Monday, 1 February 2021 - Monthly Climate Summary for Victoria - Product code IDCKGC16R0

Victoria in January 2021: wetter than average

Victoria in January was wetter than average, largely due to the record rainfall to 9am on the 30th. Night-time temperatures were warmer than average in parts of the south and east, while daytime temperatures were close to average across the state.

Wetter than average

• Rainfall totals for the month were above average across most of Victoria.
• Parts of western Victoria and scattered areas in the east received more than double their average January rainfall.
• State-wide, January rainfall was 68% above the long-term average of 39.5 mm, the highest since 2011.
• In a first several days of January, a deep pressure trough, which extended from south-western Queensland through central New South Wales to Victoria, gradually moving eastwards, has caused thunderstorms with locally heavy rainfall, flash flooding, large hail and damaging winds over parts of the state. Many sites recorded daily rainfall totals in excess of 50 mm.
• The highest daily rainfall total in the state this month, 194.4 mm, was recorded at Haines Junction (Mount Sabine) on the 4th.
• Mid-month, a pair of cold fronts brought light to moderate falls mostly to southern parts of the state.
• A low pressure trough and a cold front moved across Victoria on the 25th and 26th, bringing widespread rainfall; the highest daily totals were recorded in the state's north-east, due to severe thunderstorms which produced heavy falls.
• Another cold front and a low pressure trough which brought tropical moisture, crossed Victoria on 29th; daily rainfall totals exceeded 50 mm at many sites in central and north-east Victoria.
• Many sites had their highest January daily rainfall on record on the 30th, including Lake Eildon and Highlands, which both have more than 100 years of observations.
• Many sites had their highest total January rainfall on record, or their highest total January rainfall for at least two decades, including Cape Otway Lighthouse where rainfall observations started in 1861.

Close to average daytime temperatures

• After a mild first few days, a cold front brought cool temperatures to most of the state on the 4th and 5th; this was followed by a period of warm temperatures, and from the 9th a heatwave started to develop across Victoria; daytime temperatures peaked on the 10th and 11th, and were 8 to 10 degrees above average across the state.
• A cold front on the 15th brought mild daytime temperatures to Victoria, but they started again to gradually increased from the 21st, culminating in a heatwave on the 24th and 25th, when many sites across the state recorded daytime temperatures in the high-30s or low-40s .
• Cool changes that followed brought milder weather to Victoria for the final days of January.
• The highest daytime temperature recorded in Victoria this January was 43.9 °C at Ouyen Post Office and Walpeup Research on the 24th, while the state's warmest night-time temperature was recorded during the same event, and saw 28.3 °C at Walpeup Research on the 25th.
• Despite some hot days, the state-wide mean maximum temperature was only 0.28 °'C above average, the coolest since 2015.
• Warnambool had its coldest January day on record.
• Night-time temperatures were above average in parts of the southern and eastern Victoria.
• State-wide, mean minimum temperature was 0.95 °C above average.

Thunderstorms, flash flooding and snow

• A thunderstorm crossed Warrnambool around 2pm on the 2nd; rainfall rates reached a one-in-50-year intensity with 30 mm falling in 12 minutes. The State Emergency Service received in 24 hours to 9 am on the 3rd around 100 calls for help from Warnambool area, mostly for flash flooding.
• On the 3rd, a Cumberland River Holiday Park near Lorne was flooded due to heavy rainfall in the area; the observing site at Lorne recorded rainfall total of 119.0 mm in the 24 hours to 9 am on the 4th.
• A cold front tracked over south-east Australia on the 15th, and produced a few centimetres of snow at Mount Buller in north-east Victoria.
• Heavy rain on the 29th resulted in flash flooding in parts of Victoria, including Melbourne.

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

Click on a map to show it full size in a pop-up window

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

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top