Australia in spring 2022

In brief

• Spring rainfall was 112% above average for Australia as a whole, second-wettest on record (behind spring 2010).
• Rainfall was above average for nearly all of Australia, and highest on record across much of the Murray–Darling Basin in New South Wales and Victoria. Spring rainfall was also highest on record for much of the inland Kimberley in Western Australia, extending into the adjacent inland north-western Northern Territory.
• Rainfall for spring was only below average for small areas, covering the far south-west of Western Australia and the south-west of Tasmania.
• Significant flooding affected large areas of eastern Australia, with major flooding affecting multiple regions across all of the spring months.
• The national mean temperature for spring was 0.10 °C below the 1961–1990 average.
• The area-averaged national mean maximum temperature was 0.75 °C below average, while the national mean minimum temperature was 0.53 °C above average.
• Mean maximum temperatures were below or very much below average across nearly all of mainland Australia, but above to very much above average for the northern tropics.
• Mean minimum temperatures for spring were above or very much above for the northern tropics; across much of the south-eastern mainland and northern Tasmania; and in the south-east of Western Australia. Mean minimum temperatures for spring were below average for large areas of western and northern inland Western Australia, and some parts of inland central to northern New South Wales and adjacent South Australia.
• Tasmania saw close to average mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures.

Further discussion and tables of records for each state and the Northern Territory can be found in the individual regional climate summaries, to be released on 5 December 2022. For discussion of events during spring, see the individual monthly climate summaries for Australia for September, October, and November.

Temperatures

The national mean temperature for spring was 0.10 °C below the 1961–1990 average.

The area-averaged national mean maximum temperature was 0.75 °C below average, while the national mean minimum temperature was 0.53 °C above average.

Mean maximum temperatures for spring were below or very much below average across nearly all of mainland Australia, but above to very much above average for the northern tropics.

For New South Wales, the spring mean maximum temperature was the fifth-lowest on record (compared to all springs since 1910) and the lowest since 1976, while in Victoria it was the sixth-lowest on record and lowest since 1992. A large number of stations across the Murray–Darling Basin had their coolest spring daytime temperatures on record.

In contrast, some parts of the far northern tropics were warmest on record, with station records set in parts of Queensland's Cape York Peninsula and the Top End in the Northern Territory. With mean minimum temperature also highest on record for much of the Top End and Northern Territory Gulf coast, as well as some pockets of coastal far northern Queensland, a large number of stations in both states observed their warmest spring on record (mean temperature).

In addition to mean minimum temperatures for spring being above or very much above for the northern tropics, extending along the east coast of Queensland and into the south-east of the Northern Territory and around the Queensland-South Australia border, they were also above average across much of the south-eastern mainland and northern Tasmania, and in the south-east of Western Australia.

Mean minimum temperatures for spring were below average for large areas of western and northern inland Western Australia, extending into the south-west of the Northern Territory, and for some parts of inland central to northern New South Wales and adjacent South Australia.

Tasmania saw generally close to average mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures, although mean maximum temperatures were warmer than average on the west coast, and mean minimum temperatures warmer than average across the north of the state.

The exceptional heat in the northern tropics was partly due to periods of extreme heatwave conditions. In the south cold outbreaks saw periods of much cooler than usual temperatures and were associated with severe weather at times. See significant weather section of this and the national monthly summaries, as well as individual regional climate summaries (to be published next week) for more detail.

Rank ranges from 1 (lowest) to 113 (highest). A rank marked with ’=‘ indicates the value is tied for that rank. Anomaly is the departure from the long-term (1961–1990) average.

Rainfall

Spring rainfall was 112% above the 1961–1990 average for Australia as a whole, the second-wettest on record nationally (behind spring 2010).

Rainfall was above average for nearly all of Australia, and highest on record across much of the Murray–Darling Basin in New South Wales and Victoria. Spring rainfall was also highest on record for much of the inland Kimberley in Western Australia, extending into the adjacent inland north-western Northern Territory.

In terms of area-averages, spring was the wettest on record for New South Wales (previous record 2010), Victoria (previous record 1992), and the Murray–Darling Basin as a whole (previous record 2010). It was amongst the ten wettest springs on record for all other states and the Northern Territory, excluding Tasmania.

Spring rainfall was only below average for small areas, covering the far south-west of Western Australia and the south-west of Tasmania.

A very large number of stations in New South Wales and Victoria, as well as some stations in Queensland, Tasmania, and Western Australia, have observed their highest total spring rainfall on record. This includes more than 70 stations with at least 100 years of observations, mostly in New South Wales and Victoria.

Widespread and significant flooding was experienced across large areas of eastern Australia throughout spring, particularly through inland New South Wales and parts of Victoria. Flooding has also affected Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania. A Special Climate Statement on the ongoing floods is being prepared and will be published in due course.

Significant weather and records

For discussion of events during spring, see the individual monthly climate summaries for Australia for September, October, and November.

Further discussion and tables of records for each state and the Northern Territory can be found in the individual regional climate summaries, to be released on 5 December 2022.

Rank ranges from 1 (lowest) to 123 (highest). A rank marked with ’=‘ indicates the value is tied for that rank. Departure from mean is relative to the long-term (1961–1990) average.