Spring Rain Returns to Form in Inner East
SPRING RAIN RETURNS TO FORM IN INNER EAST
Melbourne’s inner eastern suburbs enjoyed a traditional wet spring, receiving up to 281 mm over the past three months.
Data from Melbourne Water’s 130 monitoring stations across the metropolitan area and beyond shows that inner eastern suburbs received close to 100% more rain in spring than during the same period in 2008.
Blackburn (281 mm) received the most rain in the inner east, followed by Burwood East (278 mm) and Ashwood (273 mm).
Across greater Melbourne, the highest rainfall was recorded in Mount Dandenong (456 mm), while the driest suburb was Hoppers Crossing (144 mm). The average total across all data stations was 213 mm, compared with just 160 mm in winter.
Manager of Water Supply, John Woodland, said spring marked a return to the wet weather traditionally seen across Melbourne at this time of year, but the November hot spell highlighted an increasingly uncertain climate.
“Last year’s winter rainfall was much higher than in spring, but we’ve seen the reverse this year,” said Mr Woodland.
“It was a similar scenario in our water supply catchments, which received above average spring rain for the first time in 12 years.
“As a result, storages posted a significant increase of 173 billion litres, the equivalent of more than five months’ supply for Melbourne.
“However, three months of rain does not make up for 13 years of drought, and water storages are now entering summer at the second-lowest levels on record for this time of year.”
The catchments received a total of 354 mm of rain - more than double the seasonal average. Storage levels jumped from 28.4% full on 1 September to start summer at 38.0%.
Mr Woodland said Melburnians had helped bank the water savings ahead of summer by using less water.
“Water consumption across all uses was 33 million litres per day less than spring last year,” he said.
“Without Melbourne households, business and industry continuing to use less water, our storages would be lower as we head into summer.
Stage 3a restrictions and Target 155 are currently in place. For water savings tips, visit target155.vic.gov.au [website no longer available, visit Office of Water for this information] or contact your local water retailer.
Rainfall figures: inner eastern suburbs
| Suburb | Rainfall (mm) |
|---|---|
| Burwood East | 278 |
| Kew | 224 |
| Ashwood | 273 |
| Burnley | 218 |
| Blackburn | 281 |
| Gardiner | 233 |
Media Contact: Nicolas McGay, Melbourne Water - (03) 9235 2278; 0438 981 836