Thursday, 1 July 2004

MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY - TASMANIA

Winter starts wet and windy - Tasmania in June 2004

Wet weather has been the order of the day for most of Tasmania during June. Rainfall totals were well above average across almost the entire State, with some stations receiving record falls. Wind was also a common feature, with numerous reports of gusts in excess of 100 km/h.
Daytime temperatures were a little below normal, with a few significant cold outbreaks. Night-time temperatures were a degree or so above normal for most of the State, consistent with the windy and cloudy conditions.

Included in this summary are a table of State extremes, some more details, some new records, and summaries for sites across the State.

Further information

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 June 2004
Highest temperature Warmest day	19.0 °C	Bull Bay on 1st
Highest mean daily maximum temperature Warmest days on average	14.9 °C	Bicheno
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature Coolest days on average	2.7 °C	Mount Wellington
Lowest daily maximum temperature Coldest day	-0.9 °C	Mount Wellington on 4th
Lowest temperature Coldest night	-8.5 °C	Liawenee on 6th
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature Coldest nights on average	-1.2 °C	Mount Wellington
Highest mean daily minimum temperature Mildest nights on average	9.4 °C	Swan Island
Highest daily minimum Warmest night	14.4 °C	Friendly Beaches on 1st
Highest total rainfall Wettest overall	731.2 mm	Mount Read
Lowest total rainfall Driest overall	37.6 mm	Scamander
Highest daily rainfall Wettest day	76.8 mm	Strathgordon Village on 28th
Strongest wind gust	146 km/h	Scotts Peak Dam on 27th

Details

For most of the month Tasmania felt the full impact of the "roaring forties", the persistent westerly winds that are a common feature of our weather at this time of year. These ensured the West Coast got plenty of rain, and frequent fronts embedded in the westerlies pushed that rain statewide. A complex low crossed the State on the 9th and 10th, bringing rain to all areas (and particularly the East Coast and Midlands), but it was not long before the westerlies were established once more.

Rainfall was well above normal across the majority of the State. The main exception was near St Marys, where rainfall was normal or below. As shown in the table below, several sites (including Strahan, Zeehan and Renison Bell) had their wettest-ever June.
At many others (including Waddamana, Bushy Park, City of Melbourne Bay, Naracoopa, Pioneer, Lake Margaret, Irishtown and Morningside) it was the wettest since at least 1962. Many sites in the Midlands had their wettest June since 1981.
The rain was spread across the month, with many places receiving rain on almost every day.
With heavy rain in many areas in January, and in the west in May, the first half of the year has been much wetter than normal in almost all areas.

Most days were cooler than normal during June. There was a burst of warm weather around the 8th and 9th, and temperatures in the last week were close to normal despite the rain. The result is average maximum temperatures a few fractions of a degree below normal in most areas.

The persistent rain and wind ensured most nights were warmer than normal for June, especially in the last week. Launceston had its warmest-ever June morning on the 1st (13.2°C), which was a very mild morning across the north and east.

There were several bursts of windy weather, especially around the 3rd, the 14th, the 19th and the end of the month. Gusts in excess of 100 km/h were reported from a number of sites in the west and south.

Records

Record Highest Total Rainfall for June
	Total rainfall for June 2004 (mm)	Previous highest for June		Years of record
Renison Bell	455.6	433.4	in 2002	75
Barrington Post Office	220.6	207.1	in 1991	38
Zeehan Memorial Museum	474.8	455.6	in 2002	36
Risdon Vale	67.6	67.2	in 1998	24
Tea Tree	63.2	60.0	in 1988	19
Campbell Town	110.2	70.4	in 2003	17
Strahan Aerodrome	338.6	288.6	in 2002	17

Record Highest Daily Minimum Temperature for June
	Highest daily minimum temperature in June 2004 (°C)		Previous highest for June		Years of record
Launceston	13.2	on 1st	13.0	on 9th in 1995	21
Geeveston	11.0	on 23rd	10.9	on 17th in 2003	17

Summaries

Summary statistics for June 2004
	Maximum temperatures for June (°C)			Minimum temperatures for June (°C)			Rainfall for June (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	12.4	+0.5	16.6	5.5	+0.3	0.9	66	55
Launceston	12.9	-0.1	15.2	4.6	+1.8	-1.6	131	70
Burnie	13.4	0	15.3	7.9	+1.3	3.4	131	107
Devonport Airport	13.1	-0.2	15.1	6.5	+1.5	1.6	121	83
Swansea	14.0	+0.2	17.8	5.0	+0.6	-0.3	59	58
Strathgordon	9.3	-0.1	13.4	3.7	-0.1	-1.2	467	225
Strahan Aerodrome	12.3	-0.4	15.8	6.4	+0.5	-0.4	339	180
King Island Airport	13.4	-0.5	16.1	8.5	0	0.6	145	98
Flinders Island Airport	14.1	0	18.6	8.3	+1.3	0.4	99	74
Bicheno	14.9	+0.5	18.8	6.8	+0.2	1.4	58	61
Bull Bay	12.9	+0.3	19.0	6.2	-0.2	2.2	57	47
Bushy Park	12.1	+0.9	17.6	2.0	-0.2	-3.2	97	49
Cape Bruny	11.9	-0.7	16.1	6.8	-0.6	3.5	103	75
Cape Bruny Lighthouse	11.8	+0.2	16.1	6.9	+0.2	3.8	125	91
Cape Grim	13.0	-0.1	15.0	9.1	+0.2	5.0	96	81
Dover	12.3	-0.3	16.5	4.7	+0.7	-1.4	97	81
Eddystone Point	13.9	+0.2	16.9	8.0	0	2.1	88	76
Fingal	12.4	-0.4	16.3	1.9	+0.7	-5.8	65	65
Friendly Beaches	14.1	-0.2	18.0	6.5	-0.3	1.0	62	35
Geeveston	11.6	-0.6	15.6	3.6	+1.5	-3.9	152	74
Grove	12.6	+0.5	17.5	3.6	+1.2	-3.1	85	62
Hartz Mountain	5.7	-1.8	10.5	1.2	-1.2	-2.5
Hobart Airport	12.9	+0.1	17.3	5.2	+0.6	0.5	55	31
Lake Leake	8.7	-0.3	12.3	1.5	+0.7	-5.2	142	88
Lake St Clair	7.0	-0.7	11.7	1.2	+1.0	-4.8	314	191
Launceston Airport	11.6	+0.2	13.8	3.5	+0.6	-3.3	131	63
Luncheon Hill	10.1	-1.1	13.9	5.4	-0.4	1.3	338	164
Maatsuyker Island	11.2	-0.2	15.0	6.9	-0.3	2.8	188	121
Marrawah	12.7	0	15.3	7.9	+0.6	2.7	201	128
Maydena	10.2	-0.8	14.0	2.7	+0.3	-2.8	191	115
Melton Mowbray	11.4	-0.8	16.0	3.0	+0.5	-5.0	67	37
Moogara	8.5	-0.4	12.2	2.3	-0.1	-2.5	124	76
Mount Read	4.1	-0.6	7.6	0.3	-0.7	-3.3	731	429
Mount Wellington	2.7	-0.9	8.5	-1.2	-0.5	-5.5	93	61
Orford	13.3	0	17.2	4.6	+0.5	0.1	67	52
Port Arthur	11.6	+0.2	15.6	5.9	-0.2	2.6	126	112
Powranna	12.1	+0.2	15.1	2.8	+0.4	-3.4	89	52
Ross	11.7	0	15.4	3.2	+1.0	-5.2	102	41
Scamander	14.1	-0.3	16.5	5.6	+0.2	0.2	38	50
Scottsdale	11.7	-1.0	13.4	4.5	+0.4	-1.2	201	109
Sheffield	10.7	-1.0	14.5	4.7	+0.6	-0.1	243	125
Smithton	13.1	-0.6	15.8	6.5	+1.2	-0.7
Tarraleah	8.4	-0.4	12.5	2.2	+1.7	-4.0	215	105
Wynyard Airport	13.0	-0.2	15.3	5.4	+1.1	-1.0	200	116

Note

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 11 am on Thursday 1 July 2004 . Although every effort has been made to check them, it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available. "Normals" are based on all available observations.

Further information

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