June rains near average in SA

Acrobat Reader is required to view tables and figures.

SUMMARY

Rainfall was near average over most of the agricultural districts of South Australia during June 2000. Maximum temperatures were near normal over South Australia, while minimum temperatures were below normal in the north of the State.

RAINFALL

Pastoral Districts
Below average rainfall was reported from the northern half of the Northwest district, the western half of the Far North district and much of the Northeast district. The remainder was near average.

Typical rainfall totals ranged from 18 mm at Lake Everard (highest), to 0 mm at several stations including Coober Pedy, Marree and Oodnadatta.

Agricultural Districts
Rainfall was near average over much of the Agricultural districts with the exception of the Upper North and the northern half of the Lower North district that recorded falls below average.

There were isolated pockets of above and below average falls throughout the Agricultural districts; the above average falls being confined to the southern tips of Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas and between Policeman’s Point and Kingston in the Lower South East, below average falls were confined to Penong, on the west coast, Penola in the Lower South East and also around Paruna in the Murray Mallee.

Rainfall totals above 100 mm were reported from the higher parts of the Mount Lofty Ranges, western parts of Kangaroo Island, at Kingston, in the Lower South East and at Warooka, on Yorke Peninsula. Much of the remainder of the State recorded totals between 50 and 100 mm, while totals between 25 and 50mm were confined to parts of the Lower North and Western Agricultural districts. Totals between 10 and 25mm were confined to the Murray Mallee, the Riverland and the Upper North districts. The highest monthly rainfall total in the Agricultural districts was recorded at Parawa, with a total of 175mm; Mt. Lofty, recorded 173 mm.

June 2000 rainfall for selected stations is presented in table 1. The rainfall decile map shows the distribution of monthly rainfall.

TEMPERATURES

Mean minimum temperatures were near normal over most of the State with the exception of the northern interiors where temperatures were up to 3°C below normal. Mean maximum temperatures for June 2000 were near normal throughout South Australia.

In the Pastoral districts mean maximum temperatures ranged from 16°C to 20°C. Mean minima ranged from 4°C to 7°C. In the Agricultural districts, mean maxima ranged from 11.4°C at Mt. Crawford, in the Mt. Lofty Ranges to 18.7°C at Nullarbor on the west coast. Mean minima ranged from 3.2°C at Yongala, in the Upper North, to 12.6°C on Neptune Island. The highest maximum recorded during the month was 25.0°C at Moomba Airport, on the 16th. The lowest minimum recorded during the month was -5.0°C at Yunta on the 14th.

Temperature statistics for all stations are presented in table 2.

SIGNIFICANT WEATHER

A cold air mass that moved into the State between the 11th and 14th reduced minimum temperatures to below 4°C at many recording sites, no records were broken. A series of cold fronts between the 20th and 23rd produced strong to gale force winds across the agricultural districts.

Gale force winds
On the 20th, gale force winds coupled with high tides caused minor flooding to low lying areas in some northwestern suburbs of Adelaide, and caused minor damage to property on Eyre Peninsula. Wind gusts on the 21st reach 95km/h at Renmark and 106km/h at Coles Point. Further strong to gale force winds on the 22nd caused minor property damage at Warooka; Strathalbyn recorded a wind gust to 95km/h.

Thunderstorms
Thunderstorms were reported from across the Agricultural districts on the 21st and 22nd; minor damage to property was reported.

Hail and snow
A cold southerly change on the 28th brought heavy hail showers to much of the southern Agricultural districts. Snow was reported to have fallen at Hallett, in the Lower North whilst at Crafers in the Mount Lofty Ranges a hailstorm caused five motor vehicle accidents involving 20 cars and one semi-trailer on the South Eastern Freeway.

ADELAIDE'S WEATHER

Summary
Rainfall was slightly above average in Adelaide during June 2000, while temperatures were slightly below normal.

Rainfall
Adelaide’s rainfall for June 2000 was 80.8 mm on 14 days. This is 1.8 mm above the estimated normal of 79 mm on 15 days.

In 1999, Adelaide’s June rainfall was also above average, with the total being 82.2 mm on 14 days.

The total for the first 6 months of 2000 was 341.6 mm compared to the normal of 272 mm. This is the wettest first half of the year since 1983, when we had 343.8 mm.

Temperatures
The mean maximum temperature for June 2000 was 15.7°C, which is 0.3°C below the normal June mean maximum of 16.0°C. This is the coolest June since 1993 when the average maximum temperature was also 15.7°C. The mean June 1999 maximum was 16.0°C.

The mean minimum temperature for June 2000 was 7.7°C, which is 0.4 below the normal June mean minimum of 8.1°C. The mean June 1999 minimum was 7.6°C.

Further information

Contact Richard Szkup, tel: (08) 8366 2691.

MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY - SA REGIONAL OFFICE