General News
5 June, 2023
Bureau of Meteorology releases winter outlook
Winter is well and truly here in the Central Goldfields Shire, and while chilly, damp days are expected to continue for the region, forecasts show the next three months will be drier than usual. A typically brisk day kicked off winter in the shire...

Winter is well and truly here in the Central Goldfields Shire, and while chilly, damp days are expected to continue for the region, forecasts show the next three months will be drier than usual.
A typically brisk day kicked off winter in the shire last week and while cold temperatures will continue, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) is expecting warmer than usual temperatures across much of the country, including locally, throughout the season.
The BoM’s winter long-range forecast shows warmer than usual daytime temperatures are likely almost everywhere and warmer nights are also likely across the country.
The BoM is predicting that for Victoria, the whole state has double the chance of being unusually dry, meaning the bottom 20 percent of all records — a welcome change given the deluge that was dumped across the state in October.
Between now and spring, the BoM anticipates a 60-70 percent chance of unusually dry weather for Maryborough and central Victoria, while long range forecasts expect an upwards of 50 percent chance of at least 100 millimetres of rain to fall locally during winter.
According to the BoM, the winter long-range forecast reflects several climate influences including the chance of El Niño forming in the Pacific Ocean, signs of a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) forming in winter and warmer than average ocean temperatures around Australia.
Fire agencies have identified that most of the country will have normal bushfire potential throughout winter.
According to the BoM, autumn saw the state experience below average rainfall — with Australia recording its second driest May since national rainfall records began in 1900. Autumn had the coolest temperatures since autumn in 2012.