Constant rain but no super storm locally

Warnings of a super storm hitting the state over the weekend may not have impacted as originally predicted, but several events and sporting activities were either called off or washed out across West Gippsland.

Bureau of Meteorology warnings of up to 100mm of rain in West Gippsland from Friday to Sunday fell short but the region was spared of any dangerous flash flooding.

Constant, steady rain began about 8am on Friday morning and by 9am Saturday morning, 40.4mm was recorded at the BoM weather station at Nilma North.

Warragul recorded 63.6mm of rain from Friday morning to yesterday morning, with most areas reporting fairly constant and steady rain throughout the weekend.

The 115-year average rainfall for December is 79.3mm.

Last year December recorded above average rainfall with 90.8mm but the three years before that ranged between 46mm to 63mm.

With VicRoads and other authorities warning people not to embark on any “non-essential travel,” Friday’s rain was enough for many event organisers and sporting associations to cancel.

The Light-Up Drouin Festival planned for Friday night was the first event to be cancelled on Thursday.

Other cancellations followed on Friday with junior and senior cricket, junior tennis, little athletics and a stockhorse camp draft at Trafalgar all announcing wet weather cancellations. Senior tennis was washed out but bowlers across the district played-on.

Cyclists in the Great Victorian Bike Ride were supposed to ride from Glengarry to Trafalgar on Sunday where the ride was to end. But organisers cancelled on Friday night when cyclists were camped in Maffra.

Trafalgar community contact for the bike ride Rod Cheatley said there were about 300 cars parked at the recreation reserve ready for riders to return to Trafalgar.

He said the Trafalgar Lions Club had planned a barbecue but there were no other festivities or clubs left with food or supplies because of the cancellation.

He said only one vehicle had to be towed out of the reserve.

Following the risk of worsening weather and the recall of Victoria Police to Melbourne, Bicycle Network made the tough decision to stop riding late on Friday evening, announcing the ride would not continue from Maffra to Glengarry and onto Trafalgar.

Bicycle Network chief executive officer Craig Richards said the decision was not easy.

“We’re very disappointed that we can’t continue riding but the wellbeing of our riders, volunteers and wider team always comes first,” Mr Richards said.

Bicycle Network organised to transport the remaining riders back to Melbourne and Trafalgar over the weekend, while keeping the Maffra campsite open.

Warragul experienced a drier and hotter than average November.

Just 37.2mm of rain fell across 11 days, well down on the average of 89.8mm and the 55.4mm recorded last year.

It was the driest November on record in 15 years, recording slightly higher than the 27.8mm experienced in 2002.

The highest rainfall recorded for the month occurred on the weekend of November 25 and 26, with 14.6mm recorded to eclipse the 2002 mark.

A mild start to the month soon turned hot as temperatures climbed throughout the month. Temperatures increased from mid to high 20s through to early 30s.

The hottest day of the month was recorded on Thursday, with the temperature reaching 34.8 Celsius. The average for the month was 25 degrees Celsius.

The hot and dry November comes as Warragul is expected to experience a warmer than average summer, according to the BoM outlook for 2017-18 released last week.

However, December rainfall is likely to be above average.