Relatively dry - Tasmania in October 2004

Tasmania had a relatively dry and generally warm October in 2004. A few warm and windy periods preceded cold fronts, and the slow passage of a high pressure system gave a stretch of cold nights around the middle of the month.
More details appear below, along with a table of State extremes and summary statistics for sites across the State, and how to get more information.

Extremes

Weather extremes during October 2004
Highest temperature Hottest day	29.2 °C	Bicheno on 12th
Highest mean daily maximum temperature Warmest days on average	18.9 °C	Bushy Park
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature Coolest days on average	7.6 °C	Mount Wellington
Lowest daily maximum temperature Coldest day	-0.4 °C	Mount Read on 15th
Lowest temperature Coldest night	-5.5 °C	Mount Wellington on 16th
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature Coldest nights on average	0.2 °C	Liawenee
Highest mean daily minimum temperature Mildest nights on average	10.3 °C	Swan Island
Highest daily minimum Warmest night	16.1 °C	Friendly Beaches on 12th
Highest total rainfall Wettest overall	292.4 mm	Mount Read
Lowest total rainfall Driest overall	20.0 mm	Hobart Airport
Highest daily rainfall Wettest day	67.2 mm	Mount Read on 8th

Details

October was relatively dry across most of the State, although some parts of the northeast were near normal. Totals were mostly between 40 and 60 mm, but over 100 mm in the western and northeastern highlands, and below 30 mm in parts of the southeast. There were lengthy dry periods in most districts, notably from the 9th to the 13th and again from the 17th to the 23rd.

Glenorchy, with 26 mm, had its driest October since 1982; others (including Lake Margaret, Savage River and Yambacoona) had their driest October since 1991. The month was generally wetter than (the very dry) October 2003, but drier than (the more typical) October 2002.

There were three significant bursts of warm weather during October, peaking on the 12th, the 22nd and the 31st. Highest temperatures in the low to mid twenties were reported from many parts of the State on those days, with Bicheno topping the list at 29.2 °C on the 12th. There were also two cold bursts, around the 15th and the 27th. On the 27th, Bicheno had its coldest-ever October day, reaching just 11.5 °C.

Averaged across the month, maximum (daytime) temperatures were above the October normals, typically by around 0.7 °C. The anomalies were slightly higher inland, with several stations reporting averaged maxima more than 1 °C above the October normal. It was considerably warmer than last year (October 2003 saw several records for cold established), and in many places it was the warmest October since 1999.

There was a run of cold nights from the 15th to the 19th (as a high pressure system tracked across the State), and again near the end of the month. Inland areas were particularly affected, with many sub-zero temperatures on the morning of the 16th. Averaged across October, minimum (night-time) temperatures were about 0.2 °C above normal near the coasts but around 0.4 °C below normal inland.

There were several windy periods, often coinciding with cold fronts that brought rain (such as around the 8th) or a marked shift in temperature (the 12th and the 27th). Gusts over 100 km/h were reported from a number of stations, with the strongest being 133 km/h at Cape Grim and Mount Wellington, both on the 8th.

Summaries

Summary statistics for October 2004
	Maximum temperatures for October (°C)			Minimum temperatures for October (°C)			Rainfall for October (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	17.6	+0.7	27.9	7.9	+0.2	3.5	26	62
Launceston	18.4	+0.4	23.6	6.6	-0.3	0.5	49	55
Burnie	16.5	+0.7	21.5	9.3	+1.4	3.1	48	88
Devonport	16.1	+0.5	22.6	7.7	+0.6	3.8	54	67
Swansea	18.3	+0.7	28.3	6.8	-0.3	1.9	52	54
Strahan	16.2	+0.4	26.6	7.1	0	1.3	84	124
Strathgordon	14.5	+1.1	24.3	5.4	+0.1	0.2	187	251
King Island Airport	16.4	+1.1	25.0	8.7	-0.1	3.3	34	77
Flinders Island Airport	17.4	+0.7	28.2	8.9	+0.5	0.8	72	62
Bicheno	17.8	+0.5	29.2	8.8	+0.4	3.9	58	55
Bridport	16.7	+0.3	20.8	8.0	+0.2	1.6	67	65
Bull Bay	16.4	+0.1	27.0	7.9	-0.1	3.5	33	58
Bushy Park	18.9	+1.3	27.4	4.8	-1.0	-0.9	32	58
Cape Bruny	15.0	+0.6	24.3	8.6	+0.7	4.5	57	84
Cape Grim	14.8	+0.8	21.0	9.5	+0.4	6.0	32	65
Dover	16.7	+0.7	25.9	6.0	-0.4	0.7	56	88
Eddystone Point	17.5	+1.3	22.1	9.1	+0.1	2.9	64	70
Fingal	17.7	+0.4	26.0	4.0	-0.9	-2.0	40	55
Friendly Beaches	18.4		27.9	8.6		3.1	46
Geeveston	17.2	+1.0	25.5	6.0	+0.1	0.8	47	92
Grove	17.9	+1.1	27.0	5.0	-0.6	-0.2	42	70
Hartz Mountain	12.0		21.8	3.0		-2.2	65
Hobart Airport	18.0	+0.8	28.9	7.1	-0.3	2.1	20	48
Lake Leake	14.2	+0.6	21.2	3.6	0	-2.3	45	77
Lake St Clair	13.3	+0.8	22.5	1.7	-0.2	-2.5	109	178
Launceston Airport	17.1	+0.8	22.4	4.9	-0.7	-0.7	52	62
Maatsuyker Island	13.4	+0.2	21.9	7.7	+0.3	2.7	67	107
Marrawah	15.5	+0.6	20.7	8.6	+0.6	5.0	59	90
Maydena	16.3	+0.9	24.8	4.2	-0.5	-0.8	84	126
Melton Mowbray	17.1		26.0	5.2		-0.2	26
Moogara	14.2	+1.2	23.0	4.3	+0.4	-0.8	57	81
Mount Read	8.4		17.7	1.3		-4.2	292
Mount Wellington	7.6	+0.9	17.3	0.6	+0.7	-5.5	44	78
Orford	16.9	-0.4	26.8	7.0	-0.2	1.6	38	61
Port Arthur	15.1	+0.8	25.7	7.2	0	2.0	69	103
Powranna	18.0	+1.0	25.0	5.2	-0.3	-0.9
Ross	17.9	+1.3	24.1	4.4	-0.5	-2.1	45	46
Scamander	17.3	-0.1	26.2	7.7	-0.3	1.5	44	59
Scottsdale	16.7	+0.3	21.2	5.8	-0.1	0.4	82	88
Sheffield	15.5		20.3	5.8		0.0	68
Smithton	16.7		23.2	7.2		0.0	54
Tarraleah	14.6	+1.3	23.0	3.0	-0.2	-2.2	82	111
Tunnack	15.0		24.2	4.6		-1.5	55
Wynyard	16.4	+0.5	20.8	6.2	+0.3	-0.5	59	101

Note

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Monday 1 November 2004 . Although every effort has been made to check them, it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.
"Normals" in the table above are based on all available record, which ranges in length from just a few to over a hundred years. Stations without normals do not have sufficient record.

Further information

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