Wild winds pack a punch
A SPRING of wild winds and hailstorms left Geelong residents in awe of the power of Mother Nature in 2021.
But extreme heat all but avoided the region, with rain prevailing and filling our dams to levels not seen in a decade.
“Blown over” was the headline splashed on the Addy’s front page on October 30, a day after winds exceeding 100km/h tore through southern Victoria, causing widespread havoc.
Giant trees were no match for the hours of fury, ripped out of the ground, roots and all, at coastal hot spots including Torquay, Barwon Heads, Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale.
Aireys Inlet recorded peak gusts of 109km/h at 6.30am during the height of the wind storm.
The State Emergency Service responded to more than 200 calls for assistance, mostly in Ocean Grove (27 calls), Barwon Heads (11) and Torquay (11) amid the destruction caused by the howling conditions.
A Parks Victoria office at Queenscliff Harbour suffered damage when a hot water system on the roof blew away in the early hours, leaving debris across the boardwalk.
Queenscliff Mayor
Ross Ebbels said he had not seen such wild weather in years.
The powerful weather system also left debris scattered across Jirrahlinga Koala and Wildlife
Sanctuary, which was forced to delay its reopening after months of Covid lockdowns due to the clean-up work required.
Geelong Council this week had yet to clear the piles of debris from outside the attraction.
Apollo Bay and Lorne suffered power outages, along with Geelong, and by late afternoon there were still 20,000 disconnected.
Some did not see their service return for more than 72 hours.
The power loss brought added stress to VCE exams, with St Ignatius College forced to bring in a generator to ensure students had proper light in which to sit their exams.
The wind storm was part of a very active weather week in which several thunderstorms rumbled through the region, dropping 1-2cm of hail.
Further storms rolled through in November and into summer.
While the region failed to dodge the wind and storms, it did not suffer extreme heat events, with not one day above 40C.
The city’s Breakwater weather station, which opened in 2011, is on the cusp of marking its longest stretch without a day above 40C – the last such day being in January 2020.
It is only the second time in the past decade the city will go through a calendar year without a 40C day and, with a top temp of 39.1C on New Year’s Eve 2021, had the second-lowest maximum of any year in the racecourse station’s short history. A dose of La Nina last summer – once again being the dominant driver of conditions this summer – is largely the reason for the lack of extreme heat.
It has also helped drive a wetter year, with almost 600mm falling, which saw dam levels surge up to
97.5 per cent in early November.
The biggest impact from rainfall came in early January when sodden ground resulted in a landslip on Deviation Rd, in Fyansford, which caused road access to be blocked for more than six months.
The outlook for the rest of summer has Geelong looking at slightly above the median rainfall, and temperatures about average.