CENTRAL Victoria can expect a wetter than average spring, with the Bureau of Meteorology also predicting cooler days and warmer nights in the months ahead.
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According to the latest seasonal outlook issued by the bureau, this spring is likely to bring above average rainfall for people living in the east of the country as well as cooler days and warmer nights.
Bendigo received 173mm of rainfall during winter, compared to the mean of 156mm. Our wettest winter day was on June 3, when 13.2mm of rain was recorded at the Bendigo airport weather gauge.
Coliban Water's three main storages above Malmsbury are in a healthy position, with Upper Coliban holding 37,840 megalitres, Lauriston 19,430 megaliitres and Malmsbury 12,328 megalitres.
The region is expecting a warm start to spring over the next few days, with showers developing on Friday and across the weekend.
Bureau climatologist Dr Andrew Watkins said predictions for a wetter and warmer spring come after a particularly wet and warm winter.
"Nationally, we've seen the wettest winter since 2016," he said.
Dr Watkins said the main reason behind the Bureau's prediction for a wetter than average spring was a climate driver called the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD).
"We've currently got a negative IOD - a phenomenon which typically brings an increased chance of rainfall to southern and eastern Australia," he said.
"This negative IOD is expected to persist throughout spring but is currently weaker than the last negative IOD event we saw in 2016, which brought Australia's wettest May-October period on record."
Another relevant climate driver, known as the El Nino-Southern Oscillation or ENSO, is likely to remain neutral with no declaration of a La Nina event expected in the coming months.
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