RAINFALL “Disastrous” is the best word to describe Geelong’s six-monthly rainfall from January to June this year. With just 116mm recorded in the urban area Geelong has had less than 50% of its 6-monthly average of 240mm. This is the worst start to a rainfall year since 1967, when only 98mm was received, and our second lowest January to June…
Author: Lindsay Smail
May 2008
RAINFALL In what has now become something more serious than a joke, Geelong’s monthly rain once again – for the fifth month on end – has fallen below average. Across the urban area the totals were around 34 mm on 12 rain days, well short of the average 45 mm. West Barwon Dam received 64 mm, just over half the…
April 2008
RAINFALL Geelong suffered a terribly disappointing rainfall result in April, with a total of only between 4 and 12 mm falling across the urban area. It was the driest April since 1997 when 4 mm fell. The lowest was zero in 1923 and the current monthly average is 40 mm. The strange thing to notice however, is that rain was…
March 2008
RAINFALL Geelong urban area recorded around a disappointing 20mm for March compared to the average 30mm. Rain fell on an average 10 days – mainly in the final week – and the largest fall was 10.4mm by 9am on the 27th at Mt Duneed. The Otways catchments fared better with totals around the March average; Mt Sabine recording 80mm and…
February 2008
RAINFALL Most of the Geelong district, except for the northwest from Ballarat to Melbourne CBD which was particularly dry, experienced around 80% of average rainfall for February. Normally one of our driest months (average 32 mm), this one was no exception with urban Geelong recording just 29 mm. An exception was the district of Dereel, which, thanks to heavy thunderstorms,…
January 2008
RAINFALL For most of the immediate Geelong region in the last month rainfall has been in the bottom 10% of all January rainfalls over the last 160 years. Geelong’s driest January was in 1878 when no rain fell. This January Geelong received around 8mm, and the January average is around 40mm. Further afield, to the south and west, the situation…
Summary of 2007 Weather
(Most figures are from the Bureau of Meteorology station at Mount Duneed – called “Geelong AP AWS”, and averages from 1983-2007) Month Weather Conditions Temps (deg C) Rainfall (mm) Cumulative Rainfall Comments JAN Temps 1.75 deg warmer than av. Highest 41.6 on 16th, 6 days >30 deg, incl 5 >35 deg. 6 days of smoke haze from bushfires. 5…
December 2007
RAINFALL Heavy rains in the second half of the month brought up the monthly totals to well above average for most of the Geelong-Bellarine-Otways region. Rainfalls ranged from around 45 mm through Geelong (average 39) to over 160 mm at Weeaproinah (average 113) and 80mm at the West Barwon Dam (average 73), maintaining catchment levels at around 37%. TEMPERATURE &…
November 2007
RAINFALL The whole region – from the Bellarine Peninsula to the Otways received around double the normal November rainfall. West Barwon Dam recorded 190mm, more than double the normal, and Geelong’s urban area received from 115mm at Bell Post Hill to 80mm in Geelong CBD.Clearly the El Nino drought is being overtaken in this region by the current La Nina-inspired…
October 2007
RAINFALL October was Geelong’s third driest month of the year to date, adding just 23 mm to the annual total. In what ought to be our wettest month, most areas within the district only registered around 40-50 % of normal rainfall. Geelong’s rain for the year now totals just 347 mm, which is only around 77% of the ten-month average.…
September 2007
RAINFALL Poor rainfall totals across most of the Geelong region came as no surprise. Geelong only received 27.4mm which is 54% of the average for September. West Barwon Dam’s figure was much better, with 99mm which is around 85% of average. Geelong’s total rain for the year to date is only 350mm, which is about 43mm below normal for this…
August 2007
RAINFALL August’s rainfall across the region was generally well below the monthly average. The urban area received only around 27 mm compared to the long-term average 50 mm. The fairly regular falls of the first half of the month were replaced in the second fortnight by rain on only two days. The Otway catchments suffered as a result and the…
July 2007
RAINFALL A very welcome return to heavy rainfalls was experienced especially in the first half of July. The region’s monthly average of 50mm was doubled with figures of 96mm at Mt Duneed, 94mm at Belmont, 127mm at Clifton Springs and 154mm at Ocean Grove. It was Geelong’s wettest July since 1974 when 109mm was recorded. Most models are now predicting…