Thursday, 31 March 2005

PRELIMINARY MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY - TASMANIA

Cool and dry - Tasmania in March 2005

Despite a burst of warm weather at the end of the month, temperatures in Tasmania in March 2005 were mostly well below normal. Rainfall was also lower than normal in all areas, continuing a pattern that extends back through summer and spring.

Included in this summary is a table of State extremes, some more details, some new records, 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 March 2005
Highest temperature Hottest day	33.8 °C	Ouse Fire Station on 13th
Highest mean daily maximum temperature Warmest days on average	21.6 °C	Launceston (Ti Tree Bend) and Cressy Research Station
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature Coolest days on average	10.7 °C	Mount Read
Lowest daily maximum temperature Coldest day	2.1 °C	Mount Wellington on 5th
Lowest temperature Coldest night	-6.9 °C	Liawenee on 26th
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature Coldest nights on average	2.2 °C	Liawenee
Highest mean daily minimum temperature Mildest nights on average	13.1 °C	Swan Island
Highest daily minimum Warmest night	17.4 °C	Eddystone Point on 1st
Highest total rainfall Wettest overall	205.4 mm	Mount Read
Lowest total rainfall Driest overall	4.3 mm	Burnie (Round Hill)
Highest daily rainfall Wettest day	33.8 mm	Mount Read on 7th

Details

Rainfall was below normal across the State, and especially so in the Derwent Valley and the North, where monthly totals of less than 10 millimetres were common. Bushy Park received just 7.4 mm for the whole month, the driest March there in 132 years of record. For many other sites (including Burnie, Scottsdale, Strathgordon and Maydena) only 1994 was drier.
Showers and drizzle were common in the east and southeast during the latter part of the month. There were some moderate falls around the 21st in the east and the 25th in the southeast, but mostly these did not produce large totals. Even in the normally wet west, much of the rain was concentrated in the first week or so, and totals were well down on normal.
Most parts of the State have now had a long period of below-normal rain. The 7 months from September 2004 to March 2005 has been one of the driest on record for locations in the north and the Midlands. The east and southeast received very heavy rain in early February, which has helped top up their totals.

Maximum (daytime) temperatures were below normal on most days. The only warm spells were at the start of the month, the 12th to the 14th and the last two days. The 5th and the 25th were especially cool. Averaged across the month, temperatures were about 0.2 to 0.5 degrees below normal in the north, and 0.5 to 1 degree below normal in the south.

Minimum (night-time) temperatures were also cooler than normal. Temperatures on the morning of the 26th were very cold across the State. Several locations recorded their lowest March temperature ever (listed below in Records). Liawenee, on the Central Plateau, recorded –6.9 °C. This is the lowest temperature ever recorded in March in Tasmania, and the second-lowest recorded in Australia. (The lowest temperature in Australia in March is –7.2 at Kiandra in the NSW highlands. The lowest temperature for any month in Tasmania is –13, recorded at Shannon, Butlers Gorge and Tarraleah in June 1983).
Averaged over the month, minimum temperatures were below normal by between 0.5 and 1.5 degrees. For Burnie and Hobart (and a few other places), the mean March minima were the lowest since 1991.

The first week or so was generally windy, but high pressure systems close to the State kept the winds light for much of the month.

The Seasonal Climate Outlook, covering the three months from April to June, does not indicate any strong bias in temperatures or rainfall for Tasmania.

Records

Record Lowest Total Rainfall for March
	Total rainfall for March 2005 (mm)	Previous lowest for March		Years of record
Bushy Park	7.4	7.9	in 1916	132

Record Lowest Temperature for March
	Lowest temperature in March 2005 (°C)		Previous lowest for March		Years of record
Bushy Park	-1.8	on 26th	-1.3	on 16th in 1995	71
Tarraleah Village	-2.5	on 26th	= -2.5	on 16th in 1995	21
Fingal	-1.9	on 26th	-0.8	on 24th in 2000	19
Geeveston	-1.2	on 26th	-1.0	on 16th in 1995	19
Dover	1.9	on 26th	2.4	on 22nd in 1992	16
Lake Leake	-2.1	on 26th	= -2.1	on 17th in 1994	16
Lake St Clair National Park	-3.6	on 26th	-3.5	on 21st in 2000	15

Liawenee recorded –6.9 °C on the 26th, Tasmania's lowest-ever March temperature. However the site has not been open long enough to appear in the table above.

Summaries

Note that these maximum temperature statistics do not include 31 March 2005, which is likely to be warmer than normal in most areas.

Summary statistics for March 2005
	Maximum temperatures for March (°C)			Minimum temperatures for March (°C)			Rainfall for March (mm)
	Mean for 2005	Difference from normal	Highest for 2005	Mean for 2005	Difference from normal	Lowest for 2005	Total for 2005	Normal total
Hobart	18.3	-1.8	26.4	10.2	-0.6	3.5	24	46
Launceston	21.6	-0.7	30.5	8.9	-1.0	1.3	9	33
Burnie	19.7	-0.2	23.3	11.4	-0.5	5.6	4	50
Devonport Airport	19.8	-0.3	24.0	9.8	-0.7	3.2	6	47
Swansea	19.6	-1.3	25.9	9.4	-0.9	3.3	44	50
Strahan	17.9	-1.3	31.3	8.9	-0.9	2.7	52	99
Strathgordon	15.7	-1.5	26.6	7.6	-0.9	2.4	90	147
King Island Airport	18.6	-1.0	24.6	11.4	-0.5	2.8	22	49
Flinders Island Airport	20.0	-1.2	32.6	11.1	-1.4	3.1	8	51
Bicheno	20.0	-0.4	24.9	11.3	-0.6	6.6	25	57
Bridport	20.2	-0.8	25.1	10.8	-0.5	5.0	8	33
Bull Bay	18.3	-1.3	25.0	10.7	-0.6	6.0	22	43
Bushy Park	20.9	-0.8	33.4	6.8	-1.6	-1.8	7	40
Campania	20.6		33.0	8.7		0.0	21
Cape Bruny	16.4	-1.1	27.5	11.0	0	7.8	40	69
Cape Grim	17.7	-0.6	21.0	11.8	-1.1	7.0	15	37
Cressy	21.6		30.9	7.3		-2.5	7
Dover	17.6	-1.5	25.6	8.5	-0.5	1.9	20	65
Eddystone Point	20.3	+0.2	30.1	12.4	-0.9	7.6	40	58
Fingal	20.8	-0.6	32.2	7.0	-0.8	-1.9	10	44
Friendly Beaches	20.0		24.4	10.5		5.3	29
Geeveston	18.5	-1.5	30.2	7.4	-0.9	-1.2	14	56
Grove	18.8	-1.6	30.1	7.4	-0.6	-1.3	16	49
Hartz Mountain	13.2	-1.0	26.5	5.2	-0.9	0.3	33	69
Hobart Airport	19.4	-1.2	31.1	9.9	-0.8	3.6	23	37
Lake Leake	16.5	-0.8	27.4	4.9	-1.0	-2.1	25	63
Lake St Clair	15.3	-1.0	25.1	3.3	-0.7	-3.6	35	105
Launceston Airport	21.5		31.4	8.1		0.6	11
Launceston Airport (old site)	20.8	-0.3	30.2	7.7	-1.2	0.2	11	38
Liawenee	15.2		25.6	2.2		-6.9	10
Low Head	19.1		22.0	11.9		7.1	5
Luncheon Hill	18.2	-0.2	27.7	9.0	-0.4	4.2	54	80
Maatsuyker Island	15.0	-1.3	27.7	10.4	-0.2	6.9	46	86
Maria Island	18.8		23.0	11.6		6.9	38
Marrawah	18.4	-1.0	22.5	10.8	-0.8	6.6	32	63
Maydena	17.7	-1.7	30.9	5.7	-1.3	-3.9	28	75
Melton Mowbray	19.8		32.5	6.8		-1.5	13
Moogara	16.1	-0.8	27.8	6.4	-0.6	-0.3	21	52
Mount Read	10.7		22.7	4.0		-1.2	205
Mount Wellington	11.2		22.0	3.3		-2.6	50	71
Orford	18.7	-1.9	25.4	10.1	-0.5	5.1	36	45
Ouse Fire Station	21.0		33.8	6.3		-3.2	6
Port Arthur	17.3	-0.2	23.7	10.3	-0.2	6.6	74	92
Powranna	21.2	-0.6	26.5	7.3	-0.9	-1.6	18	23
Ross	21.0	-0.3	32.1	7.2	-0.3	-3.3	12	30
Scamander	19.7	-0.9	26.8	10.7	-1.1	5.2	28	68
Scotts Peak Dam	16.4		28.9	7.1		1.3	64
Scottsdale	21.0	-0.3	29.7	8.6	-1.1	3.1	6	51
Sheffield	20.0		27.2	8.2		1.9	8
Smithton	19.2		22.7	8.3		0.3	15
St Helens	20.1		29.5	10.5		4.0	20
Swan Island	19.4		25.8	13.1		8.7	18
Tarraleah	16.2	-1.1	29.3	4.7	-1.1	-2.5	33	71
Tasman Island	15.3		21.5	10.1		6.1	51
Tunnack	17.5		29.3	6.4		-2.6	23
Warra	15.1		27.7	6.8		0.6	50
Wynyard	19.8	0	23.7	8.1	-1.3	1.0	6	44

Note

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 11 am on Thursday 31 March 2005 . As a result, the maximum temperature statistics do not include 31 March 2005, which is likely to be warmer than normal in most areas. 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 reliably.

Further information

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