mmg.com.au

Heathcote was awash on Wednesday evening after a sudden storm dumped more than 30mm of rain on parts of the district in less than 20 minutes.

This wet, cold finish to summer ended a season of extremes.

The coolest day was on February 28 when the mercury struggled to reach 19.3°C and the hottest on January 7 when the temperature hit 41.1°C.

Searing southerly winds, gusting at up to 70km/h, made the last day of summer feel much colder than the actual figures suggest.

The coldest night was December 17 which left the district shivering at only 4.8°C, while the warmest was a balmy 20°C on January 18.

Rainfall remained low over summer, with the nearest official weather station at Redesdale registering 18.2mm in December, no rainfall in January and 56.8mm in February, almost half of which fell on February 26 when 27.6mm was recorded.

The longest dry stretch was 42 days between December 20 and February 1, and no significant falls were recorded until Friday, February 22, when 11.8mm fell.

Unofficial reports from the wider Heathcote district have shown falls of up to 50mm in the second half of February.

Residents have welcomed this as tanks and dams slowly start to fill after the prolonged dry spell.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicts there is a 30 to 40 per cent chance that daytime autumn temperatures will exceed the long-term median maximum.

By contrast, there is a 60 to 75 per cent chance of cooler than normal nights in Victoria during autumn.