Dry start in a wet year

It has been another dry start to the month, with only 1.5mm of rain falling on the Peninsula so far this month.

April also had a dry start, with only 3.4mm having fallen by this time of the month, according to figures supplied by Mr Jim Morrison of Woy Woy.

However, April ended with rainfall almost 40 per cent above average, with heavy rain later in the month.

The total for April was 191.8mm, 39.2 per cent above the average of 137.7mm.

The dry starts follow three months of heavy rainfall early in the month, with falls of 48.6mm, 102.0mm, 120.1mm being recorded in the first 11 days of January, February and March respectively.

Every month this year has finished with above average rainfall and the cumulative total is approaching double the average for this time of year.

A total of 1068.4mm had fallen by the end of April, 86.8 per cent above the average year-to-date figure of 571.9mm.

Normally, the Peninsula would not have received this amount of rain until after the end of September.

Average rainfall for May is 119.2mm.

Temperatures so far this month have ranged from an overnight low of 10.1 degrees on May 8 to a high of 27.1 on May 10, according to figures from www.peninsulaweather.info.

Highest minimum was 16.3 degrees on May 3 and lowest maximum was 19.4 on May 7.

Highest wind gust was 19.8km/h recorded on May 5.

Speadsheet, 11 May 2012

Jim Morrison, Woy Woy

www.peninsulaweather.info