With only a week to go, 2021 will be remembered as a wet and mild year for the mainland's south east.
Nation-wide, rainfall for the January to November period was 10 per cent above the 1961-1990 average.
Most of New South Wales had above average rainfall, rising to the wettest on record for an area of the north east of NSW and southern Queensland.
Most of Gippsland had rainfall in the wettest 10pc of records for January to November, and there were also above average totals across most of southern Victoria.
North western and western Victoria, extending into South Australia, was one of the only regions in Australia to record below average rainfall for the first 11 months of the year.
When the final numbers come in, 2021 is likely to be wetter than average overall for the nation - assisted by Australia's wettest November on record.
For eastern Australia, much of the above average rainfall in 2021 - so far - fell over the Murray-Darling Basin.
The major water storages in the Murray-Darling Basin have rebounded this year.
After starting 2021 at 58pc of capacity, water storages in the Murray-Darling Basin experienced significant filling over winter and spring.
As of December 20, total storage in the Murray-Darling Basin is 90.7pc full.
The storage level recovery has been particularly notable over the northern Basin, which reached 90.9pc of capacity at the end of November - the highest level since March 2012.
Most of the storages in the southern Basin were at, or near, full accessible capacity at the end of November.
For Australia overall, the mean temperature for January to November 2021 was 0.51°C above the 1961-1990 average.
But that still makes it the coolest year nation-wide since 2012.
While northern Australia was much warmer than average in parts, much of NSW - extending into patches of Victoria - had cooler than average days and nights.
In contrast, night time temperatures across southern Victoria were warmer than average for January to November.
The wetter and milder conditions for some in 2021 coincided with the return of La Nina.
After emerging in winter 2020, La Nina persisted in the tropical Pacific through summer 2020-21, easing to a neutral El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) state during March 2021.
ENSO remained neutral through winter, before signs of La Nina development were again detected in early spring, with the event becoming established in late November as La Nina atmosphere and ocean patterns firmed.
- Jonathan Pollock, Bureau of Meteorology climatologist
