November rain ends soaked spring

By Lindsay Smail
AFTER a dry start to November and spring generally, the end came with a climactic boom.
In fact, November delivered Geelong with over 120mm of rain, well over double the average.
In a remarkable downpour, the 24 hours ending 9am last Sunday produced over 100mm fall in Geelong’s eastern suburbs and on the Bellarine Peninsula.
Breakwater recorded 27mm between 1pm and 2pm and 90mm in 24 hours.
Most the urban area escaped the bulk of the deluge but severe flash flooding event caused clean-up problems right across town.
It was a November record for Geelong’s highest 24-hour rainfall. The previous was 63mm in 1978.
The cause of last Saturday’s dump was an intense, deepening low-pressure system that developed in northern Victoria after retrogressing from the northeast. As it moved southeast the inner-eastern flank found the Geelong and Bellarine Peninsula area in the firing line.
Then the system caught up with the district again as it continued southeast, with the wrap-around effect and cloud band passing right over us.
These systems are to be expected from time to time, especially in spring and summer.
Spring around Geelong and the peninsula ended up with well-above average rain. In contradiction, the Bureau of Meteorology’s spring outlook predicted only a 40 per cent chance of normal rain.
The Otways fared less well but has still received 80 per cent of normal spring rain, with our storages now at 87 per cent capacity.
The region’s daily temperatures for November and spring were generally were about 1C over average.
November’s average daily maximum was 23.3C and minimums 12C.