January
January was a record-breaking month for Shepparton weather.
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A thunderstorm on January 3 saw 78.4mm of rainfall recorded at the Shepparton Airport weather station.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, it was the highest single-day rainfall figure ever recorded in Shepparton in January.
“This is the highest daily rainfall record for January at this station, and second-highest daily rainfall total recorded at this station,” the BOM climate team said.
“Previous daily rainfall this high at Shepparton Airport was 83.0mm on November 12, 1998, which is the highest daily rainfall on record.”
However, that was not where the record-breaking ended, the BOM said.
“Shepparton Airport recorded a total of 139.2mm for the month. This is [the] highest total rainfall for January at this station, and second-highest monthly rainfall total behind 151.6mm recorded in October 2022.”
Data was similar in other parts of the region, with Echuca’s monthly rainfall total for January 2024 being the fourth-highest amount in January since records began at the Echuca Aerodrome in 1859.
Benalla also saw high levels of rainfall, with its monthly total for January 2024, as recorded at the Benalla Airport, being 121.4mm.
February
February was big on temperatures, having both the warmest and coldest days of summer 2023-24.
February’s warmest day was also summer’s highest daytime temperature of 39°C on Sunday, February 4, some 8.1°C warmer than the historical average of 30.9°C.
The coldest daytime maximum temperature was 23.2°C on Wednesday, February 14, which was also the coldest day of summer.
In contrast to the first month of the year, February was drier than usual, having 22mm of rainfall in total, 11.2mm less than the historical average of 33.2mm.
The highest rainfall in one day for February in Shepparton was on February 21, with 17.6mm recorded.
The Benalla Airport recorded summer’s warmest day as February 4, hitting a hot 38°C.
March
Historically, March has had an average highest daytime temperature of 32°C, but 2024’s first month of autumn had a high of 37.4°C on March 9.
The lowest night-time temperature in March was 5.7°C — only 0.1°C warmer than the coldest ever recorded for March in Shepparton.
It was a dry month, with a rainfall total of 19.8mm, of which 19.4mm fell on March 20.
Historically, March has had an average of 34.5mm of rain.
It was a dry month for Echuca, with only 2.8mm recorded at the Echuca Aerodrome.
Kyabram had a similarly dry month, with 9.8mm of rain recorded at its weather station.
Tatura had 10.4mm of rain, and Benalla had similar numbers, with 10.6mm recorded at the Benalla Airport.
April
Shepparton had a drier than usual April, with daytime temperatures similar to normal and night-time ones slightly colder than expected.
According to the BOM, Shepparton recorded 28.8mm of rain in April.
Most of that fell on just one day — 18.8mm on April 2.
A further 7.8mm fell on April 6, but other than that, the other four days when rain was recorded saw less than 1mm.
The warmest day was April 1, when the mercury reached 33.1°C, only a little below the hottest April day on record, when the temperature reached 35.1°C.
May
The final days of autumn were the direct opposite of April, being wet, wet, wet.
There was a total of 75.8mm of rainfall, more than double the historical average for May in Shepparton of 33.8mm.
The highest rainfall in one day for May in Shepparton was 58.2mm from 9am on Thursday, May 30 to 9am on Friday, May 31.
The period of 8.30pm to 9.30pm on Thursday had the most rain in one hour, with 17.6mm.
The wet weather began at 4pm on Thursday and eased off by 1.30am on Friday.
June
On Wednesday, June 19, Shepparton residents shivered through a -3.6°C night, according to records taken by the BOM at the Shepparton Airport site.
It was the coldest June night since 2007 when temperatures hit an even lower -4°C.
The Tatura Institute Sustainable Agriculture site recorded -4.2°C on that same night, and Echuca Aerodome recorded a toe-freezing -5°C.
Benalla was the warmest of the four locations, recording -3.1°C overnight.
On the flip side, the warmest winter night was on Saturday, June 29, when the mercury dropped to only a 9.7°C low.
There was a total of nine days of rain in June, with the wettest day being Sunday, June 30, with a total rainfall of 11.2mm.
This was a stark difference to the same month last year, with June 2023 drenching Shepparton with a total of 118mm, and 54.8mm falling on one day, Thursday, June 8.
July
Shepparton had a drier July than usual this year, despite it raining on more days.
The BOM rain gauge recorded a total of 27.4mm in the city for the month.
This is well down on the historical mean over the past 28 years of 40.2mm of rain in July.
It rained on 18 winter days this year, with the highest daily rainfall recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on July 9 when 7.2mm fell.
The coldest July night saw temperatures drop to an icy -2.2°C on July 31.
August
August was warm, with both hotter-than-usual days and nights.
The warmest day this month was on Sunday, August 25 when the temperature reached a high of 23.1°C.
The warmest day ever recorded in August was 24.8°C, well above the mean highest daytime temperature for August in Shepparton of 15°C, according to the BOM.
Looking towards the clouds, August had nine days of rain, yielding a total of 19.4mm throughout the month.
The wettest August day was Monday, August 26 when 8.8mm of rain fell.
September
September saw a warm and dry start to spring, with plenty of rain-free days.
Temperatures started to heat up, with September 6 reaching a high of 29.4°C. On the flip side, Shepparton shivered through a top of 14.7°C on September 14.
This September was warmer than last year, which had a hottest day of 28.1°C and a coldest of only 9.6°C.
It rained on only six days, making for a dry month. But it was a wet end to September, with Shepparton recording 8mm of rain in the 24 hours to 9am on September 30.
The total rainfall for the month was only 13.2mm, below September 2023’s total of 15.6mm, and well below the mean average rainfall for September of 37.2mm.
October
In October, the highest maximum temperature was 30.9°C on October 22, and the coldest day was on October 8, still reaching 17.9°C in Shepparton.
Nights were cold, with the warmest night on October 18, when the mercury fell to 17.9°C. October 26 was the coldest, with an overnight minimum of 2.3°C.
Nights were warmer than last year, with October 2023 having an average night-time temperature of 7.4°C, while this year’s was 9.2°C.
It was a dry month, with rain on only seven days.
The wettest day saw 15.6mm fall on October 18, with the total rainfall for the month coming to 28.8mm, below the month’s historical average of 36.8mm. Last year’s October total was 75mm.
November
The hottest day was November 23, which reached a high of 37.7°C.
The coldest day was November 1, with the mercury touching 21.3°C. The same day had the coldest night, with an overnight low of 5°C.
November typically has seven days over 30°C and two days over 35°C; however, last month had 10 days over 30°C and four over 35°C.
It was wet. The number of rain days sat at the historical average of seven days. However, when it rained, it poured — the month had almost double the average rainfall.
There was 77.2mm of rainfall recorded in Shepparton, with November 25 having the highest rainfall at 24mm. The average November will see 45.2mm — it is the wettest month on average.
Kyabram had similar numbers, with 73.2mm of rain and the hottest day on Saturday, November 23 at 37.8°C.
Benalla was wetter again, drenched in 126mm of rain across the month, with 34.9mm on November 30.
December
December was a scorcher, with a highest daytime temperature of 41.7°C.
For comparison, December 2023 had a highest daytime temperature of 37.4°C.
The hottest December day recorded in Shepparton since records began in 1996 was 44.9°C, on December 20, 2019.
It was also a wet month, with 46.6mm of rain across the month, well above the historical average of 32.7mm.
Cadet Journalist