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It was a wet end to an otherwise dry February in northern Victoria and the southern Riverina, Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Chris Godfred said.

Mr Godfred said there was quite a bit of variation between individual stations because north of the Great Dividing Range in Victoria, summer rainfall tended to be more tropical and its distribution patchy.

For example, Shepparton’s total rainfall for February was 76.0mm, which was more than double its historic average rainfall of 33.9mm.

‘‘In Shepparton, 57mm of the total summer rainfall of 94.4mm fell on the last day of summer,’’ Mr Godfred said.

In Deniliquin, Kyabram and Benalla, as well as in Shepparton, the majority of the month’s rainfall occurred in the 24 hours to 9am February 28. And in Echuca and Mangalore, the majority of the month’s rainfall was measured on February 26, 27 and 28.

Mr Godfred said it had been a hot February with temperatures quite a bit above average.

‘‘Minimum temperatures have been about 2°C above normal and maximum temperatures 2.3°C above normal.’’

Last Wednesday there were storms and incidences of flash flooding in and around Shepparton. Farmers at a tractor demonstration day at Cosgrove on the day kept an eye on the clouds.

With O’Connor’s Farm Machinery demonstrating broadacre sprays, the crowd was mostly crop farmers who were not too fussed if the predicted rain did not arrive.

Brothers Phil and Trevor Crow, who farm at Byrneside, got 4.5mm on Tuesday.

‘‘It’s a nice little start, hopefully there is a little more on the way,’’ Trevor Crow said.

‘‘We haven’t had anything decent since October.’’

Phil Crow was less enthusiastic.

‘‘For me it would be a tad too early, but if it stays cool it would be good,’’ he said.

Thoona farmer Hamish Sinclair said fruit and tomato growers did not want a huge dump of rain.

This was because even though crop farmers had little moisture at the moment, there was plenty of time for rain before sowing in April.

‘‘It’s been a great summer for us really, with no summer weeds to spray,’’ he said.

Mr Sinclair said the past two wet summers caused an explosion of weeds, and rain now followed by warm weather could also promote weed growth.

‘‘The last few summers we’ve got straight off the header and on to the sprayer, it’s been never-ending,’’ he said.

But the weather could not be controlled and rain was generally welcome whenever it arrived.

‘‘We won’t be sorry if we get a couple of inches,’’ Mr Sinclair said.

Mr Godfred said the seasonal outlook for autumn in northern Victoria was inconclusive.

He said there was nothing pointing to above- or below-average rainfall because the background factors that drove rainfall, for example El Nino or La Nina, would not have a big influence during that time.