Last month in North East Victoria rainfall totals at most locations measured about three-quarters of the May average.
Rutherglen recorded 48.4mm for May, which was close to its average.
Maximum temperatures for May were a degree or so above normal, while minimum temperatures were a degree below the May normal, a temperature profile for May which was very much the same across most of the nation.
The main exception was in several districts of Western Australia, where heavy widespread rain occurred, resulting in below-normal maxima and above-normal minima.
On May 30, there were record low temperatures for May at Horsham, minus 4.3, and at Wilcannia, minus 3.3 degrees.
The previous coldest for May at Wilcannia were minus 2.8 in 1920 and minus 2.6 in 1898.
This led to much-needed rainfall in our region during the first fortnight of June in both 1898 and 1920, and above-average rainfall did occur up until the following October.
Hay and Deniliquin last Sunday morning recorded their lowest temperature for May since 1897 and 1886 respectively.
Currently, a weakening low pressure is crossing the western districts of NSW, with useful rainfalls up to 20mm mainly around Wilcannia and Cobar.
This low pressure was originally the one that delivered heavy rain to WA last weekend, May 29 and 30, including a record daily fall for May of 92mm at Gascoyne Junction, which also recorded its wettest-ever May, with 140mm, in 114 years of records.
Gascoyne Junction's yearly total to the end of May has reached 463mm and this is more than double the yearly average rainfall of 225mm.
The 463mms is only 87mms short of the wettest year of 1923 at Gascoyne Junction.
Roebourne, Albany and York have all recorded their wettest May as well.
I have been watching the development and movement on the synoptic weather chart of a tropical low which initially formed in the Indian Ocean west of Cocos Keeling Islands.
It slowly moved towards Cocos Islands across four days resulting in very heavy rain at Cocos Island where 369mms of rainfall were recorded in three days.
This was the wettest three days at Cocos Islands for the winter months since 409mms fell on July 28 to 30, 1955.
There was heavy rain in Victoria in August 1955 and again late in September 1955 with floods in NE Victoria.
I still have the weather maps I cut out of the daily newspapers from 1953 to 1955 and read with interest what actually happened during 1955.
This particular tropical low is now showing signs of linking up with a southern low with front.
Whatever happens a significant rain event looks certain to reach our area by the second week of June.
