Monday, 4 October 2004

MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY - TASMANIA

More dry weather in the north - Tasmania in September 2004

Rainfall was below normal across most of Tasmania, especially in the north of the State. Temperatures were above normal for most areas.

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

Further information

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

Extremes

Weather extremes during September 2004
Highest temperature Hottest day	24.0 °C	Scamander on 22nd
Highest mean daily maximum temperature Warmest days on average	16.7 °C	Bicheno, Swansea and Friendly Beaches
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature Coolest days on average	5.4 °C	Mount Wellington
Lowest daily maximum temperature Coldest day	-0.2 °C	Mount Read on 11th
Lowest temperature Coldest night	-6.3 °C	Mount Wellington on 12th
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature Coldest nights on average	-0.9 °C	Mount Wellington
Highest mean daily minimum temperature Mildest nights on average	9.1 °C	Swan Island
Highest daily minimum Warmest night	14.9 °C	King Island Airport on 22nd
Highest total rainfall Wettest overall	498.0 mm	Mount Read
Lowest total rainfall Driest overall	10.8 mm	Fingal
Highest daily rainfall Wettest day	75.4 mm	Mount Read on 13th

Details

There was less rain than normal during September 2004, especially in northern areas (many of which had a relatively dry August as well). In the southwest, rainfall was closer to normal. Several sites in the Midlands, the Fingal Valley and the northern East Coast received less than 20 mm of rain for the month. For some locations (including Launceston, Burnie, Devonport, Ulverstone, Latrobe, Flinders Island Airport, Fingal, Pyengana and Swansea) it was the driest September since at least 1994. In the southeast, much of the rain fell on just one day - to 9am on the 23rd, when sites including Hobart Airport, Richmond, Sorell and Taroona received more than half their total for the month.

The temperature on most days was close to normal, although there were some cold bursts (especially around the middle of the month) and some warm ones (the 20th to the 22nd in particular). Averaged over the month, maximum temperatures were above normal for most of the State, typically by between 0.5 and 0.8 °C. They were fractionally below normal in the southwest. For most sites, it was cooler than in September 2003, but warmer than in September 2002.

Most nights were warmer than normal, despite a generally cool first week and final few days (and a sharp statewide cold snap on the morning of the 12th). Averaged across the month, minimum temperatures were above normal for the majority of the State, typically by between 0.2 and 0.8 °C. They were normal or slightly below on the East Coast, and at some eastern inland locations. As with maxima, most areas were cooler than in September 2003, but warmer than in September 2002.

September is often a very windy month in Tasmania, but winds were not especially to the fore during September 2004.  The main windy period ran from the 10th to the 17th, during which several gusts over 100 km/h were recorded in the southeast of the State.

Summaries

Summary statistics for September 2004
	Maximum temperatures for September (°C)			Minimum temperatures for September (°C)			Rainfall for September (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	15.3	+0.3	20.9	6.9	+0.6	2.9	32	52
Launceston	15.9	+0.4	19.0	5.4	+0.3	-1.0	29	65
Burnie	15.0	+0.8	18.2	7.4	+0.8	1.5	31	88
Devonport	14.3	+0.3	16.9	6.7	+0.8	1.5	26	75
Swansea	16.7	+0.8	21.6	5.7	0	0.0	15	41
Strahan	13.6	-0.6	18.1	6.8	+0.6	1.0	134	159
Strathgordon	11.3	-0.2	18.0	5.0	+0.8	0.2	282	278
King Island Airport	14.1	-0.3	21.5	8.1	-0.2	2.7	61	89
Flinders Island Airport	14.9	-0.1	21.0	7.9	+0.4	0.8	19	64
Bicheno	16.7	+0.7	23.2	7.3	0	2.9	23	44
Bridport	14.7	0	16.9	7.1	+0.2	-0.2	25	78
Bull Bay	14.6	0	19.0	7.0	+0.3	2.7	31	52
Bushy Park	15.9	+0.5	21.1	3.8	-0.2	-1.6	35	54
Cape Bruny	13.3	+0.1	18.1	7.6	+0.7	2.4	77	81
Cape Grim	13.4	+0.3	17.0	8.6	0	5.0	30	73
Dover	14.6	+0.1	19.0	5.3	+0.5	0.7	54	82
Eddystone Point	16.1	+1.4	19.9	8.0	0	1.2	34	63
Fingal	15.9	+0.7	21.6	2.1	-1.2	-2.7	11	49
Friendly Beaches	16.7		21.6	7.0		2.1	31
Geeveston	14.7	+0.1	20.6	5.5	+1.3	-0.6	65	89
Grove	15.3	+0.5	21.8	4.5	+0.5	-1.5	36	73
Hartz Mountain	8.6		15.6	1.9		-3.2	82
Hobart Airport	15.5	+0.3	21.0	6.4	+0.4	0.2	19	40
Lake Leake	11.9	+0.8	15.4	2.4	+0.4	-3.6	42	70
Lake St Clair	10.5	+0.6	16.5	1.3	+0.6	-4.1	141	208
Launceston Airport	14.7	+0.7	17.6	4.3	+0.1	-2.0	19	64
Luncheon Hill	12.4	+0.3	19.0	5.4	-0.2	-0.6	146
Maatsuyker Island	11.3	-0.8	16.4	7.1	+0.4	1.8	109	110
Marrawah	13.6	0	18.8	7.8	+0.5	3.7	67	104
Maydena	13.3	-0.3	19.9	4.3	+1.0	-1.1	101	140
Melton Mowbray	14.3		19.6	4.4		-0.5	37
Moogara	11.5		18.0	3.3		-0.2	64	93
Mount Read	5.5		13.4	0.5		-4.4	498
Mount Wellington	5.4	+1.3	12.7	-0.9	+0.5	-6.3	42	64
Orford	15.9	+0.2	19.9	5.7	+0.2	0.0	60	50
Port Arthur	13.3	+0.2	18.1	6.3	0	1.2	61	100
Powranna	15.1	+0.9	18.0	4.6	+0.7	-0.7	23	59
Ross	15.2	+1.0	18.3	3.4	-0.2	-3.0	24	49
Scamander	16.1	-0.2	24.0	6.5	-0.1	1.0	25	53
Scottsdale	14.3	+0.1	17.5	5.1	+0.3	-1.2	38	100
Sheffield	13.6		16.2	4.6		-0.2	38
Smithton	14.8		18.2	6.2		1.5	61
Strahan	13.6	-0.6	18.1	6.8	+0.6	1.0	134	159
Tarraleah	11.7	+0.6	19.2	2.5	+0.9	-2.5	89	118
Tunnack	13.0		16.6	2.9		-1.7	49
Wynyard	14.8	+0.7	17.9	4.8	-0.2	-2.0	50	95

Note

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Monday 4 October 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 records, which are much more extensive at some sites than others. Sites with no "normals" listed do not have sufficient record.

Further information

The Daily Weather Observations lists daily temperatures and rainfall, plus many other meteorological variables, at almost 60 locations across Tasmania (and over 700 across Australia). Data from the last 13 months are available free on our web site.

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