The rainfall this month to date over most of NSW has exceeded the June average at many towns including Tamworth, Gunnedah and Coonabarabran.
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Except for Far East Gippsland, where some places have had their wettest June since 2016, most of Victoria has been notably drier with heavy frosts mainly in northern Victoria.
Heavy rains have persisted along the NSW coast right down to Far East Gippsland. Sydney was belted by 70 millimetres Friday evening, June 14, and this took this month's total to 300 millimetres.
On top of 220 millimetres in May, this makes the May-June total 520 millimetres in Sydney. There were six other higher May to June totals namely 630 millimetres in 1900, 664 in 1913, 645 in 1919, 660 in 1925, 525 in 1949 and 808.7 in 1950.
With only half of June gone, more rain the remainder of the month could bring the total closer to the 1950 record wet of 808.7 millimetres. Apart from 1919 and 1925, which were dry years in our regions, the others were wetter than average and the summers following were warmer than normal.
It has turned out very dry in Queensland. Cairns has recorded only 0.8 of a millimetre for the first half of June, the driest since 2002. Mackay has recorded only 1.8 millimetres to mid-June, the driest since 2017, while Townsville has recorded only 0.6 of a millimetre to mid-June, the lowest since zero in 1968.
Heavy frosts have extended well into outback Queensland the last two days. At Tambo the temperature fell to minus 5.6 on Tuesday, June 18. This was the town's lowest June temperature in 67 years of records, the previous coldest June morning was minus 5 degrees in 1971. Biloela recorded minus 3.4 degrees which was the coldest June morning since minus 3.9 in 1982, a very bad drought year over eastern Australia.
Closer to home Coldstream recorded minus 3.9 degrees, the coldest in June since 2015. Currently the synoptic weather chart shows a strong high pressure ridge extending north from near Macquarie Island right up to Queensland and we have had bitterly cold southerly winds the past week.
Wednesday, June 19, appeared to be the worst day for heavy frosts. A weak cut off low near Adelaide, which has had light rainfalls, allowed for milder nights by Friday with patchy rainfalls. A more significant rainfall event is expected by about June 26. A very strong deep low pressure has formed in the Indian Ocean well west of Perth.
Looking at the cases of very wet May and June in Sydney in the same year, one of these in 1949 saw very dry Junes over most of Queensland which did happen this year. I certainly recall June 1949 being a very cold bleak month in Victoria, having to wear short pants to school, and we suffered when power restrictions were imposed and on top of this, a polio outbreak set in.
Snow fell in Coonabarabran in June 1949. It was just as bad in July 1949 when most of Victoria had widespread heavy snow falls during the third week together with heavy rain mainly in southern Victoria. But on a much brighter side, both August and September 1949 were warmer and drier than normal. Thunderstorms and heavy rainfalls occurred in both October and November 1949 in Victoria and NSW.
It will be a cold bleak June, and not any better in July; no polio epidemic this time but more cases of COVID and flu.
