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Wednesday, 1 June 2005

MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY - SOUTH AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL OFFICE

Record Dry Autumn 2005 over much of South Australia

Much of the State experienced record low autumn rainfalls this year and well below average May rainfalls. Mean maximum temperatures were up to 4°C above normal while minimum temperatures were mostly near normal.

May Rainfall

Pastoral Districts:
With a few exceptions, rainfall was generally below average over the Pastoral Districts. Near average rainfall was reported from Mount Eba Station, in the North West, and Arkaroola, in the Far North. Yardea recorded very much below average rainfall whilst several stations recorded no rainfall for May.

The highest rainfall reported in the Pastoral Districts was 8mm at Nonning, in the North West district.

Agricultural Districts:
Without exception, every district within the Agricultural area recorded rainfall totals for May that were below to very much below average. Every district, with the exception of the Upper and Lower North, had centres that recorded their lowest rainfalls on record.

Rainfall totals above 20mm were confined to the Lower Southeast, Yorke Peninsula and the Mount Lofty Ranges districts. Rainfall totals that were mostly between 10 and 20mm were reported from the Western Agricultural, Kangaroo Island, Mount Lofty Ranges and the Lower Southeast districts. Elsewhere totals were mainly below 10mm.

The highest rainfall recorded in the Agricultural districts during May was 26mm at Port Victoria, in the Yorke Peninsula district.

Autumn Rainfall

Pastoral Districts:
Rainfall was below to very much below average over Pastoral districts during autumn. The highest rainfall reported for the 3 months beginning in March 2005 was at Gluepot Station, in the Northeast district, with 19mm. Totals between 10mm and 20mm were confined to southern parts of the North West and Northeast Pastoral district. Elsewhere, totals were below 10mm with some centres reporting nil rainfall.

Agricultural Districts:
Rainfall totals were very much below average over much of the Agricultural districts. Many centres, particularly the Mount Lofty Ranges, had their lowest rainfall on record for Autumn; a few centres recorded totals that were below average. Rainfall totals over 50mm were confined to the Lower Southeast district. Rainfall totals below 25mm were confined to the Riverland, Flats and Lower Basin, Murray Mallee, Upper Southeast and parts of the Adelaide Plains districts. Elsewhere falls were mostly between 25 and 50mm.

May Temperatures

Maximum Temperatures:
Many centres across South Australia exceeded their highest mean May maximum temperature. Mean maximum temperatures for May were up to 4°C of normal in the northeast of the State. In the Pastoral districts mean maximum temperatures ranged from 22.3°C at Nonning up to 26.9°C at Marree. Mean maximum temperatures over the Agricultural districts ranged from 16.3°C at Parawa, in the Mount Lofty Ranges, to 23.2°C at Hawker, in the Upper North district. The highest maximum recorded during May was 33.6°C at Ceduna Airport on the 4th.

Minimum Temperatures:
Mean minimum temperatures for May were over 2.0°C above normal over the north west of the State, and up to 1.8°C below normal in the southeast of the State. Mean minimum temperatures ranged from 5.4°C at Yongala and Coonawarra up to 14.5°C at Neptune Island. The lowest minimum temperature recorded during May was minus 2.7°C at Yongala, in the Upper North district on the 30th.

Significant May Weather

There was no significant weather for May 2005.

May weather in Adelaide

Rainfall:
Adelaide’s rainfall for May 2005 was 8.2 mm, recorded on 6 days. This compares with the normal of 62.6 mm, recorded on 13 days. This has been the driest May since 1959 when only 3.8mm was recorded. Last year 62.8 mm was recorded on 15 days. The total rainfall for the first five months of 2005 was 70.4mm. This has been the driest first 5 months since 68.2mm was recorded in 1991. Last year 120.8 mm was recorded over the same period, while normal rainfall for the first five months is 161.2 mm.

Temperatures:
The mean maximum temperature for May 2005 was 20.9°C, which is 2.0°C above the normal May mean maximum of 18.9°C. The mean maximum for May last year was 18.8°C. This has been the warmest May since 1947 when it was also 21.0°C.

The mean minimum temperature for May 2005 was 10.3°C, which is 0.1°C above the normal for May. Last May, the mean minimum was 9.4°C.

Autumn 2005:
The autumn rainfall for 2005 was 23.0 mm, 104.5 mm below the normal autumn rainfall of 127.5 mm. This has been the driest Autumn in the 167 years of record in Adelaide. Last autumn Adelaide recorded 105.8 mm.

The mean maximum temperature for Autumn 2005 was 24.4°C, which is 1.9°C above the normal autumn mean maximum of 22.5°C. The mean maximum for autumn last year was 23.4°C. This has been the warmest Autumn since 1923 and the second warmest on record.

The mean minimum temperature for Autumn 2005 was 13.0°C, which is 0.5°C above the normal autumn mean minimum of 12.5°C. Last autumn the mean minimum was 12.3°C. This has been the warmest mean minimum since 1990 when 13.4°C was recorded.

Further information:
Richard Szkup, tel: (08) 8366 2691, e-mail: climate.sa@bom.gov.au

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