Environment and Energy

Total rainfall for April was a miserly 24.8mm only 39% of the 64.1mm long term average. The dry weather has depleted Daylesford water supplies to 43% of capacity. And the forecast is for dry conditions to continue.

There has been a distinct shift in the seasons recently, with cold nights, a softer blue sky and the European leaves turning red and yellow. And there are changes in our local fauna despite the ongoing drought!

March rainfall of 46.8mm was just above the 44.7mm long-term average. That followed drier than average conditions for January and February. The Bureau of Meteorology modelling suggests that for April to the end of June drier than normal conditions are likely for much of Victoria.

Total rainfall for 2024 was only around 648mm for Daylesford, 74% of the long term mean. January 2025 also was drier than usual. High summer temperatures combined with dry conditions have resulted in serious fires. Warm to hot weather normally continues to the second half of March before autumn conditions roll in, so fire risks will remain very high to extreme.

The Friends of Kangaroo Creek, Wheatsheaf, have received funding from the Victorian Blackberry Taskforce to support their ongoing efforts to manage blackberry infestations along Kangaroo Creek.

November started very dry with only 8mm of rain in the first three weeks after an October that had only half its average rainfall. Fortunately, we had some reasonable rain in the last few days of November to bring the monthly rainfall to 57mm, close to the monthly average.