RAINFALL Another generally poor rainfall month makes it 5 out of the last 7 that Geelong has had below average rain. The urban area averaged only 30mm for the month, from 16mm at Lara to 46mm at Leopold. The Bellarine Peninsula received better falls this month owing to a couple of fronts which directed rain up from the southwest, thus…
Author: Lindsay Smail
April 2004
RAINFALL While much of the Otways Region and Moorabool River Systems received below average falls for April, Geelong itself from Mt Duneed to Avalon, and the Bellarine Peninsula registered up to 170% of normal falls. Urban Geelong’s April average is 39.2mm; this month an average of 50mm was recorded across town: from 59mm at Whittington to 39mm at Lara. Clifton…
March 2004
RAINFALL Once again below average rainfall has occurred for the fourth time in the last six months. The Geelong region received an average of 24mm, about two-thirds the average for March. The water catchments of the Otways received better, but still just below average, and the storages are now around 49% of capacity. TEMPERATURE A cooler month than normal occurred…
February 2004
RAINFALL “A disappointing rainfall month for all of the Geelong region”, was how Lindsay Smail, Director of Geelong Weather Services described February’s rainfall. Most areas around the city received only 25mm, and even the Otways only recorded around 40mm over most of the water catchment area. Summer rainfall has ended up around average because of heavy falls in January, despite…
January 2004
TEMPERATURE This has been the coldest January since 1958, when accurate figures were recorded at North Geelong. Even in earlier records I have not been able to find a lower figure than the 16.7 degrees measured then. From 1957 temperatures were recorded at North Geelong, right next to Corio Bay. You would expect those figures to be moderated slightly by…
Summary of 2003 Weather
(Temperature figures are from the Bureau of Meteorology station at Mount Duneed) Month Weather Conditions Temps (deg C) Rainfall (mm) Cumulative Rainfall Comments JAN 7 days over 30 deg, incl 4 > 35 deg. New record: 44.8 (Geelong’s hottest day) on 25th. Smoky atmosphere on several days. 1 Thunder day. Av max 25.4 Jan av max. is 25.2.…
December 2003
RAINFALL Most of the Geelong region received below average falls this month. 50-60% of the normal was a common result. The urban area averaged 25mm, but there were wide variations on the 21st, when thunderstorm falls ranged from 13mm at Belmont to 30mm at Lara and 40mm at Clifton Springs. TEMPERATURE & OTHER FEATURES Temperatures were 0.5 degrees C above…
Inverleigh Tornado, 21-12-03
Just south of Inverleigh, on “Murroon” property (approx 20 km west of Geelong) on Sunday 21st between 6.00pm and 6.20pm (see 6.10pm radar image below) there was severe wind damage to farm buildings during the thunderstorms which passed through NW-SE with a frontal system which crossed the whole state. There were reports of other wind damage in the Geelong district…
November 2003
RAINFALL November was a month of below average rainfall for the Geelong Region. More specifically, urban Geelong’s rainfall (25mm) was about half of the long-term average, the Otways catchment 40%, Golden Plains 40% and Bellarine Peninsula 50%. Only the Moorabool system received anything near average – eg, Ballan had 61mm; its average is 59mm. The completion of spring saw only…
October 2003
RAINFALL Rainfall was well above average across most of the region, ranging from 120mm at Torquay to 63mm at the You Yangs. Geelong’s rain fell on 22 days, and the often cloudy and overcast conditions were partly responsible for keeping temperatures down. A large proportion of the month’s rain fell on the first and the last days, when local gauges…
September 2003
RAINFALL AND WIND “September is usually windy, but this would have been one of Geelong’s windiest Septembers ever,” Lindsay Smail, Director of Geelong Weather Services said. There were 18 days on which wind gusts over 60kph struck in the Geelong region. The worst days were the 19th and the 24th. when wind gusts of well over 100kph caused severe storm…
August 2003
RAINFALL An excellent rainfall month was reported for August 2003 by Lindsay Smail, Director of Geelong Weather Services. Virtually the whole of the Geelong and Otway region received above-average rainfalls and the water catchments were at over 50% of capacity for the first time since February. TEMPERATURES August was also slightly colder than normal. Overall temperatures were down about 0.3…
July 2003
RAINFALL After a slow start, the month of July ended up as the best rainfall month in the Geelong region since October, 2001. An average of 80mm fell across the urban area, while the Bellarine Peninsula averaged over 100mm and the Otways catchment also received well above average falls. This was due to the fortuitous timing of a series of…