It was a wet end to what started out a dry and hot month in Stawell with the town recording its warmest April day on record.

Mother nature reminded us of just how changeable she is, Stawell saying goodbye to April 2014 with its highest 24-hour soaking of rain for the year to date.

The 14.6 millimetres of rain that fell in gauges across town to 9am last Wednesday, a fitting follow-up to the eight millimetres that was recorded in the previous 24-hour period to 9am last Tuesday.

The welcomed totals were followed by teasing showers across the weekend with a further 6.4 millimetres over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Stawell recorded close to 50 millimetres of rain for the month of April (48.6mm), almost 20 millimetres more than the long term average.

It is the highest April rainfall total since 2010, when 53.4 millimetres was recorded.

April was also host to the lowest overnight temperature for the year to date and the highest maximum temperature for the month since records began.

The lowest overnight minimum came on April 25, when friends and relatives of servicemen and women were greeted by a chilly 1.1 degrees at dawn.

April overnight minimums were on average 1.8 degrees above the long term average of 8.3 degrees at 10.1 degrees.

Summer lingered this year, Stawell leapt to an unseasonably warm 34.2 degrees on April 1, eclipsing the previous record of 33.7 reached on April 14, 2004.

Surprisingly though, overall daily maximum temperatures were one degree below the long term average of 20.8 degrees at 19.9 degrees.

April's rain will be particularly comforting for those in rural parts, farmers sure to be rejoicing at the long awaited autumn break.

Rain totals in each of the first three months of the year were well below the long term average.

Just 19.4 millimetres of rain fell in Stawell in January and 4.8 millimetres in both February and March.

Thankfully, the dry spell came to an end midway through April when 14.2 millimetres of rain on April 9 was followed by falls of six millimetres the following day.

On the back of the decent April rain, Stawell has now reached a progressive rain total of 77.6 millimetres for the year to date, 11 millimetres above the 66.8 millimetre figure for the same time last year.

The town is still well below the long term average accumulative total which sits close to 120 millimetres.

Residents have been left in no doubt that winter is on its way with May conditions dry and cool under a high pressure ridge.

People will need to adjust to minimum temperatures that are noticeably nippy and potentially the coldest since last year.

Despite early rain, the Bureau of Meteorology has forecast that May is expected to be drier than usual across most of Victoria.