Wednesday, 1 December 2004

MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY - TASMANIA

Wet start, dry finish - Tasmania in November 2004

A warm and dry second half of November for most of Tasmania contrasted with a very wet and generally cool first week. Overall, temperatures were slightly warmer than normal, but cooler than last November. Rainfall was near normal in most areas, but Flinders Island had one of its wettest-ever Novembers.

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

A separate statement gives statistics for the whole of spring 2004.

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 November 2004
Highest temperature Hottest day	31.5 °C	Hobart (Ellerslie Road) on 18th
Highest mean daily maximum temperature Warmest days on average	20.4 °C	Campania
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature Coolest days on average	9.3 °C	Mount Read
Lowest daily maximum temperature Coldest day	1.5 °C	Mount Wellington on 15th
Lowest temperature Coldest night	-3.1 °C	Mount Wellington on 15th
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature Coldest nights on average	1.9 °C	Mount Wellington
Highest mean daily minimum temperature Mildest nights on average	11.9 °C	Swan Island
Highest daily minimum Warmest night	15.4 °C	Flinders Island Airport on 1st and Scamander on 30th
Highest total rainfall Wettest overall	309 mm	Mount Read
Lowest total rainfall Driest overall	25.6 mm	Tunbridge
Highest daily rainfall Wettest day	65.0 mm	Eaglehawk Neck to 9 am on 6th
Strongest wind gust	128 km/h	Mount Wellington on 19th

Details

The first fortnight was generally cool, but a burst of northerly winds put temperatures into the high 20s and low 30s on the 18th, especially in the south and east of the State. Another warm spell peaked on the 27th, but the last few days had temperatures generally close to the November averages. Averaged across the month, maximum (daytime) temperatures were below normal in the west and north of the State (typically by 0.1 to 0.6 degrees), and above normal in the east and southeast (typically by between 0.3 and 0.9 degrees). For most areas, it was markedly cooler than November 2003 and 2002, but much warmer than 2001.

Most nights were warmer than normal during November, although there was a cooler spell from the 20th to the 24th. The start and end of the month had especially warm nights. Averaged over the whole month, minimum (nighttime) temperatures were above normal by between 0.5 and 1 degrees in most areas, with some sites on the southeast coast more than a degree warmer than normal.

Two solid rainfall events early in the month (one on the 2nd and 3rd and another from the 5th to the 7th) supplied the bulk of the rain for many areas of the State. There was some more wet weather from the 12th to the 15th, and some generally light falls around the 19th. The last week or so of the month was dry in most areas. In the east, there was almost no rain after the 13th.
Total rainfall was very much above the November normal on Flinders Island, with most of it falling in the first week. This was the wettest November for many years at several sites on the Island. Southeast coastal areas also had more rain than normal, but once again most of it was concentrated in the first week. In the 24 hours to 9 am on the 6th, Eaglehawk Neck received 65 millimetres, and several other sites in the southeast received more than 30 mm. Several sites in the north had more than normal rain, with much of it falling on the 5th. Most of the east had slightly less rain than normal.

There were a few windy periods during the month, especially from the 12th to the 22nd when the State was subjected to a series of cold fronts embedded in westerly flow.

Records

Record Highest Total Rainfall for November
	Total rainfall for November 2004 (mm)	Previous highest for November		Years of record
Memana	142.0	138.2	in 2001	42 (since 1961)

Highest Total Rainfall for at least 50 years for November
	Total rainfall for November 2004 (mm)	Most recent higher for November
Cape Barren Island	129.6	133.0	in 1929
Flinders Island Airport	120.8	184.5	in 1949
Lady Barron	128.2	140.2	in 1949

Summaries

Summary statistics for November 2004
	Maximum temperatures for November (°C)			Minimum temperatures for November (°C)			Rainfall for November (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	19.2	+0.6	31.5	10.2	+1.0	6.0	52	54
Launceston	19.6	-0.7	25.5	9.0	+0.3	3.8	66	50
Burnie	17.7	+0.1	23.0	10.5	+0.9	6.8	61	69
Devonport	17.4	+0.1	21.8	10.0	+1.5	6.0	68	57
Swansea	19.7	+0.7	29.2	9.8	+0.9	4.2	56	52
Strahan	17.1	-0.7	26.4	8.7	+0.5	4.3	113	95
Strathgordon	15.9	+0.2	27.2	7.3	+0.5	4.9	194	184
King Island Airport	16.7	-0.3	24.9	10.2	+0.4	4.9	54	58
Flinders Island Airport	18.7	+0.4	30.8	11.3	+1.2	5.5	121	56
Bicheno	19.2	+0.9	30.1	10.5	+0.5	6.4	67	57
Bridport	17.8	-0.3	24.4	9.9	+0.5	5.0	58	53
Bull Bay	18.1	+0.4	31.0	9.7	+0.6	5.5	79	51
Bushy Park	20.3	+0.6	30.3	8.1	+0.5	3.0	59	54
Cape Bruny	16.2	+0.7	28.5	10.1	+1.2	5.1	74	76
Cape Grim	15.4	-0.6	21.0	10.4	-0.1	8.0	47	54
Dover	18.0	+0.7	30.3	8.7	+1.0	4.6	97	73
Eddystone Point	18.9	+1.3	26.3	11.0	+0.3	7.4	69	59
Fingal	19.6	+0.3	28.8	7.0	+0.1	1.5	58	45
Friendly Beaches	19.6	+0.1	29.8	10.0	+0.1	5.9	69	66
Geeveston	18.2	+0.1	30.7	8.6	+1.4	4.2	82	72
Grove	19.1	+0.7	30.2	8.4	+1.3	3.6	65	67
Hartz Mountain	13.1	-0.7	25.9	4.3	+0.1	-0.2	70	69
Hobart Airport	19.5	+0.7	31.2	10.5	+1.4	7.0	48	44
Lake Leake	16.0	+0.7	24.7	6.0	+0.9	0.3	69	64
Lake St Clair	15.1	+0.1	26.5	4.6	+1.3	1.0	138	148
Launceston Airport	18.5	-0.2	25.6	7.3	+0.2	1.7	44	50
Low Head	16.8	-0.4	21.0	11.5	+0.6	8.4	47	37
Luncheon Hill	16.9	0	28.6	7.9	+0.8	4.0	108	95
Maatsuyker Island	13.9	-0.4	24.8	8.6	+0.3	6.0	116	93
Marrawah	16.1	-0.4	22.2	9.5	+0.4	6.7	81	71
Maydena	17.3	-0.4	28.7	7.4	+1.4	2.9	106	100
Melton Mowbray	19.0	-0.7	29.4	7.9	+0.9	2.6	45	37
Moogara	16.1	+0.8	25.7	6.1	+1.0	1.5	90	74
Mount Read	9.3	-1.3	21.8	2.8	-0.1	-0.6	309	230
Mount Wellington	10.2	+1.4	20.5	1.9	+0.6	-3.1	107	82
Orford	18.7	+0.1	30.0	9.8	+0.9	5.8	103	66
Port Arthur	16.2	+0.6	27.7	8.7	+0.4	5.6	77	83
Powranna	19.8	+0.3	27.0	7.5	+0.9	3.0	32	54
Ross	19.9	+0.5	27.4	7.3	+0.9	0.7	38	44
Scamander	19.7	+0.9	30.3	10.0	-0.2	4.9	60	63
Scottsdale	18.5	-0.2	27.5	7.7	0	1.0	72	71
Sheffield	17.1	-0.7	24.5	7.8	+0.6	2.9	119	84
Smithton	17.4	-0.8	23.0	8.8	+0.5	4.6	67	51
Tarraleah	15.8	-0.3	26.2	5.7	+1.0	0.2	104	99
Tunnack	17.3	+0.2	27.1	6.4	+0.9	0.9	55	52
Wynyard	17.7	+0.3	22.4	8.7	+1.0	3.1	89	75

Note

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 11 am on Wednesday 1 December 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 years of record, which varies markedly from site to site.

Further information

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