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WHILE the rain often seems to skirt around the edges of Bendigo, enough was able to fall for the city to record one of its wettest years in almost three decades.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s rainfall gauge at the Bendigo Airport recorded 676.6 millimetres of rain for 2016 – well above the long-term average of just over 500 millimetres.
With a week of almost perfect sunshine to follow, the number is unlikely to change.
The figure made 2016 the third wettest year since 1993.
September was by far the wettest month of the year, when 153 millimetres was recorded.
September 14 was the wettest day of the year with 43.8 millimetres of rain.
A further 91.8 millimetres fell in July – the second wettest month.
The city recorded almost no rain in February, before the La Nina weather pattern took effect giving Bendigo a consistently wet winter and spring.
The BOM’s data from the Bendigo Airport only stretches back to 1992, but the gauge at Lake Eppalock gives rainfall figures back to the 1960s, providing some indication of the scale of the wet year. It was the wettest September on record, according to the lake’s figures.
The rainfall allowed Lake Eppalock to spill in early October – the first time since October 2012.
Rainfall years topping 700 millimetres occur about once a decade.
In the last 30 years, only 1992, 2010 and 2011 had more rain.
In 2010, more than 1060 millimetres fell at the Bendigo Airport – a year when central Victoria saw widespread flooding.
It was a similar story elsewhere in central Victoria.
Wedderburn – at the heart of a region which was experienced dry conditions for years – received some rainfall relief in 2016.
Aside from 2010 and 2011, the town recorded its wettest year since 1992, with 608 millimetres.
Further south, the rain gauge at Loddon Prison near Castlemaine recorded 775 millimetres of rain for 2016.