Drizzly days of November are following the fourth driest October on record, says Ron Lakeman of the Southeast Fire Centre.
“[We had] one of the driest Octobers as an upper ridge of high pressure dominated the weather pattern this month,” he said.
The monthly total amount of precipitation was only 7.4 millimetres of rain. The only disturbances to produce rainfall in excess of 1 mm were a weak Pacific disturbance which provided a brief band of thundershowers during the afternoon of the 7th and an equally “moisture starved disturbance” which provided 2.6 millimetres during the night of the 26th, explained Lakeman. No snowfall was recorded.
Other notably dry Octobers were 2002, 1974 and 1987 with 2.2, 3.8 and 5.0 mm of precipitation respectively. A record amount of rainfall for October was set in 1967 when 127 millimetres fell.
The mean monthly temperature was close to normal, 0.4 of a degree cooler than the normal average during October.
“High pressure and the resulting sunshine allowed for the warmest temperature of the month (20.7 degrees) during the afternoon of 6th,” said Lakeman. “The coolest temperature was -4.6 degrees during the morning of the 30th.”
A record high for October was 27.2 degrees in 1980 and a record low for the month was set at -11.3 degrees in 2002.
No records were broken this October.