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Thursday, 1 June 2006

MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY - NORTHERN TERRITORY

Northern Territory in May 2006

Sudden tranistion to classic dry season.

May in the Territory saw a sudden transition, following a late burst of the monsoon in late April. Relatively cool and dry southeasterly winds quickly established throughout the Territory at the beginning of May. A few mid-latitude frontal systems skimmed southern parts of the Territory, but basically southeasterly winds dominated for most of the month. Consequently clear skies and cooler than average temperatures (both maximums and minimums) were the main feature. A particularly cold burst late in May gave a number of sites their lowest May temperature on record, and several sites also recorded their lowest average maximum on record. On three occasions, conditions in the middle levels of the atmosphere were favourable for widespread cloud-bands, from the 8th to 10th, 19th to 22nd, and again at the end of the month. On one of these events, around the 22nd, some rain was recorded in the Alice Springs district. On the same day the northwest Top End also received significant rainfall totals. A tropical low-pressure system persisted between the Gulf of Carpentaria and Irian Jaya for the first half of the month, and this helped the northeast corner of the Top End, around Nhulunbuy, get much greater than average rainfall for the month.

A table of Territory extremes, some new records, and summaries for sites across the Territory appear below.

Extremes

Weather extremes during May 2006
Highest temperature
Hottest day
34.4 °C
 Jabiru Airport AWS on 11th
Highest mean daily maximum temperature
Warmest days on average
32.3 °C
 Jabiru Airport AWS
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature
Coolest days on average
21.0 °C
 Arltunga
Lowest daily maximum temperature
Coldest day
16.9 °C
 Kulgera on 27th
Lowest temperature
Coldest night
-1.1 °C
 Arltunga on 24th
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature
Coldest nights on average
5.5 °C
 Alice Springs Airport
Highest mean daily minimum temperature
Warmest nights on average
23.4 °C
 Warruwi AWS
Highest daily minimum
Warmest night
26.0 °C
 Black Point
and Cape Don AWS on the 12th
Highest total rainfall
Wettest overall
168.4 mm
 Gove Airport
Highest daily rainfall
Wettest day
34.0 mm
 Humpty Doo Collard Road on 22nd

Records

Record Lowest Mean Maximum Temperature for May 2006


Mean daily maximum
temperature
(°C) 		Previous lowest Years of
record
Brunette Downs
26.8
26.9
in 1959
39
Larrimah
29.0
29.5
in 2000
38
Gove Airport
28.4
28.9
in 1972
27
Timber Creek
30.1
30.2
in 2000
25
Mango Farm
30.3
30.4
in 2000
23
Wollogorang
28.9
29.9
in 1977
23
McArthur River Mine
30.1
30.7
in 1977
22
Katherine Aviation Museum
29.5
30.5
in 2000
19
Douglas River
30.3
30.8
in 2000
12
Ngukurr
30.0
30.4
in 1963
12
Kidman Springs
29.6
30.0
in 2000
10


Record Lowest Temperature for May 2006


Lowest temperature
(°C) 		Previous lowest Years of
record
Larrimah
4.5
on 30th
5.8
on 28th in 1967
38
Victoria River Downs
4.5
on 30th
5.0
on 31st in 2002
37
Timber Creek
7.6
on 31st
9.5
on 21st in 1994
25
Katherine Aviation Museum
6.3
on 30th
6.5
on 31st in 2002
19
Tindal RAAF AWS
6.0
on 30th
6.2
on 31st in 2002
18
Lajamanu AWS
3.0
on 30th
5.0
on 24th in 2001
13
Black Point
17.4
on 30th
18.5
on 2nd in 1999
12
Territory Grape Farm AWS
1.4
on 24th
1.5
on 31st in 2002
11


Summaries

Summary statistics for May 2006


 Maximum temperatures
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
(°C)		 Rainfall
(mm)
Mean Difference from normal Highest Mean Difference from normal Lowest Total Normal total
Ali Curung
25.1
-2.4
28.0
9.7
-2.2
3.0
1
17
Alice Springs Airport
21.9
-1.1
25.3
5.5
-2.9
0.4
5
20
Alyangula Police
29.7
-1.1
31.7
20.8
-0.4
16.3
3
32
Arltunga
21.0

24.6
6.6

-1.1
0
21
Batchelor Aero AWS
30.5

32.8
17.7

9.6
0
13
Black Point
31.0
-0.1
33.0
23.3
-0.2
17.4
0
40
Borroloola AWS
29.4
-3.1
31.8
15.2
-0.5
6.2
0
3
Brunette Downs
26.8
-3.0
31.0
12.5
-2.4
5.7
0
8
Cape Don AWS


31.3


24.2
0
38
Centre Island AWS
28.3
-1.3
29.6
21.8
-0.8
17.5
1
13
Channel Point


30.8


19.0
0
9
Curtin Springs
23.5
-0.4
28.0
6.3
-2.4
0.4
1
18
Daly Waters AWS
28.9
-2.1
32.0
13.8
-2.4
5.4
0
8
Darwin Airport
30.8
-1.2
32.7
20.6
-1.5
15.7
23
21
Delamere Weapons Range AWS
28.8
-2.9
31.0
16.1
-1.6
12.0
0

Douglas River
30.3
-2.9
33.1
16.1
-0.4
8.9
0
9
Dum In Mirrie AWS
31.0

33.0
20.5

12.7
27
15
Elliott
27.6
-3.9
31.2
14.5
-1.4
9.0
0
8
Gove Airport
28.4
-1.5
29.6
22.9
+0.4
19.9
168
80
Groote Eylandt Airport AWS


32.1


10.9
4

Jabiru Airport AWS
32.3
-1.2
34.4
20.8
-0.9
15.7
0
11
Jervois
23.5
-1.9
28.4
9.5
-0.4
2.7
0
20
Katherine Aviation Museum
29.5
-2.8
32.1
14.7
-2.2
6.3
0
6
Kidman Springs
29.6
-3.1
32.6
14.8
-1.2
7.8
0
4
Kulgera
21.8
-0.9
26.0
6.4
-2.9
1.3
0
12
Lajamanu AWS
27.7
-1.9
30.0
10.8
-2.8
3.0
0
7
Larrimah
29.0
-2.8
31.6
13.4
-3.0
4.5
1
9
Mango Farm
30.3
-2.9
33.0
18.7
+0.2
10.5
0
9
Maningrida


33.5


13.2
9
24
McArthur River Mine
30.1
-2.4
32.6
15.2
-1.1
6.8
2
8
McCluer Island AWS
28.9

30.5
24.7

21.8
36
42
Ngukurr
30.0
-2.0
31.7


13.3
0
11
Oenpelli


33.1


17.2
0
15
Papunya
24.1

27.0


3.0
1
25
Pirlangimpi AWS
31.1
-1.3
32.7
20.6
-0.4
15.4
26
22
Point Fawcett AWS
30.1

31.8
19.2

12.0
0
33
Rabbit Flat
26.9
-2.5
29.1
9.6
-2.2
1.9
0

Tennant Creek Airport
25.3
-2.3
27.6
14.0
-2.4
8.6
0
8
Territory Grape Farm AWS
23.3
-2.3
26.7
7.1
-2.1
1.4
1
27
Timber Creek
30.1
-2.9
33.3
16.3
-2.1
7.6
0
8
Tindal RAAF AWS


32.4


6.0
0
1
Victoria River Downs
28.7
-3.3
31.8
13.2
-2.9
4.5
0
6
Warruwi AWS
30.8
+0.1
32.9
23.4
-0.6
20.0
4
15
Watarrka
23.7
-1.1
27.0
8.6
-2.0
1.6
0
28
Wave Hill
28.2
-3.0
31.0
12.1
-3.0
4.0
0
8
Wollogorang
28.9
-2.5
31.6
15.0
-0.5
6.9
0
8
Yuendumu
23.7
-1.4
26.4
8.1
-3.1
2.2
8
25
Yulara Aero AWS
23.1
-1.3
26.8
6.6
-2.9
1.7
1
15

Notes

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Thursday 1 June. Although every effort has been made to verify the data, it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

* denotes that one or more observations missing, or that the data is unconfirmed

Further information

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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