Tuesday, 4 January 2005

MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY - TASMANIA

A dry end to the year - Tasmania in December 2004

The last month of 2004 was a dry one for most of Tasmania (the main exception being the northeast). Temperatures were mostly above normal, but days in the east and southeast were somewhat cooler than normal.

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

An summary of the whole of 2004 has also been prepared.

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 December 2004
Highest temperature Hottest day	32.8 °C	Ouse Fire Station on 31st
Highest mean daily maximum temperature Warmest days on average	23.8 °C	Ouse Fire Station
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature Coolest days on average	12.6 °C	Mount Read
Lowest daily maximum temperature Coldest day	1.6 °C	Mount Read on 27th
Lowest temperature Coldest night	-2.4 °C	Mount Wellington on 28th
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature Coldest nights on average	3.8 °C	Liawenee
Highest mean daily minimum temperature Mildest nights on average	13.2 °C	Swan Island
Highest daily minimum Warmest night	17.9 °C	Flinders Island Airport on 19th
Highest total rainfall Wettest overall	245.2 mm	Mount Read
Lowest total rainfall Driest overall	14.0 mm	Ouse Fire Station
Highest daily rainfall Wettest day	106.0 mm	Pipers River (Yarrow Banks) on 14th

Details

Maximum temperatures were above normal in the west and northwest, typically by between 0.5 and 1 °C. In the east and southeast, they were below normal by around 0.5 °C. Most days were average or above, but the 27th was an especially cold day, with many sites in the south recording temperatures in the low teens.

Minimum temperatures were above normal across the State, generally by between 0.5 and 1 °C. The coldest nights were near the end of the month in many areas, but until then most nights had been average or above.

It was a generally dry month, with totals below normal in most areas; Lake St Clair, Strahan and Tarraleah had their direst December since 1994. Some heavy showers in the northeast around the 13th and 24thgave that area above-normal totals; at Scottsdale, Lilydale and Memana it was the wettest December since 1993.

Summaries

Summary statistics for December 2004
	Maximum temperatures for December (°C)			Minimum temperatures for December (°C)			Rainfall for December (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	20.2	0	32.4	11.8	+1.1	7.3	20	57
Launceston	23.5	+1.1	28.0	11.0	+0.5	6.3	46	46
Burnie	20.7	+1.2	24.1	12.1	+1.1	6.4	28	64
Devonport	20.6	+1.2	26.8	11.2	+0.9	6.5	42	52
Swansea	20.6	+0.1	27.2	10.7	+0.3	5.8	27	61
Strahan	20.4	+1.5	30.3	10.5	+1.2	7.0	69	86
Strathgordon	18.9	+1.7	29.1	9.3	+1.1	4.7	157	196
King Island Airport	19.1	+1.0	28.8	11.6	+1.0	6.2	29	49
Flinders Island Airport	19.7	-0.3	24.4	12.9	+1.2	6.4	64	58
Bicheno	20.1	+0.3	24.8	11.7	+0.3	7.7	50	70
Bridport	20.6	+0.3	24.2	11.5	+0.5	6.1	70	37
Bushy Park	22.8	+0.9	31.7	9.5	+0.4	3.7	34	51
Campania	22.5		31.0	10.5		4.0	18
Cape Bruny	17.3	+0.4	24.4	11.2	+0.9	7.6	47	77
Cape Grim	18.0	+0.8	23.0	12.2	+0.3	9.0	27	40
Cressy	23.7		28.1	8.8		2.0	21
Dover	19.0	+0.2	24.4	10.0	+1.1	4.5	43	75
Eddystone Point	20.2	+0.9	23.6	12.6	+0.4	7.9	72	61
Fingal	21.5	+0.1	31.1	9.1	+0.5	2.5	32	50
Friendly Beaches	20.5		26.7	11.5		7.8	38
Geeveston	20.4	+0.7	29.8	9.5	+0.9	4.0	39	72
Grove	20.9	+0.7	30.5	9.3	+0.7	3.0	28	63
Grove	21.1		31.0	8.8		2.3	27
Hartz Mountain	15.4		25.5	5.9		0.1	69
Hobart Airport	21.1	+0.7	31.8	11.5	+0.9	5.3	22	54
Lake Leake	17.3	-0.1	25.1	7.4	+0.5	1.7	34	74
Lake St Clair	18.0	+0.8	28.9	6.6	+1.9	-0.7	84	126
Launceston Airport	22.8	+1.6	27.2	9.0	+0.2	3.7	44	50
Liawenee	16.8		26.7	3.8		-2.0	20
Low Head	19.8		25.7	12.9		8.5	65
Luncheon Hill	21.6	+3.2	29.0	10.1	+2.0	4.9	67	86
Maatsuyker Island	15.6	0	26.0	10.1	+0.6	6.1	60	91
Maria Island	19.3		22.7	11.6		7.9	20
Marrawah	19.2	+1.0	25.5	11.5	+1.0	7.7	46	64
Maydena	20.3	+0.6	30.0	8.6	+1.4	2.4	75	82
Melton Mowbray	21.8		30.6	9.4		3.2	16
Moogara	18.3	+1.0	28.0	7.7	+0.9	3.1	42	60
Mount Read	12.6		23.8	5.0		-1.1	245
Mount Wellington	12.8	+2.2	24.8	4.0	+1.4	-2.4	44	89
Orford	20.2	-0.1	25.2	11.0	+0.6	6.9	31	65
Ouse	23.8		32.8	9.3		2.8	14
Port Arthur	17.1	+0.2	26.0	9.6	0	5.5	70	97
Powranna	23.5	+1.1	29.2	9.6	+0.9	5.4	45	41
Ross	23.1	+0.7	30.0	8.8	+0.4	2.1	22	39
Scamander	19.3	-0.9	25.7	11.5	+0.2	7.1	48	64
Scotts Peak Dam	18.7		30.9	8.4		3.8	141
Scottsdale	21.5	+0.7	26.0	9.7	+0.5	3.9	73	69
Sheffield	20.7		24.7	9.6		5.1	33
Smithton	20.5		24.9	10.0		3.3
St Helens	19.7		26.6	11.3		7.2	68
Swan Island	18.8		23.1	13.2		8.2	118
Tarraleah	18.4	+0.8	29.2	7.0	+1.0	1.3	46	91
Tasman Island	15.9		25.8	10.0		5.8	33
Tunnack	19.4		27.0	7.9		0.8	39
Warra	17.2		27.1	7.7		2.8	114
Wynyard	20.5	+1.1	23.8	9.9	+0.6	4.9	45	60

Note

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Tuesday 4 January 2005 . 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 years of record, which vary widely from site to site. Sites without normals do not have sufficient record for them to be calculated.

Further information

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