We’ve seen no shortage of places across the eastern half of Australia break their rainfall record this soggy October, and the nation’s capital is the latest.
- Weather records have been kept in Canberra since 1939, and the old record for the wettest October was 161 mm in 1976.
- To 9 am on Thursday morning, the monthly tally for October 2022 was sitting on 160 mm, but a heavy burst of rain during the early afternoon delivered 3.4 mm by 3 pm.
- That brought the monthly tally for October to a record 163.4 mm.
- For the record, Canberra’s rainfall tends to be reasonably evenly distributed throughout the year, but October is on average the city’s second-wettest month with an average of 62.4 mm. So it is heading towards triple its monthly average.
- It’s also worth mentioning that Canberra’s rainfall to date for 2022 was 739 mm as at 9 am this morning, which means it is now sitting on 742.4 mm as we write this story on Thursday afternoon.
- The long-term annual average rainfall is 615.4 mm, so Canberra is again looking at a much wetter year than usual. The wettest year on record was 1950 with 1062.5 mm.
Meanwhile, after such a wet year to date, and with significantly above-average monthly rainfall in both August and September, it’s little wonder that the lawns of the bush capital and its nearby hills are looking especially green right now.
Image: The Murrumbidgee River just west of Canberra from Shepherds Lookout. Source: Patrick Tobin.
The local wildlife has also been snapped looking somewhat miserable during heavier downpours!
Image: Maggie here is not the only Canberran who is sick of getting wet. Source: Maria Del’Amore.
More rain is in store for Canberra this month, with showers likely on each day of the remainder of October except for Saturday.
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