Wednesday, 31 March 2004

MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY - TASMANIA

Another dry, cool month  - Tasmania in March 2004

Rainfall was below normal across Tasmania during March 2004, as were mean minimum and maximum temperatures in all but a few spots. Many areas received the bulk of their rain from just two events (around the 7th and around the 29th). The few warm days were mostly confined to around the 4th and in the last five days of the month.
For much of the State, five out of the last six months have seen rainfall that was below normal or just normal. The main exception was January, when extraordinary rain was recorded in just a few days, especially in the north and east. Rainfall for the six months October 2003 to March 2004 combined was below normal or just normal in all areas, except a patch in the northeast where January was especially wet.

A table of State extremes, some more details,  and summaries for sites across the State for March 2004 appear below.

Further information

Ian Barnes-Keoghan
Climate and Consultancy Section
Tasmania and Antarctica Regional Office
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (03) 6221 2043
Email climate.tas@bom.gov.au

Extremes

Weather extremes during March 2004
Highest temperature Hottest day	32.7 °C	King Island Airport on 4th
Highest mean daily maximum temperature Warmest days on average	22.3 °C	Cressy Research Station
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature Coolest days on average	10.4 °C	Mount Read
Lowest daily maximum temperature Coldest day	5.2 °C	Mount Read on 20th
Lowest temperature Coldest night	-4.8 °C	Liawenee on 21st
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature Coldest nights on average	2.2 °C	Liawenee
Highest mean daily minimum temperature Mildest nights on average	14.1 °C	Swan Island
Highest daily minimum Warmest night	20.1 °C	Maatsuyker Island on 4th
Highest total rainfall Wettest overall	167.2 mm	Mount Read
Lowest total rainfall Driest overall	7.2 mm	Llewellyn (South Esk River)
Highest daily rainfall Wettest day	33.8 mm	Savage River Mine on 7th

Details

Maximum temperatures were below normal in most areas, typically by up to half a degree. The main exceptions were in the southeast, the northern Midlands and parts of the northwest coast, where averages were a fraction of a degree above normal. The warmest day was the 4th, when many sites reported temperatures in the high twenties. It was on this day that King Island Airport (rarely the warmest spot in Tasmania) reported the highest temperature for the State. Many stations reported their coldest day for March 2004 just two days later on the 6th, at the start of over two weeks of below-normal days. The 25th was also warm in most areas, especially the south and east.

Minimum temperatures were below normal almost everywhere, typically by 0.5 to 1.5 °C. Many sites had their lowest mean minimum temperature for March since 1997. Most nights were cooler than normal, especially from the 10th to the 28th. The 10th, 11th and 21st were the most common nights to be the coldest this March.

Rainfall was below normal across the State, and very much below normal in some areas. Several stations in the northern Midlands reported less than 10 mm for the whole month. At several stations in the west it was the driest March since 1994.

There were a number of windy days, the most marked being the 25th in the west and south when several sites reported gusts over 100 km/h, often associated with showers.

Summaries

Summary statistics for March 2004
	Maximum temperatures for March (°C)			Minimum temperatures for March (°C)			Rainfall for March (mm)
	Mean for 2004	Difference from normal	Highest for 2004	Mean for 2004	Difference from normal	Lowest for 2004	Total for 2004	Normal total
Hobart	20.1	+0.1	31.8	10.8	-0.1	6.5	29	46
Launceston	21.9	-0.5	27.6	8.3	-1.7	3.5	16	34
Burnie	20.8	+0.8	24.7	11.6	-0.2	6.9	21	51
Devonport Airport	20.0	-0.1	23.5	10.0	-0.5	4.8	23	48
Swansea	20.5	-0.4	27.6	9.3	-1.0	2.7	15	50
Strathgordon Village	16.0	-1.3	28.8	8.0	-0.5	4.4	94	149
King Island Airport	19.0	-0.7	32.7	11.3	-0.6	5.5	28	50
Flinders Island Airport	20.9	-0.3	31.0	12.4	-0.1	3.8	35	51
Bicheno	20.3	-0.2	27.4	11.8	-0.2	7.4	21	57
Bull Bay	19.6	-0.1	32.0	11.0	-0.3	7.8	41	44
Bushy Park	21.4	-0.3	30.9	7.2	-1.3	0.9	32	40
Cape Bruny	17.7	+0.1	30.0	11.1	+0.1	6.0	38	69
Cape Grim	17.7	-0.6	25.0	12.6	-0.3	10.0	27	38
Dover	19.2	+0.2	31.0	8.5	-0.5	3.4	29	66
Eddystone Point	20.8	+0.7	23.5	12.7	-0.6	6.6	23	58
Fingal	20.6	-0.9	26.6	6.7	-1.2	0.5	38	44
Friendly Beaches	20.5	-1.2	27.0	10.9	-1.1	5.8	34	54
Geeveston	19.6	-0.4	32.1	8.3	-0.1	2.2	31	57
Grove	20.3	-0.1	30.6	7.4	-0.6	0.9	29	49
Hartz Mountain	14.0	-0.4	26.4	5.5	-0.7	1.2	29	73
Hobart Airport	20.7	0	32.6	10.3	-0.4	4.3	17	37
Lake Leake	17.3	+0.1	24.3	4.7	-1.3	-1.3	14	63
Lake St Clair	15.8	-0.5	25.4	3.7	-0.3	-1.6	77	110
Launceston Airport	21.1	+0.1	27.6	7.0	-1.9	1.6	9	38
Luncheon Hill	17.9	-0.6	26.4	8.2	-1.3	4.0	46	83
Maatsuyker Island	15.6	-0.7	29.1	10.3	-0.3	7.6	45	86
Marrawah	18.4	-1.0	27.0	11.1	-0.5	7.5	41	64
Maydena	18.4	-1.2	29.6	7.0	0	0.2	40	79
Melton Mowbray	20.2	-0.4	31.2	7.3	-0.8	1.2	14	40
Moogara	16.6	-0.3	26.8	6.8	-0.3	2.2	43	54
Mount Read	10.4	-1.3	20.8	3.6	-1.2	-0.1	167	251
Mount Wellington	11.4	+0.4	20.5	3.2	-0.8	-1.3	38	72
Orford	20.2	-0.4	28.6	10.3	-0.3	5.0	15	46
Port Arthur	17.8	+0.3	27.0	10.3	-0.2	6.5	47	93
Powranna	21.8	0	28.2	7.2	-1.1	2.6	13	24
Ross	21.8	+0.5	28.5	5.9	-1.7	-2.2	11	32
Scamander	19.9	-0.7	29.2	10.8	-1.0	5.4	26	70
Scottsdale	20.8	-0.5	27.4	8.3	-1.5	1.2	26	53
Smithton	19.7	-0.4	25.0	8.6	-0.7	1.5	32	41
Strahan	18.3	-0.9	30.9	9.6	-0.3	4.1	57	101
Swan Island	19.7	0	24.9	14.0	+0.1	9.5	32	43
Tarraleah Village	16.5	-0.8	26.3	6.0	+0.3	0.5	54	71
Wynyard Airport	20.5	+0.8	23.9	8.8	-0.6	3.8	32	46

"Normals" based on all years of record, which vary from site to site.

Note

These results are based on data available at noon on Wednesday 31 March 2004. In particular, this does not include the maximum temperatures from the 31st, although these are not expected to alter the outcome significantly. However, these should be considered preliminary results only.

Further information

Ian Barnes-Keoghan
Climate and Consultancy Section
Tasmania and Antarctica Regional Office
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (03) 6221 2043
Email climate.tas@bom.gov.au