RAINFALL
Below average rainfall was received across most of the urban area, but the northwestern suburbs, eg, Bell Post Hill, recorded 46.2mm which is above average for April. Geelong Airport had 34 mm, which is 12mm short of its average figure. Nevertheless, accumulated rain since January shows a total in Geelong of 142mm, fractionally above the average figure for this time of year (139mm). The wettest 24 hours saw 12.4mm recorded at the airport at 9am on the 7th.
The Otways catchment received average falls (95mm at West Barwon), and for the first four months of the year accumulated rainfall is well above average. Despite this, catchments are currently stable, on 28.7% of capacity.
The outlook for May is reasonably good, with some private forecasters predicting the likelihood of above average falls. The Bureau of Meteorology 3-monthly outlooks however have consistently been neutral or pessimistic for this region in autumn, but they are often wrong and cannot be taken seriously by farmers or water managers.
TEMPERATURE
Geelong Airport was approximately 1.9 degrees C above its 19-year average. The maximum temperature of 30.2C occurred on the 20th, and was the only day over 30 degrees. Highest minimum was 16.9C on the 24th. The coldest minimum (5.4C) occurred on the 26th.
Average daily maximum was 21.7 degrees C (compared to the normal 20.2C) and average minimum was 11.7 degrees C compared to the normal 9.4C.
The figures show this has been one of Geelong’s warmest Aprils, but not as hot as in 2005 at Geelong Airport, or 1971 and 1968 at North Geelong. This warm April is the sixth consecutive warmer-than-average month.
OTHER
There were 3 very windy days with maximum gusts of 72kph at Mt Duneed on the 24th and 28th, and one thunder day on the 20th, but no severe storms.
RAINFALL DATA
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