Under the Weather, by Lindsay Smail
August finished with slightly above-average temperatures in Geelong.
Compared with the latest 30-year means, Geelong was .7 C above the month’s mean minimum of 6C and .6C above the mean maximum of 14.9C.
The warmest day, 18 August, recorded 22.6C. The coldest was on 16 August with a maximum of 12.1C.
Overnight minimum temperatures ranged from 2.7C on 5 August to 13.4C on the 19th.
The figures for August lifted Geelong to a winter that was warmer than the latest 30-year average for the season.
Only June had a slightly cooler maximum temperature than normal, with winter as a whole approximately .5C above average.
The region also experienced another average to above-average month of rain in August.
Urban Geelong recorded around 45mm compared to the latest 30-year average of 45.4mm after 20 rain days in August.
The western Otway Ranges were slightly below average but the area closer to Geelong was comparatively wetter.
For winter, Geelong was much wetter than the 30-year average total of 137mm, with 179mm recorded across the urban area.
The result was due to an average June and August but a significantly wet July.
Due to the welcome rains, the Barwon Water catchments reached 59.3 per cent of capacity this week after beginning winter at 32.2 per cent.
In volume terms, the increase was more than 26 billion litres – enough water alone to last the region for a year.
August lacked any severe storms but had two thunder days, on the first and 22nd.
* Lindsay Smail operates Geelong Weather Services
