Warrnambool has received a month’s worth of rain in just three days but, despite 72mm falling across the weekend, the rest of winter is expected to be drier than average.
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The three-day downpour was more than double the amount Warrnambool experienced for the whole of June last year when just 28.6mm was recorded. The June rainfall has already exceeded the long-term monthly average of 76.5mm with 85.4mm falling so far this month and more showers expected later in the week.
Friday was the wettest day with 28.8mm recorded in the 24 hours until 9am Saturday, 16.6mm until 9am Friday and 26.6mm until 9am Sunday.
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Meteorology said downpours like Warrnambool experienced over a 72-hour period was not something that you see that often.
The spokesperson said Warrnambool could expect isolated showers until Tuesday when clear weather is expected to bring morning fog and frost. But the reprieve from the rain was only temporary, with showers expected to return late Wednesday and continue for the rest of the week. However, falls of just a few millimetres were forecast. For the rest of winter, the bureau spokesperson said Warrnambool was expected to be drier than average and slightly warmer than usual.
Port Fairy’s June rainfall so far was four times the amount of last year’s total with 88.4mm compared to 22.2mm in 2017.
Most of that rain fell during the south-west’s three-day drenching with 72mm in the 72 hours to 9am Sunday -almost of half of that falling in one day alone. Mortlake received 40.6mm in three days to bring June’s total rainfall to 53.2mm – more than four times as much as last June when just 12mm fell for the whole month. Hamilton received 33mm over three days, far more than the 17.8mm it had last June.
Portland experienced its heaviest downpour on Thursday when 25.4mm fell, helping to bring the month’s total to 96mm - almost double last June’s 49.6mm.