Above average annual rainfall
Warragul had a wetter than average year as it surpassed the 1000mm mark for only the fourth time in 20 years.
The annual figure was boosted by heavy rainfall in February, April and August.
While rainfall levels varied across West Gippsland, rain recorded at the Bureau of Meteorology station at Nilma North totalled 1036.4mm across the 12 months.
This total just eclipsed the 115-average of 1005.1mm and was a small jump on 2019’s 972.4mm.
The previous highest annual figure of
1190.8mm came in 2012.
In 2020, the highest daily rainfall was 40.6mm recorded on February 19. The wettest month was April with 158.2mm – double the long-term average – whilst surprisingly June was the driest with just 32.8mm recorded.
Despite a wet start to the year, December proved drier than average to conclude 2020.
December saw 51.2mm, with no rain recorded on 20 days. The highest daily total of 15.8mm was recorded on December 8 and was one of only two days surpassing 10mm. The other was 11.2mm on December 22.
Although sitting well below the 79.2mm long-term average, December produced more rain than in 2019 when just 31.4mm was recorded for the month.
After 2020 opened with bushfires ravaging East Gippsland, Warragul had its wettest start to a year in recent times with 422.6mm recorded from January to April.
Significant rainfall of 114.8mm – just below average - followed in May.
Winter started with below average rain, June recording 32.8mm and July 49.6mm. However, August provided a pre-spring boost with 138.2mm.
In one of the driest Septembers in recent years, the 58mm total was less than half of last year’s 129.8mm and well below the long-term average of 101.4mm.
The rain returned with above average falls of 118.8mm in October, before both November and December were well below with 50.4mm and 51.2mm respectively.
Gippsland Water reported above average rainfall had put local water supplies in a strong position for summer.
In fact, its largest storage of Moondarra Reservoir, south of Erica, was sitting at 100 per cent capacity last week.
“It’s extremely unlikely we’d need water restrictions this summer, even in our smaller communities which don’t have large water storage capacity,” Gippsland Water managing director Sarah Cumming said.
“Although the immediate outlook is good, we are continuing to focus on addressing the threats to long-term water security in the region.
“We are putting in the work now to make sure we’re well prepared to support future population growth – and rise to the challenges of climate change.”
*Annual rainfall chart – liftout in today’s Gazette