Rainfall observations have been made in Narooma for 107 years, since 1910.  Mostly these have been at the location of the present Marine Rescue NSW base.

Over that period the mean annual rainfall was 929mm, with mean monthly values varying from 50mm in August to 101mm in March.

In 2016 the annual total rainfall was 1025mm, 10 per cent above the long-term average value.  The monthly rainfalls in January and June were well above the average value. 

Conversely the rainfall in February, May and August were well below the average values.  Our wettest month was June (323mm) while the driest month was August (2mm).

The 2016 annual rainfall is typical of the period since 1950 when, interestingly, the average annual rainfall at Narooma increased suddenly by 17 per cent – from 838mm to 983mm!

Daily observations of temperatures have been made in Narooma since 1965; however the records prior to June 1999 were often incomplete. 

A comparison was therefore made of the 2016 temperatures with those recorded over the 18 years since 1999.

In February, our hottest month, the mean maximum/minimum temperatures in 2016 were 24.8/17.5 degrees, while averages since 1999 were 23.8/17.3 degrees.

The corresponding numbers for July, our coldest month, were 17.2/7.9 degrees (16.6/7.3 degrees).  The mean annual max/min temperatures for the whole of 2016 were 21.2/12.6 degrees, which compare with averages of  20.3/12.4 since 1999. 

So while 2016 was a bit warmer than average, reflecting the effects of the 2016 El Nino, the overall temperature trends have been essentially constant since 1999. – Brian Gunter

Click here for Mr Gunter’s 2015 climate report