After a long dry spell, Mudgee's autumn turnaround has continued, with the wettest April on record at the Airport Weather Station.
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Furthermore, the month also included a new record for the wettest April day at the location.
An overnight soaking of 5.6mm before 9am on Thursday (the 24 hours prior to which is the last rainfall period counted for the month) took the April total to 110mm.
The old benchmark was 104.8mm, set back in 2000, which was the only other time April has hit triple figures at the weather station. Typically, the fourth month of the year in Mudgee averages around 36mm, although in 2019 it was a mere 0.4mm.
Although that final flurry that tipped April 2020 into record territory, came after 19 days without a drop being recorded. And arrived courtesy of a broad band of cloud and showers spread across southern and southeastern Australia from Tuesday and Wednesday.
Half of the total figure for the month was notched up in one day - and was a local April record in its own right.
In the 24 hours to 9am on Saturday the 4th, a total of 55.2mm had collected in the rain-gauge at the Airport Weather Station. Previously the highest reading on an April morning at the location was 46.2mm in 2003.
Combine that soggy Saturday with 33mm from the morning of Friday the 10th, and Mudgee was well on its way despite nothing falling between then and the end of the month.
April has built on a run of above average rainfall for the area. March saw a whopping 147mm, compared to a norm of 62.3mm, and February 94.4mm when it would usually get 64.3mm.
Prior to then January brought in less than half its mean figure (31.8mm versus 66.2mm).
The January to April total for Mudgee is 383.8mm, well and truly ahead of where it normally sits at this time of year (average 237.6mm). And to think, the location finished 2019 with 364.2mm when the annual mean is 650.2mm.
This trend may continue, with the Bureau of Meteorology's May to July outlook suggesting that the next three months are likely to be wetter than average for most of Australia.
More immediately though, the first day of May is set to feel exactly like the run into winter.
A cold front on Friday sees Mudgee forecast to hit a top of just 10°C with accompanying winds. And there's a chance of snow in parts of the Central West, with Oberon and Yetholme expected to receive a light dusting.
