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MEDIA RELEASE - Thursday, 30 April 2009
Tasmania, and much of southeastern Australia, has had several days of unseasonably cold weather, with cold days and very cold mornings since Sunday. Conditions like this are rare in April, being more a feature of winter.
There are a number of measures of the cold weather, including:
Record low April temperatures at some sites: The last two mornings have seen Flinders Island Airport drop below its previous April lowest temperature of 0.1 °C, reaching zero on Wednesday and down to -0.3 °C on Thursday morning. Several other sites (including Fingal, Geeveston and Dover) have also registered record low April temperatures. Meanwhile, Orford, Scottsdale and Tarraleah are among those to have had their coldest April days on record.
Near-record April low for Tasmania:
The temperature at Liawenee, on the Central Plateau, dipped to -7.5
°C on Wednesday morning. This is the second-coldest April
temperature ever recorded in Tasmania, just short of the -7.7
°C at the
same site in 2001. It is still well short of the annual record of -13
°C recorded at Butlers Gorge, Shannon and Tarraleah in June
1983.
Three cold days in Hobart: The maximum temperature at the Bureau of Meteorology's observing site in Battery Point, Hobart on Monday was 11.5, on Tuesday 11.3 and on Wednesday 11.1 °C. This is the first time since 1952 that Hobart has recorded three consecutive April days with the temperature below 12 °C, and it has only occurred on six previous occasions since measurements with standard instrumentation began in 1896.
Two cold mornings in Hobart: The temperature at Hobart dropped to 1.3 °C just after 6 am this morning. On Wednesday morning it dropped to 1.7 °C. This is the first time since 1953 that Hobart has had two consecutive April nights below 2 °C.
Four cold days in Launceston: The temperature in Launceston only reached 11.6 °C on Sunday, as cloud kept temperatures down in the north of the state. On Monday it reached 13.5, on Tuesday 13.0 and on Wednesday 14.4 °C. This is the first time since 1986 that Launceston has had four consecutive April days below 15 °C.Three cold nights in Launceston: Launceston
recorded minimum temperatures of -0.3, -0.5 and -0.6 °C over
the
last three mornings. A run of three April nights below zero has not
been recorded since the current observing site was established in 1980.
Low pressure began the sequence: A low pressure system brought rain and cloudy skies to northern Tasmania on Sunday. As the low moved to the east southerly winds dragged cold air across the state for Monday, with showers and some highland snow. The cold southerly winds eased off through Tuesday, but there were more showers and highland snow mainly in the west and south that morning. A ridge of high pressure built over the state on Tuesday night, allowing light winds and clear skies that created low temperatures and widespread frosts on Wednesday morning. High-level cloud that arrived during Wednesday inhibited sunshine from warming the state, and Thursday morning was another one of light winds and clear skies.
Temperatures to rise: With winds shifting more northerly ahead of a cold front approaching from the west, temperatures are forecast to be a little higher than they have been over Tasmania today and tonight, and by the weekend days are expected to reach 16 or 17 °C at most population centres. Details of current forecasts can be found on the Bureau's web site.
Complete April summary tomorrow: The routine Monthly Climate Summary, giving statistics for all of Tasmania for April, will be published on Friday.
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