SWAN Hill was the driest location in all of Victoria last year while 2015 was the fifth-warmest year on record across all of Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed.
The Swan Hill Aerodrome recorded the least rainfall of all weather stations across the state in 2015, receiving only 183.0mm across the 12 months.
This amount was just 61 per cent of the station’s annual average and made 2015 the third driest year it had observed over the past two decades, surpassed only by 2002 (175.0mm) and 2006 (170.8mm).
Similar patterns were experienced across both the state and country, with Victoria recording 23 per cent less rainfall than the norm and Australia experiencing five per cent below its own average.
Agrivision Swan Hill general manager Kent Wooding said the district’s growers dealt well with the tough conditions, thanks to good land management.
He said the region’s grain growers went into their cropping season aware of production risks because of the lack of rainfall early on in the year — Swan Hill recorded just 30 per cent of its average summer rainfall, making it the driest in the state from the offset.
Things got worse when telltale signs of a “mega” El Niño emerged midway through the year. Unprecedented heat in the later months — particularly in October, Victoria’s warmest month on record — resulted in the early maturation of crops. bringing forward harvest dates.
“They knew that they needed growing season rainfall to get a reasonable crop. It doesn’t make it any easier to accept a dry year but I think the awareness was there,” Mr Wooding said.
For more on this story, grab a copy of Monday’s Guardian (January 11).
