RAINFALL
For spring there was good news and bad news, according to Lindsay Smail, Director of Geelong Weather Services. The bad news was the below average November totals recorded right across most of the region, while this was tempered by the good news of very heavy falls over the whole of spring. After solid downpours in September and October, total spring rainfall across the region was around 120% of normal.
But during November only the Bacchus Marsh, Ballan and Lethbridge districts received their normal rains. Urban Geelong ranged from only 15 mm at Lara to 44 mm at St Albans Park.
FUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTINGS
Several funnel clouds were reported in the region. The first was seen on the 6th at Point Wilson at 11.20 am, and twin funnels lasting over ten minutes appeared over Deans Marsh on the 10th at 2.20 pm. There is good reason to believe the Deans Marsh phenomenon could have reached the ground, thus being classified as a tornado, but no damage was reported.
TEMPERATURES
This has been one of the warmest and most humid Novembers Geelong has ever experienced. This month’s overnight low temperatures averaged 12.8 degrees, or 2.6 degrees above normal. With the daily maximum of 21.2 degrees (the same as normal) the result was an overall much warmer than normal November. The hottest day was the 28th, when the maximum reached 37 degrees.
Relative humidities were also very high; at 4pm on most days RH exceeded 60%, some days reaching over 80%. Normally in November this figure is 54%.
THE OUTLOOK
With good spring runoff in both West Barwon and Moorabool catchments the normally dry summer ahead does not pose as great a problem as in the last couple of years with the storages around 74% full. But bushfire danger will however be high owing to the rapid and thick vegetation growth.
The Bureau of Meteorology has also predicted a hotter than normal summer for the Geelong Region, but rainfall over the period is not expected to be up to average.
RAINFALL DATA
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