The storm on 22nd December dumped 71mm of rain, of which 66mm fell in 40 minutes. This is the most intense rainfall measured here in the last 25 years and caused flash flooding.

Rainfall during the year was assisted by a second consecutive ‘La Nina’ which is a fairly rare event. This cloud cover and the frequency of on-shore winds had a moderating effect on temperatures.

Despite the cloud, average maximum temperatures for 2011 were half a degree above the long-term average. This reflects the underlying effect of climate change on our weather.

There seems to be a trend towards greater extremes of temperature. There was a heat wave of seven consecutive days of 30 degrees in late January and an above normal 120 frosts for the year, including two in December.

Evaporation in December was 93.4mm, the lowest in record for the month. Like last year, vegetables are confused by the cool summer conditions.