General News
18 January, 2024
Region finishes year with low rainfall
RAINFALL below the long-term average fell over the region in 2023, in part due to an uncharacteristically dry winter.
The year for Mortlake concluded with 64mm of rain hitting the ground throughout December, bringing the annual rainfall total over the township to 566.2mm.
The figure marks a decline on the long-term average rainfall over Mortlake (587.4mm), which provided a welcome reprieve from the 2022 total of 756.4mm.
Six months of the year (January, July, August, September, October and November) saw below-average rainfall, with the highest monthly rainfall recorded in June (89mm) while the driest month was through January at just 12mm.
The highest daily rainfall for Mortlake in 2023 was recorded on Christmas Day, with 25.4mm hitting the ground across 24-hours.
Meanwhile in Terang, 59.6mm was recorded throughout December with a highest daily rainfall of 21mm on Christmas Day.
The monthly result brought the total rainfall for 2023 to 668.6mm, well below the long-term average of 778.6mm.
Monthly rainfall totals below the long-term average was recorded across half the year in March, April, July, August, September and October.
The 2023 result marked a heavy decline on the 906mm recorded the previous year.
The wettest month for 2023 in Terang was June with 91.4mm hitting the ground, while January was the driest with just 12.6mm of rain recorded.
The highest daily rainfall experienced over Terang was recorded on both February 3 and April 7, with 29mm hitting the ground on both (dates).
* All rainfall figures have been collected from the Bureau of Meteorology.
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