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4 March 2010

SUMMER RAIN A REFRESHING CHANGE FOR MELBOURNE’S SUBURBS

Suburbs across greater Melbourne enjoyed a much wetter summer than last year, receiving up to 259 mm over the past three months.

Data from Melbourne Water’s 130 monitoring stations across the metropolitan area and beyond shows that all suburbs had close to, or above, the long-term average summer rainfall.

The highest rainfall was recorded in Kinglake (260 mm), while the driest suburb was Altona (59 mm).

General Manager of Asset Planning, Paul Pretto, said the relatively wet summer was a stark contrast to the oppressive heat and dry conditions over the same period last year.

“The weather was kind to gardens and water tanks across Melbourne, which is an unexpected bonus as we head into the cooler seasons,” said Dr Pretto.

“Summer was also more forgiving on the catchments that harvest most of Melbourne’s water, receiving an average of 231mm - the most rainfall in five years.

“This limited the plummet in storages we’ve become accustomed to seeing in recent years, but hot spells in between the downpours meant the ground dried out quickly, limiting the amount of water that made it into our reservoirs.”

Storages dropped by 3.1% over summer, to end the season at 34.9% (631.6 billion litres) full, entering autumn with 83 billion litres more than at the same time last year.

Rainfall figures

Inner eastern suburbs
Suburb Rainfall (mm) Long-term average (mm) Last summer (mm)
Burwood East 158 160 94
Kew 152 141 88
Ashwood 139 150 86
Burnley 136 122 85
Gardiner 119 132 82
Inner northern suburbs
Suburb Rainfall (mm) Long-term average (mm) Last summer (mm)
Preston 109 146 85
Coburg 128 141 91
Fairfield 147 132 96
Inner western suburbs
Suburb Rainfall (mm) Long-term average (mm) Last summer (mm)
Altona 59 101 92
Brooklyn 87 117 78
Footscray 110 107 85
Sunshine 118 106 84
Maribyrnong 131 113 89
Spotswood 105 113 95
Deer Park 132 121 105
Keilor 94 102 87
North-eastern suburbs
Suburb Rainfall (mm) Long-term average (mm) Last summer (mm)
Doncaster 165 147 94
Heidelberg 145 136 89
Lower Plenty 134 126 91
Mernda 117 114 64
Kinglake 260 214 N/A
Greensborough 128 112 N/A
Ivanhoe 145 154 N/A
Outer eastern suburbs
Suburb Rainfall (mm) Long-term average (mm) Last summer (mm)
Beenak 180 190 122
Knox 139 160 88
Lilydale 161 162 83
Maroondah Reservoir 204 197 101
Mount Evelyn 168 176 102
Mount Dandenong 170 209 128
Mooroolbark 168 154 86
Montrose 134 167 96
Monbulk 143 174 116
The Basin 165 187 102
Ringwood 152 151 95
Heathmont 144 145 99
Outer northern suburbs
Suburb Rainfall (mm) Long-term average (mm) Last summer (mm)
Bundoora 117 128 82
Craigieburn 148 115 73
Darraweit Guim 183 112 79
Konagaderra 162 100 91
Epping 127 113 74
Fawkner 126 137 87
Jacana 107 98 81
Somerton 99 125 93
Outer western suburbs
Suburb Rainfall (mm) Long-term average (mm) Last summer (mm)
Hoppers Crossing 85 105 120
Rockbank 137 110 105
Diggers Rest 125 118 122
Bulla 105 104 107
Sunbury 167 106 123
Little River 72 89 80
South-eastern suburbs
Suburb Rainfall (mm) Long-term average (mm) Last summer (mm)
Berwick 122 159 98
Caulfield North 113 147 90
Clayton 123 160 79
Cranbourne 112 151 131
Elsternwick 105 118 69
Frankston North 87 115 124
Hampton Park 99 130 85
Lang Lang 131 153 113
Lyndhurst 81 131 80
Mentone 117 142 74
Mordialloc 71 102 90
Oakleigh South 106 147 79
Officer 142 164 95
Rowville 127 148 81
Sandringham 101 137 86
Springvale West 151 155 79

Media Contact: Nicolas McGay, Melbourne Water - (03) 9235 2278; 0438 981 836