Tuesday, 9 January 2018 - Annual Climate Summary for Victoria - Product code IDCKGC56R0

Victoria in 2017: warmer and slightly drier than average

Victorian rainfall in 2017 was slightly below average overall. Most months were drier than average, but April and December were wetter than average. 2017 was Victoria's sixth-warmest year on record, with both mean maximum and minimum temperatures above average in all districts.

Slightly drier than average

• Rainfall in Victoria during 2017 was 6% below average overall
• Rainfall was below average in most months, including Victoria's driest June on record, but above average in April and December
• Gippsland had a long run of months with below-average rainfall (only April and December were wetter than average), leading to areas of severe rainfall deficiency in East Gippsland
• Parts of western Victoria, including much of the West Coast, had above average rainfall for the year
• April rainfall for Victoria was more than 58% above average, although patches of both West and East Gippsland remained drier than average
• Victoria had its driest June on record and driest July since 2010, resulting in the State's overall driest winter since 2006
• December began with three days of very heavy rain, including the State's wettest December day on record, resulting in Victoria's wettest December since 2010
• During the event in early December, many sites had their highest daily rainfall on record, including Euroa and Lake Eildon, each with over 100 years of observations, which exceeded their previous record by more than 40 mm
• Branxholme (Bassett) in the West Coast district and the Penguin Reserve on Phillip Island had their highest total rainfall for at least 30 years
• A couple of sites in East Gippsland had either their lowest total rainfall on record or their lowest total rainfall for at least 30 years

Sixth-warmest year on record

• 2017 was Victoria's sixth-warmest year on record overall, with the State's mean temperature 0.89 °C above average
• All of Victoria had warmer than average mean temperatures, with many districts very much warmer than average
• Mean maximum temperatures were Victoria's sixth-warmest on record, 1.20 °C warmer than average
• Days were very much warmer than average in all areas except the far west and northeast of the State, where days were still warmer than average
• Two sites in West Gippsland had their highest mean daily maximum temperature on record
• The State's mean minimum temperature was 0.57 °C warmer than average
• Nights were warmer than average throughout the State, and very much warmer than average along the West Coast
• On 8 January, Laverton RAAF and Moorabbin Airport had their warmest night on record
• After a warmer than average January and despite several days of exceptional heat, February mean temperatures were slightly cooler than average for most of Victoria
• March was Victoria's warmest on record, with both daytime and night time temperatures very much above average throughout the State
• Long runs of clear skies during winter resulted in much cooler than average nights and warmer than average days for most areas of the State
• Cold weather in early July resulted in several sites having their lowest temperature on record
• August was Victoria's coolest since 2010, with both daytime and night time temperatures cooler than average for most of the State
• Mount Hotham's minimum temperature of -10.4 °C on 28 August was Victoria's coldest of the year and the lowest temperature at any Victorian site since 1974
• November was Victoria's second-warmest on record and contributed to the State's fourth-warmest spring on record

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Maps
	Observed	Anomaly	Decile rank
Total rainfall
Mean daily maximum temperatures
Mean daily minimum temperatures

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Monthly maps
	Rainfall rank	Maximum temperature rank	Minimum temperature rank
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

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* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a higher value has gone unreported

* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a lower value has gone unreported

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top