April 1998

RAINFALL

April was a very satisfying rainfall month for the Geelong region, according to LindsaySmail of Geelong Weather Services yesterday. Not only did the totals exceed averages inmost places, but rains fell in good time for autumn growth to occur, and resulted in aresumption of water supply runoff in the Otways without excessive erosion, he said.The Geelong urban area received totals of between 72 mm at Leopold South and40 mm at Lara, compared to Geelong’s April average which is normally 38 mm. Rainfell on up to 13 days in Geelong and eased many fears of a continuation of the drought.Light drizzle fell on several occasions but was not sufficient to register in rain gauges.In the region, the falls were more varied, as expected, from 85 mm at Queenscliffdown to 37 mm at Inverleigh.Full details are listed below.THE RAINFALL OUTLOOKThere is a 65% probability that the Geelong region will receive above average rainfallsin the next three months. Although the El Nino signs are still strongly negative,the Indian Ocean surface temperatures are warmer, and at this time of the year it usuallymeans that there will be good autumn-winter rains in this region.

TEMPERATURE

April was significantly cooler than average. The average maximum was 18.4 degrees,compared to the average 20.3. The average minimum was 8.7 degrees, compared to 10.4.Geelong had one day where the maximum temperature passed 30 degrees. This was 31degrees on the 7^th, but on every other day the temperature did not exceed23. The major reason for the cooler conditions was the thick cloud cover experiencedon quite a few days.

FOGS

Several fogs were experienced in the early morning periods. The heaviest was probablythat on the 7^th, when thick fog blanketed the city and southern suburbs untilabout 8 am. Dew was so heavy it registered as 0.2 mm of rainfall on that day.

RAINFALL DATA