Dry July for Geraldton

After copping a June drenching, Geraldton recorded just 41.4mm of rainfall in July — less than half the 86.9mm average.

The bulk of that figure, 33.2mm, fell on July 5, while the rest fell between July 20 and 23, and most of that on July 20.

Bureau of Meteorology Geraldton duty observer Patrick Ramsdale said the dry weather was caused by a higher than average pressure system over the Great Australian Bight.

“Essentially, the highs suppress cloud formation, so you don’t get convection,” Mr Ramsdale said.

“It also keeps the cold fronts further south than normal, which means that we don’t get as much of the cold front activity pushing this far north along the west coast.”

Mr Ramsdale said the August outlook indicated a 55 to 65 per cent chance of Geraldton receiving 50mm of rainfall or more.

The August average is about 62mm.

He said the chance of 100mm or more was 15 per cent or less.

In June, the bureau recorded 141.6mm at Geraldton Airport — well above the average of 82.5mm.