Tuesday, 7 February 2006

MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY - TASMANIA

Hot days and lightning - Tasmania in January 2006

A very hot day: On the 22nd, hot air was brought across Tasmania from the mainland. Very high temperatures were recorded in the southeast of the state, with Campania in the Coal River Valley registering 40.6 °C. This is the equal second-highest temperature ever recorded in Tasmania, and the highest since Hobart reached 40.8 °C on 4 January 1976 (the State's highest-ever temperature).
A sea breeze held the temperature slightly lower right on the southeast coast, but was overcome late in the afternoon to allow Hobart Airport to reach 39.9 °C around 4 pm and Hobart to reach 38.8 °C just before 5 pm.
Many centres registered temperatures over 30 °C on the 22nd, although conditions were less extreme along the north coast. There was another hot day on the 26th, with temperatures at several sites reaching well into the 30s.

Statewide thunderstorms: A line of thunderstorms crossed Tasmania on the morning of the 20th, giving spectacular displays of lightning across the State. The lightning disrupted power in several areas, and also ignited many bushfires. There were more thunderstorms on the 22nd, mostly in the north.

Some cooler days as well: Most of the period from the 20th to the 28th saw above-normal temperatures, but these were offset by several cool days, particularly at the start of the month, around the 18th, and in the final two days. Averaged across the month, maximum (daytime) temperatures were above normal by about half a degree, slightly more on the East Coast but a bit below normal in the far south and the central north coast.

Generally cool nights: There were a number of quite cool nights, particularly around the 5th, 13th and 25th. The 22nd/23rd and the 27th to 30th were notably warmer than normal. Averaged across the month, minimum (overnight) temperatures were mostly within half a degree of normal: a bit below in the southwest but a bit above in the east and north, and the north coast was about a degree above normal.

Many dry days: The month started and finished with wet days, and there were a few other days of widespread rain, but for much of the month rainfall was only light and scattered. Totals for the month were close to normal in most areas, but below normal in parts of the north.

Included in this summary are a table of extremes, some new records, and summaries for sites across Tasmania

Further information

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

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Extremes

Weather extremes during January 2006
Highest temperature Hottest day	40.6 °C	Campania on 22nd
Highest mean daily maximum temperature Warmest days on average	25.4 °C	Ross and Ouse
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature Coolest days on average	14.6 °C	Mount Wellington
Lowest daily maximum temperature Coldest day	4.3 °C	Mount Read on 3rd
Lowest temperature Coldest night	-2.4 °C	Liawenee on 5th
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature Coldest nights on average	4.8 °C	Mount Wellington
Highest mean daily minimum temperature Mildest nights on average	14.8 °C	Swan Island
Highest daily minimum Warmest night	21.6 °C	Flinders Island Airport on 27th
Highest total rainfall Wettest overall	146.6 mm	Mount Read
Lowest total rainfall Driest overall	14.8 mm	Windermere
Highest daily rainfall Wettest day	47.2 mm	Mount Read on 3rd
Strongest wind gust	135 km/h	Mount Wellington on 2nd

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Records

Record Highest Temperature for January
	Highest temperature in January 2006 (°C)		Previous highest for January		Years of record
Mount Wellington	29.2	on 22nd	28.2	on 25th in 2003	26

There were several "near records" on the 22nd. Campania's 40.6 °C equalled the second-highest temperature ever recorded in Tasmania (this was reached at Hobart in 1959, 1900 and 1897). It was also the highest temperature recorded since Hobart reached 40.8 °C on 4 January 1976 (the State's highest-ever temperature). Hobart Airport's 39.9 °C was the highest there since it set its record of 40.1 °C on 3 January 1991.

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Summaries

Summary statistics for January 2006
	Maximum temperatures for January (°C)			Minimum temperatures for January (°C)			Rainfall for January (mm)
	Mean for 2006	Difference from normal	Highest for 2006	Mean for 2006	Difference from normal	Lowest for 2006	Total for 2006	Normal total	Ranking
Hobart	22.0	+0.5	38.8	12.4	+0.6	8.2	34	48	normal
Launceston	24.6	+0.6	33.1	12.8	+0.8	5.3	26	50	low
Burnie	21.4	+0.5	27.7	13.6	+1.1	8.0	24	44	low
Devonport	20.7	-0.3	25.5	12.8	+0.7	7.4	24	44	low
Swansea	23.3	+1.1	37.3	12.1	+0.5	6.8	36	50	normal
Strahan	20.6	+0.1	33.5	10.6	0	5.7	71	89	normal
Strathgordon	19.9	+0.6	34.3	9.2	-0.3	4.2	133	151	normal
King Island Airport	21.3	+0.7	35.5	12.2	-0.2	5.1	22	37	low
Flinders Island Airport	22.8	+0.9	35.4	14.1	+0.9	4.5	47	47	normal
Bicheno	22.5	+1.4	28.0	12.5	-0.2	6.3	36	54	normal
Bridport	21.4	-0.3	29.0	14.0	+1.1	7.7	33	64	low
Bull Bay	20.9	-0.3	32.5	11.5	-0.7	8.3	34	52	normal
Bushy Park	24.7	+1.0	38.9	10.0	-0.1	4.0	34	41	normal
Campania	24.7		40.6	11.3		4.2
Cape Bruny	18.7		34.4	11.9		9.2	58
Cape Bruny Lighthouse	18.3	0	33.0	12.3	+1.0	9.6	65	62	normal
Cape Grim	19.1	+0.5	25.3	13.1	+0.2	9.6	29	36	normal
Cressy	24.8		33.1	10.4		1.7	26
Dover	20.1	-0.4	29.5	9.9	-0.3	3.6	54	55	normal
Eddystone Point	21.8	+1.1	25.6	14.2	+0.7	8.7	25	46	low
Fingal	23.7	+0.7	37.2	10.0	-0.2	1.9	47	45	normal
Friendly Beaches	23.4		32.2	12.9		8.5
Geeveston	21.7	+0.2	37.9	10.0	+0.3	4.2	49	57	normal
Grove	23.1		38.7	8.6		2.5	27
Hartz Mountain	17.8	-0.1	33.0	6.5	-0.7	2.0	74	66	normal
Hobart Airport	22.9	+0.6	39.9	12.2	+0.2	7.1	31	41	normal
Lake Leake	20.3	+1.5	32.2	8.3	+0.1	-0.3	50	56	normal
Lake St Clair	20.5	+1.4	32.6	6.0	-0.3	0.5	51	107	low
Launceston Airport	24.4		33.4	10.9		3.9	30
Launceston Airport Comparison	24.0	+0.8	33.1	10.5	+0.4	2.7	33	45	normal
Liawenee	19.2		29.8	5.3		-2.4	24
Low Head	20.0		24.6	14.3		8.9	21
Luncheon Hill	21.9	+1.3	32.5	10.3	+0.1	6.0	42	91	low
Maatsuyker Island	16.5	-0.5	28.1	11.0	+0.3	8.3	80	80	normal
Maria Island	21.4		31.0	13.3		9.5	28
Marrawah	20.5	+0.5	29.0	12.3	+0.5	8.5	36	49	normal
Maydena	22.1	0	36.5	8.8	-0.1	2.4	64	64	normal
Melton Mowbray	24.1	+0.5	38.7	9.9	-0.2	3.0	25	31	normal
Moogara	20.2	+0.9	34.5	8.3	0	3.0	56	52	normal
Mount Read	14.8	+0.6	27.0	5.6	-0.2	0.7	147
Mount Wellington	14.6	+1.6	29.2	4.8	+0.2	-1.1	40	87	normal
Orford	21.6	-0.3	35.2	12.0	+0.3	6.7	32	51	normal
Ouse	25.4		38.1	9.8		3.3	32
Powranna	24.8	+0.9	34.5	10.9	+0.4	3.8	46	62	normal
Ross	25.4	+1.6	35.0	10.6	+0.2	1.5	33	56	low
Scamander	22.9	+1.2	36.5	13.2	+0.8	6.3	41	49	normal
Scotts Peak Dam	20.7		33.6	8.9		5.1	92
Scottsdale	22.5	-0.2	32.3	11.7	+1.1	4.5	36	61	low
Sheffield	21.6		29.2	11.0		5.4	30
Smithton	21.8	+0.4	29.8	11.6	+0.3	6.1	26	42	normal
St Helens	22.6		35.2	12.9		7.3	39
Swan Island	20.4		25.9	14.8		10.1
Tarraleah	20.5	+1.4	33.6	6.2	-0.9	1.0	38	70	low
Tasman Island	17.4		26.6	11.1		7.9	38
Tunnack	21.8		35.3	8.8		0.5	43
Warra	19.2		34.5	8.1		1.7	91
Wynyard	21.7	+0.8	28.2	11.8	+1.0	5.7	24	42	normal
Macquarie Island	8.7	0	10.6	5.0	-0.3	2.1	117	84	very high

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Note

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 3 pm on Tuesday 7 February 2006 . 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 shown do no have sufficient record for them to be calculated reliably.

The "Ranking" indicates about where rainfall this time ranks in the climate record for the site.

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Further information

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

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