VIC - Strong front/cold outbreak: March 29-April 2 2019

[Didjman]

0.6mm total here so far

[Macedonian]

Hi Gordon, just under 5mm since 9am saturday. That lot that went over around 10-11pm last night looked good on radar but didnt really produce.
Still, 5mm is better than nothing.

[Macedonian]

About 6mm overnight from the warm front Now waiting for the last cold front to move through (it’s sat near King Island ATM). Event total on an fantastic 51mm. Falls in this area have been remarkably consistent with 45-60mm for most spots within 10-15km from here. So needed it with things so stressed after the shocking Jan and Feb...

Still need 2mm to our monthly average. Hoping we can make it. The next burst of showers should drop at least that and probably more, but may or may not arrive before 9am

Btw looks like -3.3C is the coldest it got in the alps so not quite a record. Timing of the coldest air wasn’t ideal in the end. It was -1 to -2C at Hotham during the afternoon but then the milder air moved in for the night so stopped it dropping much. Just to confuse people looks like we will see widespread high 20s to 30s for part of Vic next Friday with mid 30s not out of the question in the northwest More dust up there, I fear...

Isnt it interesting how we all used to our average rainfall amounts.
If i had the start to the year that you have had i reckon i would have been pretty happy!
Your Feb and March totals prior to this weekends event were not that bad, even January had 20mm. No where near average of course but also a long way from nothing at all.

[Dane]

Finally some Rain to talk about here in Ballarat. Had a few showers yesterday afternoon one with small Hail.
Light showers/drizzle continued for most of the night and there is still some drizzle around at the moment.
Ended up with 9.6mm's up to 9am giving me 21.0mm's for the month.
BOM Ballarat Airport had 6.8mm's to 9am and finished with 15.6mm's for the month.
YTD is 32.0mm's making it the driest first 3 months on record - prev lowest 32.6mm's in 1965.
Had a max of 12.8c yesterday here in Sebastopol, Airport Max was 13.3.
Still need a lot more Rain around here though and the indicators arnt looking good.

[hillybilly]

About 6mm overnight from the warm front Now waiting for the last cold front to move through (it’s sat near King Island ATM). Event total on an fantastic 51mm. Falls in this area have been remarkably consistent with 45-60mm for most spots within 10-15km from here. So needed it with things so stressed after the shocking Jan and Feb...

Still need 2mm to our monthly average. Hoping we can make it. The next burst of showers should drop at least that and probably more, but may or may not arrive before 9am

Btw looks like -3.3C is the coldest it got in the alps so not quite a record. Timing of the coldest air wasn’t ideal in the end. It was -1 to -2C at Hotham during the afternoon but then the milder air moved in for the night so stopped it dropping much. Just to confuse people looks like we will see widespread high 20s to 30s for part of Vic next Friday with mid 30s not out of the question in the northwest More dust up there, I fear...

Isnt it interesting how we all used to our average rainfall amounts.
If i had the start to the year that you have had i reckon i would have been pretty happy!
Your Feb and March totals prior to this weekends event were not that bad, even January had 20mm. No where near average of course but also a long way from nothing at all.

Must look seriously dry up your way Before this lot the forest here looked horrible. We’ve again lost quite a few trees and the understory, particularly the tree ferns and blanket leaf has been badly affected with lots of die back. It’s not quite as bad as last year, but still far worse than usual. It’s all relative with the forest here changing from wet temperature rain forest to wet eucalyptus forest, and the wet eculyptus forest changing over to dry forest over the last twenty or so years. The dry forest is opening out into wood land with bare patches growing on the west face of the Dandenongs.

Still got fog and drizzle here. Had another 0.4mm since 9am.

[Macedonian]

Its not too bad high up on mt macedon but down the bottom things look wretched. I was in Woodend last thursday and the town centre looked awful. No one ever waters anything anymore.

[snowfall]

Yes, areas around here and other parts of the central highlands I have visited are looking rather dire. It has been a severe start to the year, way below average, with the combination of drought, high temperatures, and occasional hot winds, all of which sapped moisture away early in the year and hasn't recovered. We managed around 5mm yesterday, mostly in the evening. That takes us up to 22mm for March and 63mm YTD, all well below average, but it would appear lots of other areas are faring even worse. Really hoping something good comes along in April.

[hillybilly]

Funny that last night’s rain was yellow and green on radar and only fell lightly (was bightbanding) while today’s rain has been heavy at times and yet barely shows on the radar (classic hills drizzle). Added another 7mm. Shame it fell after 9am, so March ends below average by about 1mm. Our local areas did pretty well overall for March, with 80-110mm. Some parts just above average and some just below average. Totals drop away pretty quickly once you get more than about 5km off the mountain. We scored 97mm.

Hoping this little front delivers a bit as it hits the southern slopes of the Great Divide. Not nice hearing the stories of how dry it is

[mick]

Farewell Victoria, all good things must come to an end.

20 years of miserable weather, HELLO SOUTH AUSTRALIA I LOVE IT ALREADY

At least its meant to be dry here! I wil now be posting in the SA forum, time to rock and roll!

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[Australis(Shell3155)]

Our gauge is very ameture,but 55mm was sitting in it yesterday.. all fell from the sky..

Enjoy SA Mick..

[hillybilly]

Farewell Victoria, all good things must come to an end.

20 years of miserable weather, HELLO SOUTH AUSTRALIA I LOVE IT ALREADY

At least its meant to be dry here! I wil now be posting in the SA forum, time to rock and roll!

075 [1280x768].jpg

Where have you moved to Mick? Nice photo - looks like the mid-north or Flinders?

[Macedonian]

March rainfall at Bolobek, Macedon was 14mm and the YTD is just 43mm.

[Gordon]

We're on 49mm ytd which is comfortably our driest Jan-March since I started keeping records here in 1997.

Btw nice outlook Mick. Look forward to hearing more about your new home & getting the odd report.

[hillybilly]

We're on 49mm ytd which is comfortably our driest Jan-March since I started keeping records here in 1997.

Btw nice outlook Mick. Look forward to hearing more about your new home & getting the odd report.

Been looking at stats all available off the BoM website. For Vic the YTD is the 14th lowest with 62mm, and driest since 2009. The driest are below.

1965 – 28.01
1923 – 30.48
1986 – 43.22
2009 – 43.50
1944 – 47.73

But, it's been unevenly distributed. The coastal strip and east central has mostly seen 50+% of average, while east Gippsland has been above average. Elsewhere it's been a shocker.

[Macedonian]

Desolate brown fields at the foot of Mt Macedon this afternoon.

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[snowfall]

Desolate brown fields at the foot of Mt Macedon this afternoon.Screenshot_2019-04-01-17-17-25.png

So horrible to see. Especially in an area that normally gets good rainfall.

[Sean]

Desolate brown fields at the foot of Mt Macedon this afternoon.Screenshot_2019-04-01-17-17-25.png

Not looking too crash hot.. May we be blessed with good winter rains this year.

Just managed 20mm for March, better than Melbourne's 12.. Enough that the dandelions are standing upright.

[PapaD]

It definitely been dry in the Ranges. I've picked up 49mm this year near Hanging Rock.

[stevco123]

Down to 4.8 as a minimum here. Love it

[Macedonian]

Frost here, fourth one this year. Another indicator of how dry it is.