It’s official - 2016 was cold and wet

Bunbury recorded its second wettest year since 2005 and only two months of 2016 had maximum temperatures above the long-term average.

There was 801.8mm of rain in Bunbury last year, with only the 815.4mm recorded in 2013 surpassing that total in the past decade.

Maximum temperatures were below the monthly average for every month between February and December, excluding November where it nudged 0.1C above normal.

Bunbury’s average minimums were also below normal for the last eight months of 2016.

Despite the subdued temperatures, particularly during September and October, the Bureau of Meteorology’s seasonal outlook for Bunbury predicts a “normal” summer.

BoM’s forecasting suggests the first three months of 2017, which are historically the year’s hottest and driest, will be similar to average.

BoM is on the fence about Bunbury’s rainfall, predicting a virtually even chance of it surpassing the 30mm median in the first quarter of 2017.

The median temperature outlooks for that period are similarly even, with the likelihood of surpassing the 15.5C minimum and 29.1C maximum being about 50 per cent.

One prediction BoM is more confident about is that January will have cooler than normal nights.

BoM has tipped only a one-in-three chance of Bunbury surpassing the 15.7C median this month.

Last year had a number of extreme days at both ends of the temperature range.

The hottest day of 2016 was on February 8, when the temperature reached 40C, while the hottest night was 23.1C on March 14.

In contrast, Bunbury’s coldest day last year was June 7 with a maximum of just 12.9C.

The coldest night last year was -1.1C on July 13.

Bunbury’s wettest day last year was August 4, when 36mm fell. This contributed to the 155.2mm of rain for August which made it the wettest month of 2016.