RAINFALL The past month has been the wettest October in Geelong since 1975, according to Lindsay Smail, Geelong Weather Services director. With some suburbs receiving over 160 mm, the record October total of 177 mm set in 1949 was seriously threatened for a while. The urban area received an average of 142 mm bringing the total for the last seven…
Category: Articles
September 2000
RAINFALL AND WIND “A very pleasing start to spring,” was how Lindsay Smail of Geelong Weather Services described September rainfalls right across the region. Most parts of the Geelong-Otways region recorded rainfall in excess of 120% of normal September totals. “This sets our earlier prediction of above average spring falls on a very firm footing,” he said. Rain fell on…
August 2000
RAINFALL For the fourth year in a row the Geelong region’s winter rainfall has been below average, according to Lindsay Smail of Geelong Weather Services. West and south of Geelong the drought-afflicted Otways and Golden Plains suffered once again, receiving only between 50% and 70% of a normal winter’s rainfall. The Surf Coast and Bellarine Peninsula, from Anglesea to St…
Geelong the Windy City
Everyone knows Geelong is a windy place. Close to the coast and without sheltering hills, often the prevailing northwesterlies and southwesterlies are created by isobaric pressure gradients associated with low pressure systems south of Tasmania. While the inner urban areas are usually better-sheltered, some suburbs are more at risk than others. The outer western fringes of suburbs such as Bell…
July 2000
RAINFALL Good rains in the Anglesea to Modewarre districts and the Bellarine Peninsula were recorded in July, according to Lindsay Smail, manager of Geelong Weather Services. Bellbrae, with 108.5 mm surpassed even Forrest at the West Barwon Dam which received a disappointing below average 104.8 mm. In general, urban Geelong was above average (around 56 mm) but Golden Plains areas…
Why is Geelong So Dry?
CLICK TO ENLARGE Even in the best of years Geelong is a dry place. So at times when the whole of southern Victoria is suffering from a rainfall deficiency, Geelong never escapes the general trend. If anything, we suffer more. Our main prevailing winds come from the northwest and the southwest. This means they have to cross some of…
June 2000
RAINFALL “A disappointing month for rainfall” is how Lindsay Smail, manager of Geelong Weather Services, described June’s falls. Much of the region only received around 70-90% of the normal June totals. The Bellarine Peninsula fared best, with St Leonards well above average, but a large area from Colac through Inverleigh, Teesdale and Lethbridge were well down. In spite of a…
Tornado Funnels over Geelong
Last Thursday (19-10-00) was a day of unusual weather. A small low pressure system was moving slowly southeastwards across Port Phillip Bay and directing a south and southwest airflow across Geelong. The extreme instability of the atmosphere saw several rotating funnel clouds develop and descend over Batesford and our western suburbs. Funnel clouds can easily develop into tornadoes if they…
Winter Solstice
The winter solstice is upon us. On the 20th-21st June the shortest day occurs in the southern hemisphere. At noon at Geelong the sun reaches only 28.5 degrees above the horizon and daylight only lasts 9.5 hours. The average daily maximum temperature is 14.3 degrees C. After this date the days lengthen, but temperatures continue to drop until around the…
May 2000
RAINFALL The heavy rains across the region since last weekend have brought May’s rainfall totals generally well above average, said Lindsay Smail, manager of Geelong Weather Services. From a mammoth 269 mm at Weeaproinah down to a more modest 46 mm at Avalon, all districts were above average, he said. Snow fell at several places near Lavers Hill on the…
April 2000
RAINFALL April was above average for rain in the Geelong urban area. Totals across the city were remarkably even, mostly within a few millimetres of 45. The Geelong average for April is 42 mm. On the Bellarine Peninsula, Queenscliff received 50.8 mm and Drysdale 52.5, but Connewarre only registered 29.7. Forrest, site of the West Barwon Dam, recorded 81.8 mm,…
March 2000
RAINFALL The Bureau of Meteorology’s station at Mt Duneed has just recorded Geelong’s lowest March rainfall since 1889. Speaking yesterday, Lindsay Smail of Geelong Weather Services said Mt Duneed’s total of 1.6 mm was Geelong’s lowest March rainfall in 111 years, when 0.3 mm was registered. Most of the urban area received around 6 mm. In more recent times low…
February 2000
RAINFALL It was a very disappointing month for rainfall region-wide, and only the heavy downpours associated with thunderstorms on the 25th prevented most areas being much below average. Areas such as Wallington (11 mm), Connewarre (11.5 mm), Belmont (12.5 mm), Highton (13 mm), Winchelsea (14 mm), Inverleigh(14 mm) and Barwon Heads (14.5 mm) contrasted with Werribee (60 mm), Portarlington(52 mm), Corio…