The gauge at the airport registered 50.4mm of rain in September, well below the long-term average of 71.8mm.

This followed a dry winter, which has sparked fears among farmers waiting for decent falls.

The last month to record above average rainfall was back in April, when a big storm ripped through Ballarat and dumped almost 60mm over the city, causing minor flooding.

Thousands of Ballarat residents were plunged into darkness on April 9 when power was cut to homes for hours on end, with Canadian and Mount Clear the hardest hit.

SES crews worked through the night, clearing downed powerlines and snapped trees.

But no month has reached above average rainfall since April, which registered a massive 101mm of rain.

In June, only 13.2mm of rain fall – staggeringly less than the long-term monthly average of 62.mm.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s October to December outlook, released last week, showed an equal chance of wetter or drier conditions for most of Australia, including Ballarat.

“Climate influences from the Indian and Pacific oceans are likely to be competing, with a slightly drying influence in the Indian Ocean likely to be cancelling out a slightly wetter influence from the Pacific Ocean,” the report said. 

As for temperatures, the Bureau said October to December daytime and nighttime temperatures would likely to be warmer than average for parts of southeast Australia. 

The average maximum temperature in Ballarat for September was 14.3 degrees, slightly warmer than the usual 11.4 degrees.

And it has been a balmy start to October, with the mercury hitting 22.8 degrees on Wednesday this week.

In early September, Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke was optimistic for farmers despite lower-than-average rain.

"In the traditional cropping areas we've seen, even with the dry weather, we've seen good rainfall, both opening rains and now follow up rains in late winter,” he said. “That has enabled most of the crops to set some really good potential.”

However, Mr Jochinke said wet conditions could deal a blow to yields in the western district near Hamilton.