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 number of cold fronts and troughs being directed over Victoria, our rainfall has been down because most of them have approached from the northwest, he said. This factor brings more rain to the northwestern slopes of the Great Dividing Range, but less to the Geelong-Otways region.
The Otways water catchment is still at a critical phase: unless very heavy rainfall is received creating above average runoff over the next four months, Geelong can look forward to continued water restrictions until well into 2001.
TEMPERATURES
Average June temperatures were fractionally warmer than normal. The Bureau of Meteorology station at Mt Duneed recorded an average daily maximum of 14.5 degrees and minimum of 6.3, compared to the “normals” of 14.3 and 5.9 respectively. The lowest overnight temperature was minus 0.4 degrees on the 14th, and a maximum of 17.1 was reached on the 25th. No records were broken.
OTHER FEATURES
A cold outbreak on the afternoon of the 28th brought a short-lived but very intense hail shower and thunder to a small area between Avalon and Little River, covering the Melbourne Road about 5.30 pm and causing havoc to the traffic flow.
RAINFALL DATA
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