Flourishing local Saloop saltbush

After 5 hot days in March (a record number), there were none in April. In fact, there were six days not reaching 20°, also a record number! On the 21st the temperature reached only 13.2°, making it the coldest April day of the century, 12.1° below normal. To get so cold, the temperature had fallen by 4° each day for four days. Many nights, however, were warm, and on four occasions the night was less than six degrees cooler than the day. As usual, there were no frosts.
There were eight rain days, with the highest reading 26.0 mm on the 4th.

Comparing April months

The average daily maximum temperature, at 23.9°, was colder than in any April since 1999 (23.5°). Night temperatures, while lower than last year’s record, were above normal, making the mean daily temperature range (12.7°) the narrowest for an April month, followed by April 2003 (13.6°). The percentage of cloudy mornings (more than 4/8 cloud) was a record 46.7%, equal with April 2012. The cloudiness and narrow daily temperature range, with high rainfall, make the climate this month like that on the coast.
The subsoil temperature (21.8°) and the early morning dew point (8.4°) were normal. (In March, the dew point had been almost the same (8.3°) but that was a record low value: in that month the normal dew point is much higher.)
The total rainfall of 70.9 mm is in the 84th percentile, far above the average of 40 mm. Among rainfall totals for more than one month, there are small increases. Even the 24-month total is now in the 12th percentile: not a serious shortage.

Data. All data, including subsoil at 750 mm, are from 3 Monash Street, Manilla.
After 132 years of continuous record, rainfall readings are no longer taken at Manilla Post Office, Station 055031.