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MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY - NT REGIONAL OFFICE
April continued with great aplomb the day-time heat and rainfall paucity of the preceding months. Indeed in relative terms it exceeded them presenting temperatures as much as 5-6oC above average in the Territory’s southwestern parts and producing next to no rainfall over more than half of its land area. The month lost no time in setting its temperature agenda turning in new daily maximum temperature records from Tennant Creek southward during its first three days. A week’s pause followed before once again such records tumbled. Remarkably, Ali Curung, situated in the northern part of the Alice Springs district, had by mid-month broken its old record set in April 1998 on no less than seven occasions. While conditions gradually mellowed during the last week or so of the month, day time temperatures nonetheless remained above average in most places right to the very end (an unusual occurrence for April). Such persistent warmth assisted greatly in allowing the widely separated Darwin and Alice Springs Airports to report record breaking seven month (ie wet season) mean maximum temperatures. Darwin Airport also reported its second sunniest wet season on record (averaging 8.3 hours per day compared to its long term average of 7.4 hours). The station’s sunniest wet season on record is that of 8.4 hours per day obtained in 1989/90. Alice Springs Airport did even better reporting a record breaking average 10.9 hours per day for those seven months (the station’s long term average for the period is 9.9 hours per day) surpassing its previous highest effort of 10.7 hours per day recorded in 1955/56.
The explanation for this was an ongoing procession of sub tropical highs moving through the Great Australian Bight giving support to a persistent and mostly stable easterly wind regime virtually throughout the Territory. Potential interruption to this occurred early in the second week in northern parts when an active monsoon trough planted itself offshore from the north coast. However, while some useful falls were reported for a few days, the trough never really managed to move on to centre stage prior to its being mortally struck by the arrival of dry air aloft around the middle of the month. Meanwhile further south the sun just kept shining, virtually unhindered, day in day out throughout the month.
Maps displaying recent temperature and rainfall patterns can be seen on the Bureau’s web site.
The rainfall decile map is stark indeed showing vast areas of the Territory receiving below average rainfall and some portions, especially in the far southwest, well below average rainfall. Above average rainfall was confined to just those very few stations that were either in close proximity to the monsoon trough (eg Cape Wessel’s 186.4mm - 23.9mm above average) or fortunate enough to be directly in the path of a passing storm or two (eg Territory Wildlife Park’s 118.0mm - 40.7mm above average).
The aforementioned Cape Wessel captured the honours for both the Territory’s highest reported monthly and daily rainfall amounts - 186.4mm and 63.0mm (on the 10th) respectively. Darwin Airport completed the month with a total of 68.6mm, compared to its April mean of 98.9mm, ranking the month 35th out of 65. This has given the station an unprecedented “clean sweep” of below average rainfall totals for all seven months of the wet season just concluded (in fact every month since June 2004’s unseasonable 50.6mm has weighed in with a below average figure).
As earlier indicated, southern areas were especially poorly served during April with respect to rainfall. That Upper Bond Springs’s monthly accumulation of a mere 2.0mm should represent the best reported effort from the Alice Springs district is solemn testimony as to how entrenched the rain deficient situation is over the Territory’s southern parts. Most stations received no rainfall at all including Alice Springs Airport leaving it with an eleven month tally of only 37.0mm, its lowest ever for the period June to April inclusive (the previous lowest was 63.3mm for the equivalent period in 1963/64) and well short of the equivalent long term mean of 263.6mm.
| Lowest Monthly Rainfall(mm) for April 2005 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Station | Record | Previous | Years of record |
|
| Record | Year | |||
| McCluer Island | 3.0 | 19.0 | 2003 | 10 |
April’s mean maximum temperature anomalies when resolved for the Territory as a whole compute to a remarkable figure of plus 3.52oC (using 1961-90 climatology) - the highest such on record. Their spatial distribution ranged from near average over a small area near Galiwinku on the north coast through to 5oC - 6oC above average over much of the western half of the Alice Springs district . A number of both record high daily maximum, and mean monthly maximum temperatures were broken from within central and southern districts (sometimes several times over with respect to daily maximums). While two distinct heat waves were the prime movers of such outcomes the absence of cooler outbreaks of air from higher latitudes was also a feature of the month. Darwin Airport’s average of 33.5oC was 0.8oC above its mean, rendering it the eighth consecutive month since September reporting above average figures. Indeed its seven-month average maximum since the commencement of the wet season in October 2004 sits at 33.3 oC, the highest on record for that period (the previous highest mean maximum for that seven-month span was 33.2 oC occurring in the season of 1969/70).
Jervois (Alice Springs district) reported the Territory's highest maximum temperature, 41oC on the 1st and and Kulgera (Alice Springs district) the lowest maximum temperature, 21.9oC on the 14th. The highest mean maximum temperature was 37.7oC at Bradshaw (Darwin-Daly district) and the lowest was 31.3oC at Gove Airport (Arnhem district).
Mean minimum temperatures northward of 18 o S were close to average except along the west coast where they were 1oC - 2oC above average and part of the Gulf Coast where they were 1oC - 2oC below average. South of 18 o S such temperatures ranged from 1oC - 2oC above average to a patch in the far south where they were as much as 5oC - 6oC above average. A number of places from Tennant Creek Airport southward reported both record high daily minimum temperatures and monthly mean minimum temperatures. Curtin Springs (39 year climatology) broke its previous high minimum temperature set in April last year on four occasions. Interestingly that same station some days later, on the 25th, reported a brisk 9.0oC as its minimum (the Territory’s lowest temperature for the month) which nonetheless was 2.1oC above the Territory’s March equivalent - a very unusual occurrence .
Curtin Springs (Alice Springs district) reported the Territory's lowest minimum temperature, 9.0oC on the 25th. Wulungurru (Alice Springs district) the highest minimum temperature, 29oC on the 11th. The lowest mean minimum temperature was 15.5oC at Alice Springs Airport (Alice Springs District)and the highest was 25.8oC at Centre Island (Arnhem district).
| Highest Daily Maximum Temperature (oC) for April 2005 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Station | Record | Date | Previous | Years of record |
|
| Record | Date | ||||
| Alice Springs Airport | 39.1 | 1 | 38.6 | 12/04/2003 | 63 |
| Yuendumu | 38.0 | 1 & 2 | 37.5 | 04/04/2003 | 39 |
| Yuendumu | 38.5 | 10 | 38.0 | 1&2/04/2005 | 40 |
| Curtin Springs | 40.0 | 1 | 39.1 | 04/04/1993 | 38 |
| Jervois | 41.0 | 1 | 39.7 | 12/04/2003 | 36 |
| Tennant Creek Airport | 38.1 | 1 | 37.6 | 06/04/1980 | 35 |
| Tennant Creek Airport | 38.4 | 9 | 38.1 | 01/04/2005 | 36 |
| Elliott | 40.3 | 9 | 39.7 | 12/04/1998 | 25 |
| Kulgera | 39.9 | 2 | 39.5 | 02/04/1986 | 23 |
| Ali Curung | 39.3 | 2 | 38.2 | 13/04/1998 | 16 |
| Watarrka | 39.0 | 1 & 2 | 38.6 | 04/04/1993 | 14 |
| Highest Monthly Mean Maximum Temperature (oC) for April 2005 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Station | Record | Previous | Years of record |
|
| Record | Year | |||
| Curtin Springs | 33.8 | 33.3 | 2002 | 39 |
| Jervois | 35.0 | 34.4 | 2002 | 37 |
| Tennant Creek Airport | 35.3 | 34.5 | 2002 | 36 |
| Elliott* | 37.6 | 37.5 | 2002 | 26 |
| Kulgera | 32.1 | 31.6 | 2002 | 24 |
| Ali Curung | 35.6 | 35.1 | 2002 | 17 |
| Watarrka | 34.7 | 34.1 | 2002 | 15 |
| Lajamanu | 37.3 | 36.4 | 2002 | 11 |
| Highest Daily Minimum Temperature (oC) for April 2005 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Station | Record | Date | Previous | Years of record |
|
| Record | Date | ||||
| Yuendumu | 25.5 | 2 | 24.7 | 20/04/1992 | 40 |
| Yuendumu | 27.3 | 3 | 25.5 | 02/04/2005 | 41 |
| Curtin Springs | 23.0 | 3 | 22.8 | 08/04/2004 | 39 |
| Curtin Springs | 23.6 | 10 | 23.0 | 03/04/2005 | 40 |
| Curtin Springs | 24.2 | 11 | 23.6 | 10/04/2005 | 40 |
| Kulgera | 24.6 | 9 | 24.5 | 05/04/1992 | 23 |
| Ali Curung | 26.3 | 11 | 25.8 | 04/04/2000 | 16 |
| Yulara Aero AWS | 25.6 | 2 | 23.6 | 10/04/1998 | 15 |
| Watarrka | 27.5 | 9 | 26.7 | 05/04/1992 | 14 |
| Highest Monthly Mean Minimum Temperature (oC) for April 2005 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Station | Record | Previous | Years of record |
|
| Record | Year | |||
| Jervois | 17.8 | 17.5 | 2000 | 37 |
| Tennant Creek Airport | 23.5 | 22.4 | 1992 | 36 |
| Kulgera | 17.5 | 16.4 | 1992 | 24 |
| Ali Curung | 20.2 | 19.1 | 1989 | 17 |
| Yulara Aero AWS* | 17.3 | 16.0 | 2004 | 16 |
| Watarrka | 20.6 | 18.2 | 2004 | 15 |
| Lajamanu | 20.8 | 20.5 | 1973 | 11 |
This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Monday 9 May 2005. Although every effort has been made to verify the data, it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.
* indicates 1 day missing from monthly average.
The Daily Weather Observations lists daily temperatures and rainfall, plus many other meteorological variables, at more than 50 locations across the Territory (and over 700 across Australia). Data from the last 13 months are available from this web site.
Monthly rainfall and temperature maps are also available.
Further climate data and information can be obtained from:
Climate and Consultative Services
Northern Territory Regional Office
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (08) 8920 3813
Email climate.nt@bom.gov.au
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