RAINFALL
Another month of below average rain has created a dry spell which, if it had occurred in winter, would have been classed as a serious regional drought.The latest signs are that this has come to an end owing to the effects of a large northwest cloud band which brought heavy rain to most of Victoria onthe last day of May and which was consequentially recorded in June’s rainfall – the 20 mm for Geelong being about half of our expectedJune rainfall.In the meantime only the Otway Ranges exceeded the May average, with Lavers Hill (240 mm) leading the way. The catchments are holding out onabout 67% of capacity.Autumn overall was much drier than normal, with Geelong receiving only around 50% of average rainfall (65 mm in total), almost reminiscient of theautumn of 2005, which yielded only 31 mm in three months. However that year was followed by a good winter and spring, and the current outlooksuggests the probability of a similar scenario this year.
TEMPERATURE
It was Geelong’s 2nd warmest autumn since records began in 1903. That figure does not take into account the several changes in our temperature recordingsites in the 110 years, from urban to rural then back to urban again. That complication means that meaningful trends cannot be easily detected, unless we manipulate, alter and homogenise raw figures, which is quite unscientific. An approximation is the only solution.Despite the foregoing, Geelong’s average autumn temperature of 14.9 C was surpassed this year by 16.5 C, partly due to the lack of rain. The month of May recorded 7 days over 20 C but this was not a record. Top temperature of 25.6 C was reached on the 11th and the minimum was 3.3 C on the 29th.
OTHER FEATURES
There was only one strong wind day with a gust of 63 kph on the 15th. Two thunder-lightning days were observed, on the 20th and in the northernsuburbs on the 31st. Apart from that the only other time of excitement was an earth tremor measuring 3.1 in Leopold on the 2nd. This fortunately onlyshook a few windows and created no damage.
RAINFALL DATA
| GEELONG REGION | ||
| Location | Total for Month (mm) |
Monthly Average (mm) |
| Aireys Inlet | 36.6 | (55.6) |
| Anakie | 29.2 | (52.0) |
| Anglesea | na | (63.0) |
| Apollo Bay | 136.0 | (98.3) |
| Ballan | 35.0 | (47.5) |
| Ballarat | 41.4 | (68.1) |
| Bannockburn | 28.2 | (46.0) |
| Barwon Heads | na | (64.0) |
| Bellbrae | 42.8 | (65.1) |
| Bells Beach | na | (65.1) |
| Beeac | 24.3 | (57.2) |
| Beech Forest | 190.0 | (181.3) |
| Birregurra | na | (64.5) |
| Cape Otway | 142.6 | (91.7) |
| Colac | 51.2 | (71.9) |
| Clifton Springs | na | (n.a.) |
| Curlewis | 37.5 | (n.a.) |
| Drysdale | 46.0 | (48.0) |
| Durdidwarrah | 41.2 | (59.0) |
| Forrest (West Barwon Dam) | 113.8 | (89.5) |
| Gellibrand | na | (93.7) |
| Inverleigh | 20.0 | (56.6) |
| Johanna Heights | 216.0 | (170.0) |
| Lal Lal | na | (64.2) |
| Lavers Hill | 240.0 | (180.0) |
| Melba Gully | na | (n.a.) |
| Meredith (Darra) | 27.4 | (60.2) |
| Moriac | 40.8 | (55.0) |
| Morrisons | na | () |
| Mt Cowley | 40.0 | () |
| Mt Mercer | 30.4 | () |
| Mt Sabine | 62.2 | () |
| Pollocksford | 40.8 | () |
| Point Lonsdale | 50.0 | (57.0) |
| Portarlington | na | (58.4) |
| Queenscliff | na | (58.1) |
| Scotsburn | 20.6 | () |
| Sheoaks | 30.4 | () |
| Shelford | na | (47.0) |
| Skipton | na | (44.0) |
| St Leonards | 50.5 | (58.0) |
| Teesdale | na | (45.2) |
| Torquay | na | (58.0) |
| Wyelangta | 237.6 | (196.3) |
| Winchelsea | 21.8 | (48.0) |
| You Yangs | 26.0 | (44.0) |
| GEELONG SUBURBS | ||
| Location | Total for Month (mm) |
Monthly Average (mm) |
| Avalon | 25.0 | (48.5) |
| Bell Park | 34.6 | (50.7) |
| Belmont | 31.0 | (47.1) |
| Breakwater | 31.0 | (46.5) |
| Connewarre | 35.2 | (43.9) |
| Corio | 28.3 | (43.0) |
| East Geelong | 31.8 | (37.4) |
| Grovedale | 37.5 | (49.8) |
| Grovedale South | 45.5 | (49.8) |
| Hamlyn Heights | 27.9 | (53.5) |
| Herne Hill | na | (53.5) |
| Highton | 36.5 | (49.8) |
| Lara | 27.0 | (39.4) |
| Lara (Serendip) | na | (39.4) |
| Leopold | 42.0 | (44.4) |
| Leopold East | na | (44.4) |
| Manifold Heights | 32.7 | (44.4) |
| Moolap | 27.6 | (46.0) |
| Mt Duneed West | 45.2 | (49.0) |
| Waurn Ponds | 43.3 | (49.0) |
| Whittington | na | (49.8) |
| Average across Urban Area | 35.0 | (45.0) |
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