IF you thought it felt like a wet and cold winter in Ballarat, you were not wrong.
The average maximum temperature for June, July and August was a chilly 10.9 degrees – the third-coldest winter in 16 years.
If the low temperatures were not enough to keep you shivering, Ballarat also recorded 234 millimetres of rain, well above the average of 204 millimetres.
Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino said Ballarat’s climate was in line with the rest of the state, which had generally experienced a bitter winter.
“There was a high frequency of cold fronts that moved across the south-east of Australia quite regularly, making for a lot of cold bursts,” he said.
In terms of the average temperature for the entire season, only the Ballarat winters of 2004 and 2010 had been as cold since the turn of the millennium.
The coldest day this year fell on July 21, where the maximum temperature was 7.1 degrees.
The coldest temperature recorded was minus 2.7 degrees on August 13.
Mr Domensino said it was forecast spring would be slightly warmer than average, with rainfall expected to fall just below the mean.
To coincide with the arrival of spring, The Courier has launched its fifth assignment on its free iPhone app.
Readers are asked to send in their best pictures of spring over the weekend, with a spread of photos to feature in Monday’s print edition.
The Courier is giving away movie tickets to the first photo or news tip, submitted via the app, that makes our front page.
patrick.nolan@thecourier.com.au