Victorian rainfall: Floods smash rainfall records

The devastating floods have obliterated rainfall records — with one area copping over 800 per cent of its long-term average. Full totals here.

Records were smashed as southeast Australia was lashed by huge rainfall totals during October.

The rain, which prompted devastating floods in multiple states, caused significant property damage and, for many farming districts, washed away hopes of a bumper winter crop as well as causing livestock losses.

Source: Included

The wettest centres included Swan Hill which recorded 174mm for the month – or more than eight times what it would normally expect during October. Bendigo’s 241mm was more than six times what it would normally expect, as was Balranald’s 185mm.

It was the wettest October on record in all three centres eclipsing Swan Hill’s previous best of 119mm in 1975, Bendigo’s 208mm in 1975 and Balranald’s 130mm in 1975.

It was a much wetter month across the board with centres to record more than five times their normal October total included Griffith (223mm), Deniliquin (194mm), Albury (249mm) and Shepparton (158mm).

Flooded crops in the Loddon area. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Nhill (119mm), Hay (164mm), Hopetoun (112mm), Echuca (197mm), Yarrawonga (163mm), Charlton (175mm), Ararat (238mm), Horsham (129mm), Mildura (119mm) and Stawell (146mm) recorded more than times their normal October rain totals.

For the year to date, Swan Hill has recorded 544mm of rain or 181 per cent of its average annual total with two months of the year remaining, with 589mm falling at Horsham (162 per cent of its average), 788mm at Bendigo (157 per cent) and 443mm at Mildura (155 per cent).