October has been an exceptionally wet month in Victoria, with parts of the state setting new monthly records and Melbourne close to having its wettest October in 47 years.

A series of rain-bearing cloud bands have caused frequent and heavy rain in Victoria during the last few weeks. As of 9am on Friday, large areas of the state had received two to five times their monthly average rainfall for October.

Swan Hill’s running monthly total of 157.2 mm is its highest rainfall October in records dating back to 1884. Bendigo has also smashed its October record, with this month’s running total of 286.8 mm beating the old October record of 207.0 mm from 1975. Bendigo’s observations date back to 1862.

Image: Observed rainfall during the first 28 days of October as a percentage the long-term average for the same period. Source: Bureau of Meteorology

As you can see from the map above, the heaviest and most anomalous rain this month has fallen to the north of Melbourne. However, the city is still having one of its wettest Octobers on record.

As of 9am on Friday, Melbourne had received 142.4 mm of rain so far this month. This is more than double its long-term monthly average and makes this the city’s 6th wettest October in records dating back to 1855.

As it stands, Melbourne is having its wettest October since 2010 (144.8 mm), but if it receives another few millimetres before the end of the month, it will be the wettest October since 1975 (150.2 mm).

Melbourne’s wettest October on record was 193.3 mm in 1869.