2022 sees the rain come pouring down

HEATHCOTE was damper than average in 2022 with 893.3 millimetres of rain logged at the town’s Bureau of Meteorology weather station.

This was the wettest year since 2010 when 979.2 millimetres was recorded, and it was more than 30 centimetres above the annual average of 573.3 millimetres.

In October, heavy rains saw Heathcote almost marooned as several access roads were flooded, and the Axedale bridge damaged, cutting off the most direct route between to Bendigo.

Statewide, Victoria’s annual area average was 872.7 millimetres, 31.6 per cent higher than usual.

The closest weather station to Heathcote gathering temperature data is Puckapunyal West near Tooborac.

It recorded average daily temperatures in the mid to low teens for most of 2022, with the coldest day being 30 May at a chilly 8.7 degrees and the hottest 1 Jan 2022 with 37.8 degrees.

The highest wind gust was 83kph on 8 March at 9.09 am.

The Bureau’s climate data for 2022 shows a year that was wetter and warmer overall across Australia.

Temperatures were 0.5 degrees above the 1961-1990 average and rainfall was 25 per cent above average for the same period, making it the ninth-wettest year on record.

Those conditions are consistent with a La Nina weather event which is expected to weaken over summer and lower levels of rain are likely.

At the same time temperatures are predicted to rise with warmer days and nights on the cards for February to April.

The driest years in the Heathcote region in the past decade were 2015 with 299.2 millimetres and 2019 with 306.8 millimetres.