Maleny Weather

It was a dry start to the month until we had a thunderstorm on Wednesday afternoon 7^th that brought 20 knot gusts and a torrential downpour at a rate of 182 mm per hour. However total precipitation was no more than 8 mm. The middle of the month brought a change in the weather pattern when a surface trough, inter-acting with a ridge of high pressure, moved through the Ranges bringing atmospheric instability. Strong winds, gusting up to28 knots (52 kmh) brought widespread dust to the region, culminating on Tuesday 13^th with two thunderstorms. Rainfall was minimal but it did help to lay the dust. This was the day water restrictions came into force to conserve town water supply. The remnants of a rain belt on a northwest cloudband came through the Ranges on 26^th and 27^th. Some areas were lucky with 30 – 40 mm of rain, whereas those only a short distance away received hardly any. Total rainfall for October was 71.4 mm, representing 31 mm below the 117 year average. The lowest month’s rainfall on record is 2.3 mm in 1948, and the maximum was in the following year with 329 mm. The annual rainfall so far this year is 1608 mm, about 50 mm below the 117 year average for the month. Total bright sunshine hours were 247, 13 hours up on last year. Mean temperature for the month was 18.7ºC; maximum was 31ºC on the 3^rd and minimum on the 8^th with 9.4ºC. Total evapotranspiration was 123 mm. Soil moisture was in the very high range of 200 on 17 days and the mean soil temperature for the month was 18ºC

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