SWAN Hill had its wettest October on record.
The rural city’s aerodrome weather station was inundated with 160.6mm recorded.
This soggy month eclipsed the previous top mark for October of 119mm in 1975, in records dating back to 1884.
Emergency services pumped water out of properties and drains after flash flooding caught many off guard.
The worst of the rain arrived on October 13 when 71mm was recorded – the highest daily falls on record for October.
The long-term average for October is 27.8mm.
Australia as a whole had the second-highest area-average rainfall on record for October, behind 1975.
New South Wales had the highest area-average rainfall at 142.1mm, breaking the record of 109.5mm, set in 1950.
“October was much wetter than average across most of the state, with large parts of central and northern Victoria having their wettest October on record,” Bureau of Meteorology said in its monthly climate summary.
“For the state as a whole, rainfall was more than double the 1961-1990 October average of 64.6 mm.
“A cold front and a low pressure trough interacting with humid air over northern Australia, brought rain and thunderstorms to Victoria on the 6th and 7th. Widespread rainfall and showers resulted in daily rainfall totals between 10 and 30mm at many sites. There were isolated higher falls, mostly associated with thunderstorms.
“Showers and rain developed across most of Victoria on the 12th in a moist northerly airflow, with the heaviest falls in central parts of the state; through these areas, widespread daily rainfall totals between 20 and 60mm were recorded, with isolated totals exceeding 100 mm.
“A cold front crossed Victoria on the 13th, bringing widespread rainfall and strong winds, with the highest daily totals in the central and north-eastern parts.”
