Wednesday, 1 December 2004

SEASONAL CLIMATE SUMMARY - TASMANIA

Generally warm and dry - Tasmania in spring 2004

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

Total rainfall for the thee months was below normal in most areas, and well below normal in some. The exception was Flinders Island, which was much wetter than normal. Averaged over the three months it was generally warmer than normal, although temperatures ranged widely through the season.

More detail is available for the individual months that make up spring: September, October and November 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 spring 2004
Highest temperature Hottest day	31.5 °C	Hobart on 18th Nov
Highest mean daily maximum temperature Warmest days on average	18.4 °C	Bushy Park and Campania
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature Coolest days on average	7.7 °C	Mount Wellington and Mount Read
Lowest daily maximum temperature Coldest day	-0.4 °C	Mount Read on 15th Oct
Lowest temperature Coldest night	-6.3 °C	Mount Wellington on 12th Sep
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature Coldest nights on average	0.5 °C	Mount Wellington
Highest mean daily minimum temperature Mildest nights on average	10.4 °C	Swan Island
Highest daily minimum Warmest night	16.1 °C	Friendly Beaches on 12th Oct
Highest total rainfall Wettest overall	1099 mm	Mount Read
Lowest total rainfall Driest overall	75.8 mm	Tunbridge
Highest daily rainfall Wettest day	75.4 mm	Mount Read to 9 am on 13th Sep
Strongest wind gust	150 km/h	Mount Wellington on 16th Sep

Records

Record Lowest Total Rainfall for spring
	Total rainfall for spring 2004 (mm)	Previous lowest for spring		Years of record
Marrawah	165.8	179.1	in 1972	34
Westbury	120.6	133.6	in 1982	27

Highest Total Rainfall for many years for spring
	Total rainfall for spring 2004 (mm)	Most recent higher for spring
Cape Barren Island	242.4	325.3	in 1952

Lowest Total Rainfall for many years for spring
	Total rainfall for spring 2004 (mm)	Most recent lower for spring
Burnie	139.7	112.6	in 1972
Yambacoona	140.2	135.0	in 1972
Pyengana	183.6	169.8	in 1982
Port Arthur	209.4	196.4	in 1982
Ulverstone	160.1	139.5	in 1982
Tooms Lake	108.0	66.8	in 1982

Summaries

Summary statistics for spring 2004
	Maximum temperatures for spring (°C)			Minimum temperatures for spring (°C)			Rainfall for spring (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	17.4	+0.5	31.5	8.4	+0.6	2.9	110	169
Launceston	17.9	+0.1	25.5	7.0	+0.1	-1.0	145	169
Burnie	16.4	+0.5	23.0	9.1	+1.0	1.5	140	245
Devonport	15.9	+0.3	22.6	8.0	+0.8	0.9	148	198
Swansea	18.3	+0.7	29.2	7.4	+0.2	0.0	123	146
Strahan	15.6	-0.2	26.6	7.5	+0.4	1.0	331	389
Strathgordon	13.9	+0.3	27.2	5.9	+0.5	0.2	663	712
King Island Airport	15.7	+0.2	25.0	9.0	0	2.7	163	224
Flinders Island Airport	17.0	+0.3	30.8	9.4	+0.7	0.8	213	182
Bicheno	17.9	+0.7	30.1	8.9	+0.3	2.9	148	155
Bridport	16.4	+0.1	24.4	8.3	+0.3	-0.2	152	200
Bull Bay	16.4	+0.2	31.0	8.2	+0.2	2.7	144	161
Bushy Park	18.4	+0.8	30.3	5.5	-0.2	-1.6	129	165
Cape Bruny	14.8	+0.4	28.5	8.8	+0.8	2.4	205	241
Cape Grim	14.5	+0.1	21.0	9.5	+0.1	5.0	109	189
Dover	16.4	+0.5	30.3	6.6	+0.3	0.7	208	241
Eddystone Point	17.5	+1.3	26.3	9.4	+0.1	1.2	167	193
Fingal	17.7	+0.4	28.8	4.4	-0.7	-2.7	115	149
Friendly Beaches	18.2		29.8	8.5		2.1	146
Geeveston	16.7	+0.4	30.7	6.7	+0.9	-0.6	201	253
Grove	17.5	+0.8	30.2	6.0	+0.4	-1.5	144	210
Hartz Mountains	11.2		25.9	3.0		-3.2	217
Hobart Airport	17.7	+0.6	31.2	8.0	+0.5	0.2	90	132
Lake Leake	14.1	+0.7	24.7	4.0	+0.4	-3.6	156	210
Lake St Clair	13.0	+0.6	26.5	2.5	+0.6	-4.1	428	541
Launceston Airport	16.8	+0.4	25.6	5.5	-0.1	-2.0	114	175
Luncheon Hill	14.7	+0.2	28.6	6.5	+0.3	-0.6	316
Maatsuyker Island	12.9	-0.3	24.8	7.8	+0.3	1.8	274	311
Marrawah	15.1	+0.1	22.2	8.6	+0.5	3.7	166	264
Maydena	15.7	+0.1	28.7	5.2	+0.6	-1.1	293	366
Melton Mowbray	16.8		29.4	5.8		-0.5	108
Moogara	13.9		25.7	4.6		-0.8	211	248
Mount Read	7.7		21.8	1.5		-4.4	1099
Mount Wellington	7.7	+1.0	20.5	0.5	+0.5	-6.3	192	232
Orford	17.2	0	30.0	7.5	+0.3	0.0	200	176
Port Arthur	14.9	+0.6	27.7	7.4	+0.1	1.2	209	287
Powranna	17.7	+0.8	27.0	5.8	+0.4	-0.9
Ross	17.7	+0.9	27.4	5.0	+0.1	-3.0	106	137
Scamander	17.7	+0.2	30.3	8.1	-0.2	1.0	123	174
Scottsdale	16.5	+0.1	27.5	6.2	0	-1.2	177	259
Sheffield	15.4		24.5	6.0		-0.2	224
Smithton	16.3		23.2	7.4		0.0	182
Tarraleah	14.0	+0.5	26.2	3.7	+0.6	-2.5	261	328
Tunnack	15.1		27.1	4.7		-1.7	159
Wynyard	16.3	+0.5	22.4	6.6	+0.4	-0.5	198	269

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