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SEASONAL CLIMATE SUMMARY - NORTHERN TERRITORY
Most locations in the Territory averaged warmer than normal days and nights during the 2005 dry season (May to September). Above average winter rains fell through much of southern parts of the Territory, though were insufficient to relieve pre-existing long-term deficiencies in some southern and central regions of the Territory.
Above average winter rains were received in most parts of the Alice Springs district, mostly from a couple of cloud-band events in June and July. Alice Springs, for instance, had its 4th wettest July on record. However at the start of the season serious long-term rainfall deficiencies were well entrenched, with summer rains having failed and no substantial rainfall since May 2004. In many areas, this season’s rainfall was insufficient to alleviate these long-term deficiencies.
The warm conditions experienced across most of the Territory during the previous wet season continued this dry season, with maximum temperatures averaging about 1oC above normal across the Territory. Most months were warmer than normal in northern parts, while in the south of the Territory, May and September were the stand-out warm months, with relatively small anomalies in the interim months.
Darwin recorded above average maximum temperatures for each month of the dry season, as it did for the previous wet season, to give it it's hottest October-September averaged maximum temperature on record. Alice Springs also recorded it’s hottest October-September period on record.
Minimum temperatures were also warmer than normal by about 1oC, when averaged across the Territory during the dry season. In contrast to maximum temperatures though, May was generally cool across the Territory, while June, July and September were all warmer than normal.
A table of Territory extremes,
some new records,
and summaries for sites across the Territory
appear below.
Weather extremes during the period May to September 2005 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Highest temperature Hottest day |
41.0 °C |
Elliott on 28th of Sep | |
Highest mean daily maximum temperature Warmest days on average |
34.2 °C |
Middle Point AWS | |
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature Coolest days on average |
22.7 °C |
Kulgera | |
Lowest daily maximum temperature Coldest day |
10.0 °C |
Kulgera on 11th of Jul | |
Lowest temperature Coldest night |
-4.1 °C |
Arltunga on 9th of Aug | |
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature Coldest nights on average |
7.6 °C |
Alice Springs Airport | |
Highest mean daily minimum temperature Mildest nights on average |
23.1 °C |
Warruwi AWS | |
Highest daily minimum Warmest night |
27.5 °C |
Tennant Creek Airport on 30th of Sep | |
Highest total rainfall Wettest overall |
136.2 mm |
Wulungurru AWS | |
Highest daily rainfall Wettest day |
53.4 mm |
Alice Springs Airport on 8th Jul | |
Record Lowest 16-Month Cumulative Rainfall Totals for June 2004 to September 2005 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total rainfall (mm) |
Previous lowest | Years of record |
||
Rabbit Flat * |
98.2 |
187.4 |
in 1991 |
28 |
Darwin River Dam * |
992.9 |
1063.2 |
in 1991 |
27 |
Ali Curung * |
141.4 |
171.8 |
in 1969 |
24 |
Ormiston Gorge * |
165.5 |
173.2 |
in 1990 |
21 |
Palmer Valley * |
98.2 |
126.6 |
in 1959 |
16 |
Channel Island * |
1152.3 |
1221.4 |
in 1937 |
14 |
Record Highest Daily Minimum Temperature for the Period May to September 2005 |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Highest daily minimum (°C) |
Previous highest (°C) |
Years of record |
||||
Kulgera |
21.7 |
on the 28th Sep |
21.6 |
on the 27th of Sep 1987 |
23 |
|
Record Highest 12-Month Mean Daily Maximum Temperature for October 2004 to September 2005 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily maximum temperature (°C) |
Previous highest (°C) | Years of record |
||
Alice Springs Airport |
30.5 |
30.4 |
in 1979 |
62 |
Darwin Airport |
32.8 |
32.8 |
in 2002 |
59 |
Daly Waters AWS |
35.4 |
35.1 |
in 1941 |
32 |
Timber Creek |
35.7 |
35.7 |
in 1991 |
21 |
Yuendumu |
32.2 |
31.6 |
in 2002 |
19 |
Kulgera |
29.6 |
29.4 |
in 2002 |
17 |
Elliott |
36.6 |
36.0 |
in 1991 |
15 |
Jabiru Airport AWS |
35.1 |
35.1 |
in 2002 |
15 |
Warruwi AWS |
32.0 |
31.6 |
in 1987 |
15 |
Yulara Aero AWS |
31.0 |
30.7 |
in 1995 |
13 |
Summary statistics for the Period May to September 2005 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Rainfall (mm) |
||||||
| Actual | Difference from normal | Highest | Actual | Difference from normal | Lowest | Total | Average | |
Ali Curung |
27.4 |
+0.1 |
38.0 |
11.9 |
+1.6 |
2.5 |
59 |
37 |
Alice Springs Airport |
23.8 |
+1.3 |
36.8 |
7.6 |
+0.9 |
-0.4 |
94 |
67 |
Alyangula Police |
29.8 |
+0.3 |
33.6 |
19.9 |
+0.7 |
14.5 |
57 |
49 |
Arltunga |
22.9 |
35.0 |
8.0 |
-4.1 |
93 |
57 |
||
Batchelor Aero AWS |
34.0 |
38.3 |
18.2 |
9.9 |
12 |
|||
Borroloola AWS |
32.2 |
+0.2 |
37.8 |
15.2 |
+0.7 |
6.4 |
11 |
|
Brunette Downs |
30.3 |
+1.0 |
39.7 |
14.4 |
+1.2 |
5.4 |
7 |
27 |
Centre Island AWS |
29.0 |
+0.8 |
33.8 |
21.3 |
+0.8 |
16.2 |
5 |
24 |
Channel Point |
30.3 |
+0.3 |
34.3 |
19.2 |
+0.1 |
11.5 |
13 |
26 |
Curtin Springs |
24.2 |
+1.3 |
37.6 |
8.5 |
+2.0 |
-1.5 |
74 |
63 |
Daly Waters AWS |
32.6 |
+1.9 |
39.0 |
15.2 |
+0.8 |
4.9 |
5 |
14 |
Darwin Airport |
32.2 |
+0.8 |
35.1 |
21.3 |
+0.3 |
15.9 |
3 |
46 |
Delamere Weapons Range AWS |
32.3 |
38.0 |
18.2 |
8.0 |
0 |
|||
Douglas River |
33.8 |
+0.6 |
39.0 |
16.3 |
+0.6 |
5.0 |
0 |
21 |
Dum In Mirrie AWS |
31.4 |
34.6 |
21.0 |
12.1 |
9 |
|||
Elliott |
41.0 |
6.1 |
||||||
Gove Airport |
29.3 |
+0.3 |
32.4 |
20.6 |
0 |
15.2 |
69 |
145 |
Jabiru Airport AWS |
34.0 |
+0.7 |
39.0 |
20.3 |
+0.3 |
14.6 |
0 |
23 |
Jervois |
25.1 |
+0.3 |
39.0 |
9.9 |
+2.0 |
0.0 |
122 |
58 |
Katherine Aviation Museum |
32.6 |
+0.4 |
38.4 |
16.6 |
+0.9 |
5.4 |
0 |
13 |
Kidman Springs |
33.2 |
39.3 |
15.9 |
4.0 |
5 |
13 |
||
Kulgera |
22.7 |
+0.9 |
37.5 |
8.8 |
+1.3 |
0.0 |
63 |
68 |
Lajamanu AWS |
31.0 |
+1.6 |
40.0 |
14.6 |
+2.7 |
5.0 |
11 |
18 |
Larrimah |
32.2 |
+0.7 |
38.7 |
15.5 |
+0.4 |
6.0 |
0 |
19 |
Mango Farm |
33.9 |
+0.7 |
38.7 |
17.6 |
+0.7 |
9.4 |
2 |
24 |
Maningrida |
31.2 |
+0.3 |
34.5 |
19.9 |
+0.8 |
14.2 |
9 |
31 |
McArthur River Mine |
39.5 |
5.1 |
1 |
21 |
||||
McCluer Island AWS |
28.4 |
31.2 |
24.5 |
21.4 |
0 |
|||
Ngukurr |
32.6 |
+1.0 |
38.6 |
18.7 |
+1.8 |
12.0 |
6 |
18 |
Oenpelli |
38.4 |
13.9 |
6 |
25 |
||||
Papunya |
25.5 |
36.0 |
10.2 |
-0.5 |
92 |
63 |
||
Point Fawcett AWS |
31.7 |
35.2 |
21.2 |
14.6 |
0 |
|||
Rabbit Flat |
29.8 |
40.2 |
12.2 |
1.5 |
27 |
|||
Tennant Creek Airport |
27.9 |
+0.8 |
38.2 |
16.1 |
+1.2 |
8.2 |
28 |
28 |
Territory Grape Farm |
25.4 |
-0.2 |
36.0 |
9.1 |
+1.0 |
1.0 |
127 |
51 |
Timber Creek |
33.4 |
+0.8 |
39.4 |
17.1 |
-0.1 |
7.6 |
2 |
18 |
Tindal RAAF |
32.5 |
+0.7 |
38.7 |
16.8 |
+0.5 |
6.9 |
0 |
15 |
Victoria River Downs |
32.1 |
+0.6 |
38.6 |
14.7 |
+0.4 |
3.3 |
5 |
16 |
Warruwi AWS |
30.5 |
+0.8 |
33.0 |
23.1 |
+0.6 |
20.0 |
7 |
21 |
Watarrka |
24.9 |
+0.5 |
36.9 |
10.4 |
+1.3 |
-1.5 |
84 |
80 |
Wave Hill |
31.7 |
+0.8 |
39.2 |
15.2 |
+1.6 |
2.4 |
5 |
28 |
Wollogorang |
31.7 |
+0.3 |
38.3 |
14.5 |
+0.9 |
5.2 |
1 |
12 |
Yuendumu |
25.8 |
+1.1 |
36.5 |
10.2 |
+0.8 |
0.9 |
87 |
66 |
Yulara Aero AWS |
23.8 |
+0.3 |
37.4 |
8.1 |
+0.8 |
-1.3 |
91 |
71 |
This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Tuesday 4 October, 2005. Although every effort has been made to verify the data, it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.
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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