A warmer-than-average December has completed a year .7C hotter than normal in Geelong.
December finished around 1.1C above the monthly average temperature, with seven days over 30C.
Geelong’s highest temperate for the month reached 37.7C on the 25th – the city’s hottest Christmas Day since 1945.
December was also very dry compared to the monthly average and the rest of the year, which was surprisingly wet.
Only eight days of the month recorded rain, with metropolitan Geelong receiving an average 16mm compared to the latest 30-year average of 41.9mm.
December had four strong-wind days, with a maximum gust of 83km/h recorded at Breakwater’s official weather station on the 8th.
Only one thunder day was experienced for the month, on 29 December. However, massive flash floods in Melbourne the same day mostly missed Geelong, with only 10mm recorded over three associated days.
The warm December delivered an annual result .7C above average for Geelong, with a mean daily temperature of 15.3C compared to the 30-year figure of 14.6C.
Twenty-four days in 2016 were above 30C. The average annual figure is 21.
Only three frosts were recorded compared to the average 15.
However, 2016 was also wetter than average despite the slightly warmer temperatures overall.
September was the wettest month and eight of the 12 months recorded above-average rain.
The downpours helped lift the region’s storages from low points around the middle of the year to 79.6 per cent of capacity at the end of 2016.
