Monday, 3 April 2006

MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY - TASMANIA

Dry in most areas - Tasmania in March 2006

The first month of autumn 2006 was drier than normal in most part of Tasmania. Temperatures varied markedly through the month, although there were more very warm days than there were very cold nights.

Very dry in some areas: Most of the state was drier than normal, with the area northwest of Hobart particularly dry. Bushy Park (where records start in 1874) and Bagdad (1923) both had their driest-ever March. Although there were many wet days in the south and west, most falls were only light. The main statewide rainfall events were around the 12th/13th (as a cold front crossed), the 16th (when a trough brought thunderstorms and hail in some areas), and the 27th (again with a cold front). The only part of the state with above normal rainfall for the month was a small area southeast of Launceston.

Some hot days: There were several bursts of warm to hot weather through the month. On the 3rd, temperatures reached into the low 30s at several sites across the state; in the north the warm weather lingered but in the south and east the 4th was a much cooler day. There was another warm day on the 12th, with temperatures into the low 30s in the south and west but a little milder in the north and east. As might be expected, most of the warm weather occurred in the first half of the month, but the 25th and 26th saw temperatures into the high 20s in the south and east, before a cold change dropped them to the mid teens the next day. Averaged across the month, maximum temperatures were about half a degree above normal in most areas and about a degree above normal inland; a few sites had their highest mean March maximum temperature.

Not many cold nights: Overnight temperatures varied markedly through the month, but there were very few particularly cold and frosty nights. Most sites had their coldest morning on either the 20th or 28th, but even on these nights reports of frost were rare. Averaged across the month, minimum temperatures were mostly within half a degree of normal.

A cold and wet end: A strong cold front crossed the state on the 31st, bringing cold southwesterly winds and showers that fell as snow on the highlands and persisted into early April.

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 March 2006
Highest temperature Hottest day	36.1 °C	Campania (Kincora) on 3rd
Highest mean daily maximum temperature Warmest days on average	23.2 °C	Ouse Fire Station and Cressy Research Station
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature Coolest days on average	12.2 °C	Mount Wellington
Lowest daily maximum temperature Coldest day	5.2 °C	Mount Wellington on 7th
Lowest temperature Coldest night	-4.9 °C	Liawenee on 20th
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature Coldest nights on average	3.1 °C	Liawenee
Highest mean daily minimum temperature Mildest nights on average	14.6 °C	Swan Island
Highest daily minimum Warmest night	18.3 °C	Swan Island on 13th
Highest total rainfall Wettest overall	205.6 mm	Mount Read
Lowest total rainfall Driest overall	4.8 mm	Bagdad Post Office
Highest daily rainfall Wettest day	39.8 mm	Scamander on 28th
Strongest wind gust	120 km/h	Maatsuyker Island on 13th

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Records

Record Lowest Total Rainfall for March
	Total rainfall for March 2006 (mm)	Previous lowest for March		Years of record
Bushy Park (Bushy Park Estates)	5.0	7.9	in 1916	133
Bagdad Post Office	4.8	5.6	in 1998	82

Eaglehawk Neck's 18.2 mm was the lowest March rainfall there since 1955.
Victoria Valley's 15.0 mm was the lowest March rainfall since 1972.
Lake Margaret, Lake St Clair and Maydena all had their driest March since 1994.

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Record Highest Mean Maximum Temperature for March
	Mean daily maximum temperature for March 2006 (°C)	Previous highest for March		Years of record
Eddystone Point	22.0	21.5	in 2002	49
Tarraleah Village	18.7	18.5	in 1985	22

Launceston's 23.0 °C was the highest mean maximum temperature there since 1992.

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Summaries

Summary statistics for March 2006
	Maximum temperatures for March (°C)			Minimum temperatures for March (°C)			Rainfall for March (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	20.3	+0.3	34.5	11.2	+0.4	6.3	20	45	low
Launceston	23.0	+0.7	29.6	9.7	-0.2	6.2	26	33	normal
Burnie	20.5	+0.6	24.6	12.8	+1.0	8.6	15	50	low
Devonport	20.6	+0.4	24.5	11.2	+0.8	7.0	19	47	low
Swansea	21.2	+0.4	30.3	10.4	+0.1	6.1	43	51	normal
Strahan	20.0	+0.8	32.6	9.6	-0.1	3.2	66	97	low
Strathgordon	17.5	+0.3	30.1	8.1	-0.3	4.5	107	146	normal
King Island Airport	21.0	+1.4	31.3	12.6	+0.8	6.2	36	49	normal
Flinders Island Airport	22.0	+0.9	29.3	13.1	+0.6	5.5	22	50	low
Bicheno	20.5	+0.1	23.7	11.6	-0.4	5.9	51	57	normal
Bridport	20.7	-0.2	24.3	12.1	+0.8	7.5	46	34	normal
Bull Bay	20.2	+0.6	34.4	11.2	-0.1	8.2	20	42	low
Bushy Park	23.0	+1.3	35.3	7.6	-0.9	1.7	5	40	lowest
Campania	22.0		36.1	9.5		2.7	12
Cape Bruny	17.8	+0.2	31.4	11.4	+0.3	5.0	40	69	low
Cape Grim	19.1	+0.8	23.4	13.0	+0.2	9.3	45	37	normal
Cressy	23.2		32.1	7.8		0.9	35
Dover	19.3	+0.4	34.4	8.6	-0.4	1.9	34	65	low
Eddystone Point	22.0	+1.8	26.4	13.9	+0.6	9.4	31	58	normal
Fingal	21.2	-0.2	33.3	7.5	-0.2	2.4	41	44	normal
Friendly Beaches	21.2	-0.2	28.2	11.7	0	7.5	54
Geeveston	20.7	+0.7	33.2	8.0	-0.2	0.6	24	55	very low
Grove	21.3	+0.9	35.0	7.6	-0.4	2.1	21	48	low
Grove	21.7		35.4	7.0		1.1	22
Hartz Mountain	15.5	+1.3	27.6	5.9	-0.1	1.2	33	66	low
Hobart Airport	21.2	+0.6	36.0	11.0	+0.3	5.9	12	36	low
Lake Leake	17.8	+0.6	29.4	5.8	-0.1	-0.7	44	62	normal
Lake St Clair	18.2	+2.0	28.9	4.4	+0.4	-2.0	49	103	low
Launceston Airport	23.0		31.1	8.6		4.1	43
Launceston Airport Comparison	22.2	+1.1	30.4	8.4	-0.4	4.0	53	38	high
Liawenee	16.9		27.8	3.1		-4.9	17
Low Head	19.6		22.6	13.4		10.5	27
Luncheon Hill	19.4	+1.0	29.6	10.3	+1.0	5.1	65	78	normal
Maatsuyker Island	16.7	+0.4	29.2	10.7	+0.1	8.1	84	86	normal
Macquarie Island	8.0	0	9.9	4.5	-0.1	1.1	98	99	normal
Maria Island	20.1		28.6	12.9		10.2	24
Marrawah	19.8	+0.5	25.0	11.9	+0.3	7.2	67	63	normal
Maydena	20.1	+0.8	32.1	6.5	-0.4	1.0	23	72	very low
Melton Mowbray	21.6	+1.1	34.5	7.5	-0.4	0.4	10	34	low
Moogara	18.3	+1.4	31.2	7.3	+0.2	2.2	34	51	normal
Mount Read	12.8	+1.4	25.0	5.4	+0.9	1.3	206	242	normal
Mount Wellington	12.2	+1.0	24.8	4.1	+0.2	-0.6	49	70	normal
Orford	20.3	-0.2	29.9	10.7	+0.2	4.4	26	45	normal
Ouse	23.2		35.9	7.0		0.2	13
Powranna	22.6	+0.9	31.8	8.8	+0.7	2.9	42	24	high
Ross	22.7	+1.4	32.7	7.8	+0.4	1.1	26	30	normal
Scamander	20.3	-0.3	26.4	11.8	0	7.2	54	67	normal
Scotts Peak Dam	19.3		31.2	7.7		2.3	76
Scottsdale	21.6	+0.3	28.8	10.2	+0.5	6.1	39	51	normal
Sheffield	20.2	+0.7	27.0	9.8	+0.7	3.4	21
Smithton	20.7	+0.7	30.4	9.8	+0.6	2.3	35
St Helens	20.4		25.4	11.5		8.0	32
Swan Island	20.3		26.2	14.6		11.7	17
Tarraleah	18.7	+1.5	30.6	5.8	+0.1	0.7	38	70	low
Tasman Island	17.0		32.6	11.0		7.4	45
Tunnack	19.2		30.8	7.1		-0.7	33
Warra	17.1		30.1	7.1		0.9	54
Wynyard	20.4	+0.6	23.1	10.0	+0.7	3.4	21	44	low

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Note

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Monday 3 April 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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