SUMMARY
View of Mt Moriac from the Colac Road around sunset during August. Photo courtesy Doug Lindsay.
Geelong was warmer (by 1.1 degrees) and drier (by about 20 mm) than the 30-year averages. Despite the BoM forecasts of wetter conditions owing to the negative Indian Ocean Dipole and Antarctic cold fronts, the conditions resulted in a failure of forecasting in general terms. Hopefully September will improve.
TEMPERATURE
Geelong and most of the region was warmer than the latest 30-year average for August by around 1.1 degrees C. Geelong’s average low temperature was approximately 6.9 C and average high temperature was around 16.3 C. Geelong’s highest temperature was 21.9 C on the 31st and the lowest minimum was 2.8 C on the 19th. Lowest maximum was 12.2 C on the 26th and highest minimum was 11.0 C on the 31st.
On the 19th of August the maximum temperature was not communicated to BoM’s central computer but GWS successfully patched the figure of 17.6 C to that date.
RAINFALL
Most of the area around Geelong, including the Otway Ranges and Bellarine Peninsula, only received around 50-60% of normal rainfall. Urban Geelong received less than 30 mm compared to an expected 46 mm. The wettest day was at 9 am on the 1st with 8.2 mm recorded. A very poor rainfall month covered most of the region.
OTHER FEATURES
There were at least five windy days over 56 km/h but only one with extremely strong gusts over 60 km/h. The maximum gust was 63 km/h at Breakwater on the 15th. Avalon’s highest gust reached 70 km/h on that day. No storms occurred during the month.
At the end of the month Geelong’s water catchments showed a total of 92%, much higher than last year despite lower rainfall in Geelong. The West Barwon dam was 100% full including overflow until 23rd and this situation lasted for around a month from the last ten days of July.
WINTER SUMMARY
Warmest maximum: 21.9° on 31st August.
Coldest minimum: 0.3° on 29th June.
Wettest day: 15.2 mm on 25th June.
Windiest day: 76 km/h on 10th June.
Summary: Geelong was drier (by 20 mm) and just warmer (by 0.7° ) than an average winter. Long-term averages of 138 mm and 10.3° occur respectively.
RAINFALL DETAILS FOR AUGUST 2021
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||