A DRY, cool August has capped off a dry, cool winter across the south-west.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Typically the wettest month of the year in Warrnambool, rainfall at the airport was down by more than a third on the 17-year average of 97.1mm, with only 60.4mm recorded.
Temperatures were also down, with the average maximum of 13.1 degrees well below the usual 14.5 degrees. It’s even lower than the average maximum for July – 13.3 degrees – which is usually Warrnambool’s coldest month.
Warrnambool had only one day of rain in double figures – 13mm on August 5 – and one day where the temperature dropped below 0 degrees.
It was a similar story in Port Fairy, where the month’s rainfall of 56.4mm was almost half the monthly average of 90.9mm, and the average maximum temperature was 13.9 degrees, down on the usual average of 15.1 degrees.
The mercury in Port Fairy even topped 20 degrees once in the month, reaching 20.1 on August 20.
Other regional centres also recorded dry Augusts.
Mortlake’s rainfall was 40.6mm compared to a monthly average of 67.6mm, Hamilton had 36.2mm against an average of 78.8mm, and Portland airport recorded 68.0mm, down on its usual average of 107.9mm.
August’s below average rainfall capped off a dry winter for the south-west.
Temperatures were also below par for the month in the rest of the region.
Mortlake’s average maximum was 13 degrees (compared to an August average of 13.9 degrees), Hamilton had 12.4 degrees (August average 13.3 degrees), and Portland airport 13.1 degrees (August average 14 degrees).
Jonathan Pollock, a climatologist with the Bureau of Meteorology, said rainfall was expected to return to normal levels for September and October in south-west Victoria, however the cool day time temperatures are predicted to continue well into spring.
“The two big factors driving that at the moment are the El Nino in the Pacific and the warm conditions in the Indian Ocean,” Mr Pollock said.