Two bursts, one at the beginning of the year and the second just gone, have been the main cause.

The heavier rain at the start of January, the result of a deep inland trough, brought some people as much as half their January rainfall in one go.

The recent rainfall, pulled in from the deep Southern Ocean by a low, has simply topped up the coffers.

Melbourne sits very much on the dividing line of 'wet' Victoria and 'dry' Victoria. The state's capital is suffering with only 23mm taken so far.

Over to the east, it is a different story. Most of the Northeast, Alpine areas and parts of East Gippsland have already recorded 100-150pc of their January mean.

To the west it is dry, similar to Melbourne, with most places sitting around 40-60pc of their January mean.

This has been a direct result of a lack of strong frontal systems in the last three weeks.

However, the month is not over yet and rainfall could still provide a boost to those drier areas.

It does look quite dry for Melbourne over the next two weeks though, possibly leading to the fourth below-average January in a row.