RAINFALL
Another month of low rainfall has meant Geelong is in the grip of a widespread dry spell. Whether to call it drought or not is a moot point which won’t occur until certain technical requirements are met. Suffice to say however that this dry period, which has prevailed since last October, is not likely to break in a hurry. In fact, some forecasters have predicted drought-like conditions to continue for the whole of southeastern Australia until May next year owing largely to El Nino conditions in the Pacific Ocean.
Figures for the region show Geelong had about 50% of its normal August rainfall (24mm compared to the average 46mm), and winter overall also only averaged 50%. In fact this was Geelong’s 12th driest winter since 1872. Our driest winter was in 1982 when only 48mm fell.
The water catchment areas have suffered proportionally likewise and now stand at just 30% of capacity.
TEMPERATURES
Winter is over! Geelong has recorded, overall, a cooler winter than average. This seemingly unlikely result is due to the coldness of June in spite of July and August being warmer. August’s temperatures were around normal with only 3 frosts, but who will forget June’s 7 frosts this year?
August’s warmest day was the 31st with a maximum of 21 degrees and the coldest day was the 24th with only 11.1C. Of the three frosts, the -0.8C on the 7th was the coldest.
OTHER FEATURES
There were 5 very windy days in August, with the strongest gust of 78 kph at Mt Duneed on the 17th.
RAINFALL DATA
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