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Wednesday 7 June 2006 CANBERRA MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY - ACT REGIONAL OFFICE ACT has 7th driest Autumn on recordAutumn 2006 - Main Points:
Rainfall: Canberra Airport recorded 55.4mm of rain, which fell over 10 of the 92 days of Autumn, which was well below the average of 144.4mm of rain over 22days. This ranked Autumn 2006 as the 7th driest on record (the driest was in 2004 with a total of 13.4mm). The number of rain days, namely 10, was the third lowest recorded (lowest was 6 days back in Autumn 2004). March was the only month that was close to the long term average, with 30.8mm compared with the mean of 51.6mm. Both April and May were well below the monthly long term averages. May was particularly dry, with only 9.8mm reported over three days in comparison to the average of 45.7mm over 8 days. The heaviest 24 hour total to 9am at Canberra Airport was 18.6mm on 16 March. Rainfall across the region was highly variable with Corin Dam recording the highest Autumn total of 97.6mm, followed by Ginninderra with 63.4mm and Hall with 55.6mm. The lowest fall of 26.2mm was recorded at Tuggeranong. Thunderstorms were reported on 1 day through Autumn, compared to the seasonal average of 3. This lone thunderstorm occurred on 15 March. Temperature: ACT residents experienced a mean daily temperature
(average of daily maximum and minimum temperatures) of 13.7°C during Autumn.
This was a little warmer than the long-term average of 13.3°C. March
and May recorded mean daily temperatures above or close to average whereas April recorded
a mean daily temperature some 0.9°C below average. The mean daily maximum
temperature of 20.9°C was 1°C above the seasonal average of 19.9°C. The mean daily maximum was above average for both March and May
but April was 0.2°C below the long-term average. The highest maximum temperature
recorded at the Airport during Autumn was 33.9°C Celsius on 12 March.
The coldest maximum temperature was 11.5°C on 8 May. The mean daily minimum temperature of 6.5°C was 0.3°C
below the average of 6.8°C The mean daily minimum temperature was above
average for March only. The coolest temperature recorded was minus 3.9°C on 29 May. The lowest terrestrial (grass) temperature was minus 8.2°C.
This was recorded on the morning of 29th May. A total of 27 frosts
(average 17) were reported during Autumn. This ranks the number of frosts this
season as equal third highest on record (highest is 29 in 1957). The first frost
for the season occurred on the morning of 2 April. There were 5 fogs recorded
at the Airport during Autumn. This was down on the long-term average of
12. Sunshine: The average daily sunshine of 8.2 hours
per day was well above
the seasonal average of 7.0 hours per day and the 2nd sunniest Autumn on record. The
sunniest Autumn was last year with an average of 8.3 hours per day.
April and May recorded well above average
hours, while March recorded sunshine hours closer to the historic average. Wind: The average daily wind run for Autumn was 182.9km, which was windier than the long-term average of 155.6km. The number of strong wind days for the season was 9, well above the long-term average of 2 days, and equal third highest on record (highest was 13 recorded in 1962). Other: The total Autumn evaporation of 417.8mm was well above the seasonal average of 349.2mm. The mean daily pressure of 1017.8hPa was below the long-term mean of 1018.9hPa. SUMMARY FOR CANBERRA AIRPORT – AUTUMN 2006 1 All averages are based on the long term averages from Canberra
Airport, during the period 1939 to 2006, with the exception of those stated in
2. Further information: Kenn Batt, Canberra Meteorological Office,
tel: (02) 6249 6269, email: k.batt@bom.gov.au May 2006 - Main Points:
Rainfall: A total of 9.8mm of rain fell at Canberra Airport
in May, which is well below the average of 45.7mm. Rain fell over three days,
which is well below the average of 8 days for May. No thunderstorms were reported at Canberra Airport during the month. Rainfall across the ACT was mostly
light and variable, with the heaviest 24 hour totals, in the range 3 to 6mm,
recorded to 9am on 8th May. During this 24 hour period, Corin Dam recorded
the highest fall of 18.8mm. The lowest was 2.6mm at Melba. The next best falls
in the region occurred in the 24 hour period ending 24th. Highest reported fall was
5.0mm at Hall. The highest total for the month of 23.8mm was recorded
at Corin Dam, whilst the lowest was 4.2mm at Stromlo Forest. Temperatures: The mean daily maximum temperature of 16.2°C
was just above the long-term average of 15.4°C. The highest daily
maximum temperature of 18.8°C occurred on 16th and 17th. The lowest
maximum temperature of 11.5°C was recorded on 8th. The mean daily
minimum temperature of 2.6°C was 0.5°C below the average
of 3.1°C. The lowest temperature was minus 3.9°C on
29th. The lowest grass temperature was minus 8.2°C which was recorded
on 29th. There were 16 frosts recorded at the Airport for the month compared to
an average of 13. The mean daily temperature (average of daily maximum
and minimum temperatures) of 9.4°C was just above the average of 9.3°C. Other: There were 3 days that experienced strong winds, which is 2 above average for May. The monthly evaporation of 73.0mm, was above the average of 69.4mm. The average daily sunshine of 6.8 hours per day was also above the historic average of 5.8 hours per day for May. There were 4 fogs (average 7) and the average daily pressure of 1020.4 hPa, was very close to the May mean of 1020.5hPa. SUMMARY FOR CANBERRA AIRPORT – MAY 2006 1 All averages are based on the long term averages from Canberra
Airport, during the period 1939 to 2006, with the exception of those stated
in 2. Further information: Kenn Batt, Canberra Meteorological Office, tel: (02) 6249 6269, email: k.batt@bom.gov.au
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