3 months ago
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Don’t expect a sweltering start to summer: Melbourne’s notorious “four seasons in one day” weather will be in full swing from the beginning of December.
A sluggish start has been tipped for the warmer months after some of the heaviest spring rainfall in more than a decade.
“We’re in the midst of an unseasonably cool November overall,” said Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Angus Hines. “It has been a little bit of a sluggish start to summer.
It’s been a wetter November than usual, with experts predicting a cooler start to summer. Credit: Wayne Taylor
“November certainly looks like it’s going to shake out as below average temperature-wise for the month, and that could be quite a significant departure from averages as well.”
He said this spring had “certainly been on the cool and wet side” for Melbourne after increased rainfall through October and November.
According to weather bureau data, this month has been the wettest November in 12 years, with 106.2 millimetres of rainfall recorded at the Melbourne Olympic Park weather station – significantly higher than the 60.3 millimetre average.
While the wet conditions stuck around late into this month, Hines said they weren’t likely to bring rain that lasted longer than a brief – albeit at times intense – shower.
Spring has brought some quick changing weather - hot, then wet and windy all in one day. Credit: Paul Jeffers
“During the springtime months, a sort of characteristic of the weather through Victoria and across Melbourne is fast-moving weather systems that sort of fly by,” he said. “They might bring a brief spell of rain, but they bring very changeable weather, so that’s the kind of stereotype of up and down weather across Melbourne. Hot one day, cold the next, wet the next.”
The city received three millimetres of rain in one hour after 9.30am on Wednesday following a sunny start to the day.
Severe weather warnings began in the state’s east just after 11am, and the bureau recorded wind gusts of more than 90km/h in the LaTrobe Valley.
Between midnight and 2.30pm on Wednesday, the State Emergency Service received more than 200 calls for assistance across Victoria. There were 160 requests relating to fallen trees and 34 for building damage.
Hines said it was not yet certain what kind of Christmas Day the state would have, but “climatologically, we certainly will start to see some warmer weather” heading into the summer months.
“We’ll see both hotter days, but also longer stretches of warm weather through the coming months,” he said.
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