190mm total rainfall was recorded in the first three months.
It was a similar story at Murchison Downs, with only 139mm on the gauge, the majority fell by the end of March and just 15-30mm from then until December.
"We were celebrating when we had a significant rainfall event in March last year, but there was no follow-up," Ms Lewis said.
"That meant there was no germination and it didn't do much, which was really disappointing."
Ms Lewis runs 1200-head of Hereford-Droughtmaster cattle at Yarrabubba and 500-head at Murchison Downs.
Numbers have dropped back over recent years, particularly in the weaners, and hay and supplement lick has been brought in to cope with the dry.
"It is pretty difficult because you work hard to improve your herd every year by keeping your heifers and culling the ones you don't like the look of," Ms Lewis said.
"Then these sort of seasons come along and you are forced to sell whatever you can, so you lose all of that hard work from previous years.
"It isn't ideal, despite not necessarily being big players in the beef industry we are still amongst it.
"If there was no rainfall this season we would have been out there pulling all the weaners off and looking at what numbers we had on the ground."
Ms Lewis can already see the difference in this month's rainfall, with germination speeding up and every clay pan to Yarabubba's west end being full.
As well as making a difference to the country, she said it had also lifted morale at the stations.
"We took the jet ski down to the claypan, so that's been good fun for the kids," Ms Lewis said.
"Also any sort of rain is obviously an immediate mood lifter in the camp.
"These days rainfall is in thunderstorms, so it is still pretty tough on those who are desperate for rain and haven't been under the right cloud.
"It just depends on your luck on the day."
Ms Lewis said winter seasons and widespread rainfall events were a thing of the past, and hit-and-miss with thunderstorm activity.
She said it was hard to take at times, and made even more stressful with the current market, but one day without rain is one day closer to one day with it.
"Growing up I remember everyone having an average rainfall event when those winter seasons came through, whereas now they are few and far between," Ms Lewis said.
"As dismal as it can be when it is dry and stinking hot, you know there is good in there when it finally happens.
"And I suppose we are more aware of it now, with the data and stats that are being collected and the water point systems.
"That is compared to the earlier days when there was the odd rain gauge here and there."
