Still cold, but not so wet or windy - Tasmania in July 2004

Temperatures in Tasmania during July 2004 were generally below normal both by night and by day, with some places having their coldest July since 1995. Rainfall was above normal in the southwest and below normal in the northeast, but close to normal in most areas. It was much less windy than June.

Included in this summary are a table of State extremes, some more details, 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 July 2004
Highest temperature Warmest day	17.1 °C	Flinders Island Airport on 10th
Highest mean daily maximum temperature Warmest days on average	13.2 °C	Bicheno
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature Coolest days on average	1.0 °C	Mount Wellington
Lowest daily maximum temperature Coldest day	-3.6 °C	Mount Wellington on 17th
Lowest temperature Coldest night	-7.8 °C	Liawenee on 8th
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature Coldest nights on average	-2.8 °C	Mount Wellington
Highest mean daily minimum temperature Mildest nights on average	7.8 °C	Cape Grim and Swan Island
Highest daily minimum Warmest night	11.6 °C	Flinders Island Airport on 11th
Highest total rainfall Wettest overall	354.0 mm	Lake Margaret Power Station
Lowest total rainfall Driest overall	25.4 mm	Swansea
Highest daily rainfall Wettest day	44.4 mm	Cradle Valley (Waldheim) on 2nd

Details

Many days had temperatures close to the July average, but cold bursts around the 6th, 17th and the end of the month were not quite balanced by the milder weather around the 10th and 21st. The net result was averaged maximum (day-time) temperatures that were below normal at almost all reporting sites, typically by between 0.2 and 0.8 °C. Although no records appear to have been set, it was the coldest July since 1995 at many spots around the State, including Hobart, Launceston, Burnie, Devonport, Swansea and Strathgordon.

A similar story was told by minimum (night-time) temperatures, with a few relatively mild nights being swamped by several quite cold ones, particularly around the 8th, the 19th and the 29th. Hobart's averaged minimum temperature of 4.7 °C was the lowest there for any month since August 1998, and the lowest for a July since 1995.

Rainfall was near normal in many areas of the State, but above normal in southwestern parts and below normal in the northeast. Much of the rain fell in the first week, but the 16th was wet across the State and there were good falls in the north around the 24th.

Snowfalls were reported several times during the month, with an especially heavy fall around the 6th closing many elevated roads. Snow fell (but did not always settle) to quite low levels in the south and west on several occasions. Many of the higher peaks, including Mount Wellington, were snow-capped throughout the month.

The strong westerly winds prevalent during June continued into the start of July. The second half of the month saw high pressure systems close to Tasmania on several days, which helped to suppress the wind.

There was more bright sunshine than normal during July. Hobart Airport reported an average of 5.8 hours per day, compared to a long-term average of 4.8 hours, and similar results were obtained from other sunshine recording stations. Even at the fairly wet and cloudy Strathgordon, sunshine was fractionally higher than normal.

Summaries

Summary statistics for July 2004
	Maximum temperatures for July (°C)			Minimum temperatures for July (°C)			Rainfall for July (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	11.6	0	14.8	4.7	+0.1	1.5	64	53
Launceston	12.2	-0.3	15.4	2.2	+0.2	-2.7	79	79
Burnie	12.5	-0.1	15.6	6.2	+0.4	2.4	113	128
Devonport	12.1	-0.6	14.1	4.5	0	-0.6	84	100
Swansea	12.6	-0.7	15.8	3.8	+0.2	-0.9	25	48
Strahan	11.9	-0.3	15.8	4.9	-0.1	-2.4	183	166
Strathgordon	8.1	-0.9	12.5	2.5	-0.5	-1.0	335	271
King Island Airport	12.4	-0.8	15.9	7.5	0	2.2	113	114
Flinders Island Airport	12.9	-0.4	17.1	7.0	+0.7	-0.6	59	85
Bicheno	13.2	-0.8	15.5	5.7	-0.4	1.9	60	53
Bridport	12.6	-0.7	15.0	4.9	-0.3	0.2	83	76
Bull Bay	11.8	-0.7	15.0	5.2	-0.8	3.0	52	56
Bushy Park	11.4	+0.4	15.1	0.9	-0.6	-2.7	57	50
Cape Bruny	11.1	-0.1	14.6	5.9	-0.2	1.5	116	96
Cape Grim	12.4	0	15.0	7.8	-0.8	4.0	54	100
Dover	11.9	-0.5	15.9	3.3	-0.5	-0.6	109	88
Eddystone Point	13.1	+0.1	15.6	6.7	-0.3	2.8	58	77
Fingal	11.2	-1.0	15.0	0.6	+0.3	-6.1	37	56
Friendly Beaches	12.8	-1.2	16.7	5.2	-0.6	0.1	62	44
Geeveston	11.3	-0.8	15.5	2.6	+0.5	-2.6	122	93
Grove	11.9	+0.1	16.1	2.2	+0.3	-3.2	65	74
Hobart Airport	12.2	-0.1	15.2	4.0	0	-0.1	38	45
Lake Leake	7.6	-1.0	11.9	-0.3	-0.5	-6.7	69	79
Lake St Clair	5.9	-1.4	10.4	-0.6	-0.6	-5.0	210	206
Launceston Airport	10.7	-0.2	13.5	2.0	-0.3	-3.0	73	78
Luncheon Hill	9.8	-1.0	13.6	3.8	-1.3	-0.5	209	184
Maatsuyker Island	10.5	-0.5	15.9	6.0	-0.5	4.0	158	130
Marrawah	12.0	-0.2	14.5	6.4	-0.2	1.5	131	141
Maydena	9.8	-1.1	14.2	1.6	-0.7	-1.6	145	113
Melton Mowbray	10.4	-1.2	14.5	1.5	-0.8	-3.0	54	31
Moogara	7.7	-0.8	11.5	1.2	-0.9	-1.8	104	81
Mount Read	2.6	-1.3	6.1	-1.1	-1.4	-4.7	*
Mount Wellington	1.0	-1.2	6.8	-2.8	-1.1	-5.8	*
Orford	12.0	-1.2	15.5	2.6	-0.9	-0.2	53	60
Port Arthur	10.8	-0.2	14.7	5.0	-0.6	1.8	95	112
Powranna	10.9	-0.5	13.5	1.1	-1.0	-3.5	48	60
Ross	10.6	-0.6	14.0	1.6	+0.2	-4.3	57	43
Scamander	12.9	-0.9	15.9	4.2	-0.1	0.9	39	57
Scottsdale	11.2	-0.8	14.8	3.3	-0.3	-0.9	91	123
Sheffield	9.8	-1.1	13.0	2.8	-0.7	-2.0	204
Smithton	12.6	-0.5	15.9	4.1	-0.7	-2.0	114	120
Tarraleah	7.5	-0.8	12.7	0.9	+0.6	-3.7	148	118
Wynyard	12.2	-0.3	15.4	3.0	-0.4	-2.9	128	135

Note

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 AM on Monday 2 August 2004 . Although every effort has been made to check them, it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.
* On the highlands, much of the precipitation fell as snow. This has rendered those observations from some mountain Automatic Weather Stations such as Mount Wellington and Mount Read unreliable.

Further information

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