Rain records to be soaked

Erin Pearson
GEELONG needs only another 22mm of rain to reach its highest January rainfall in more than three decades, according to a Geelong weather man.
Lindsay Smail told the Independent if storms predicted for late this week opened the heavens again, rainfall could surpass 2005’s 92mm month.
So far this month around 70mm has fallen on the region, he said.
“All remains to be seen but in the next day or two Geelong is expecting a thunderstorm that could take the rainfall levels over,” he said.
“A 70mm rainfall, that’s not going to break any records, but if we go over 92mm Geelong will experience the wettest January in 30 years.”
Geelong’s wettest January on record recorded 143mm in 1886 followed by 122mm in 1981.
Mr Smail said Geelong’s rainfall had been caused by the same weather system battering much of Queensland.
“February and March are expected to be part of this wet we have at the moment due to the La Nina system, which is the same process that’s causing the Queensland floods,” he said.
“This doesn’t mean we’ll get the same amount of rain as up north but it is the same type of process.”
Mr Smail said although La Nina weather patterns were “tricky” to predict, many parts of the world experienced two of them every 10 years.
“It’s possible for them to go back to back and one or two weather models are suggesting this La Nina could be followed by another one later this year,” he said.
“The law of averages is finally catching up with the drought.”
Mr Smail said despite the ongoing rainfall Geelong could expect a warmer February.
The city had recorded only four days above 30 degrees so far this summer, he said.
“Normally by now Geelong’s had seven or eight days above 30 degrees but certainly in February we’ll get some warm and dry weather. It is summer time and we can’t change that.”