The Yarra Valley has recorded one of the wettest years on record.
By Mara Pattison-Sowden
STORMS, flash flooding and run-of-the-mill rain has made 2011 one of the wettest years in the Yarra Valley, as well as the rest of Australia.
In Hoddles Creek Doug Armstrong recorded the highest yearly rainfall since 1996, with 294mm more rain than 2010.
From January to December 2011 the rainfall averaged 1688mm compared with 1394mm from the 12 months previous.
But December was dryer this year with 127mm recorded, compared to 178mm recorded in December 2010.
Keith Thomas in Warburton said the yearly average of 1646.5mm was “well in excess” of the annual average of 1341.7mm.
Only seven times has this amount been exceeded, the most recent being 1974 when 1691.3mm was recorded.
Unlike Hoddles Creek, excessive rain in Warburton during December saw a record 218.5mm, twice the average of 109.7mm. Only five times since records were first kept in 1878 has this amount been exceeded, the most recent being 1985, when 271m were recorded.
In Healesville, Alma Mitchell recorded a total rainfall of 1434.4mm for 2011, compared with 1245.9mm in 2010.
For December 2011, 138.3mm of rain was recorded over 12 days of the month, compared with 132.2mm in 2010 over 19 days.
The Weather Channel senior meteorologist Tom Saunders said the higher than average rainfall was due to back-to-back La Niña events.
“The national soaking was mainly due to one of the strongest La Niña’s on record which dominated weather patterns across the country early in the year,” he said.
“A second La Niña developed in spring and although weaker, this was associated with above average rain across much of the country during the last few months.”
Mean rainfall across the country was 699mm, 234mm above the long-term average, and Australia’s third-wettest year since national records began in 1900.
