Following the unprecedented heat wave in late June 2021, temperatures in Victoria returned to normal, but the dry sunny weather continued.
Victoria Gonzales received no measurable rainfall in July. That is the 7th time that Victoria has experienced a July with no measurable rain (the other times being 1914, 1922, 1926, 1958, 1984, 2018). It is also the 12th time overall that Victoria has had a calendar month with no measurable rain.
In all, there was no measurable rain recorded at Victoria Gonzales from June 15 to August 6 - a total of 53 days. That makes it the third longest such dry streak recorded in Victoria over the past 120 years. The longest dry streak was 63 days, from June 15 to August 16, 1926. The second longest was 54 days from July 17 to September 8, 1986 - many residents will remember that year for the great weather at Expo 86.
The chart below shows the longest dry streaks ever recorded in Victoria. Of note, 4 of the 10 longest dry streaks occurred in the 1920s, which was the driest decade on record in Victoria for both average annual precipitation (601 mm) and average summer rainfall (34 mm for the June to August period). The past 10 years (2011-20) was the second driest decade for summers, with an average 36 mm of rain, which could indicate the beginning of a trend towards even drier summers that most climate models predict for our area as a result of climate change. Conversely, none of the longest dry streaks was in the 1990s, which was one of the wettest decades (along with the 1930s) in Victoria, for both total annual precipitation and summer rainfall.
