RAINFALL
As usual rainfall varied greatly across the region in November, but spring totals have been generally below average, according to Lindsay Smail of Geelong Weather Services. In the Otways water catchment areas, November falls were in some cases well above average (over 120%), the Bellarine Peninsula was also wetter than normal (100-120%), but totals closer to and northwest of urban Geelong continued to lag behind. Teesdale, for example, only received 25 mm for the month (63%) and Inverleigh 20 mm. (40%). The average across the Geelong urban area was around 32 mm, ranging from 23mm at Lara to 58 mm at Leopold South. At Mt Duneed the Bureau of Meteorology registered 32.4 mm.
TEMPERATURES
Geelong was also cooler than normal for November, with only the final three days of the month lifting the averaqe maximum to 20.4 degrees, compared to the normal 21.2. Overnight minimums averaged only 8.5, compared to the normal 10.2. Only eleven cloudy days were observed, compared to the normal 16.
THE OUTLOOK
Water restrictions look set to continue, and should be tightened, according to Mr Smail. Even with the possibility of improved summer rainfall, runoff will not be as great as in winter, and the tourist influx to the region will place an extra strain on supplies which have been augmented by underground drilling of groundwater for the past 18 months.
RAINFALL DATA
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