October 2001

RAINFALL

Rainfall was well above average across most of the region – the urban area received between 55 and 80 mm and the Otways water catchment registered in excess of 140 mm. The best 24-hour falls in the urban area resulted in over 20 mm on the 23rd and rain fell in Geelong on 24 days, well above the average 15. Water supplies are now at 90% of capacity.

TEMPERATURES

It was cooler than average, but despite one night – the 20th-21st – dropping to 1.9 degrees at Mt Duneed Airport, several nights stayed above double figures, the warmest being 16.2 degrees on the 22nd-23rd. Daytime temperatures were almost a degree below the average of 19.0 degrees, and 27.8 degrees on the 22nd was the warmest recorded.

OTHER FEATURES

During the month there were three thunder days; all occurred in the first week, but only around 15-20 mm of rain resulted from the storms. Several other storms also occurred across the district. Hail fell briefly on three occasions in some suburbs on the 18th, 19th and 28th.There were strong winds over 60 kph on at least five days and on the 6th strong wind gusts of over 90 kph were recorded at Leopold.

Leopold was also in the national news several days earlier when a fully-fledged tornado touched down several times in an agricultural area north of the suburb just after 6 pm on the 3rd. Photographs made available by Clyve Herbert on Geelong Weather Services’ website show the well-formed twister developing out of a large cumulonimbus supercell.

RAINFALL DATA