| Wednesday 3 January, 2007 Perth Annual Climate Summary 2006Perth's driest year on record
Annual rainfall - record low: The total rainfall for 2006 for
Perth was 466.8 mm on 97 days, making it the driest year in 131 years of record
for Perth. The previous driest was 508.7 mm on 96 days in 1940. The average is
859 mm.
* 6 February 1898, 8 February 1933 and 3 February 1962. Perth at a Glance 2006 June was the driest June on record with 24.6 mm breaking the previous recorded set in 1877 with 54.9 mm. The rest of winter didn't fare much better as it was the driest winter on record with 230.4 mm. The previous record being 260.0 mm in 1940, the mean being 485 mm. The wettest month was August with 124.8 mm, 10.2 mm below the average of 135 mm. The wettest day in 2006 was 15 August with 27.0 mm. Perth's mean daily maximum temperature was 24.8°C, compared with an average of 24.4°C. The mean daily minimum temperature was 12.3°C, compared with an average of 12.8°C. The highest maximum temperature in 2006 was 40.1°C on 21 February and the highest minimum temperature occurred also 21 February when 24.9°C was recorded. The lowest maximum temperature was a cold 14.6°C on 21 July while the lowest minimum temperature of −0.7°C occurred on 17 June making it the coldest night on record at Perth (Mount Lawley) since records began in 1993. During 2006 Perth recorded one day when the maximum temperature was 40.0°C or higher, the least number of such days since none were recorded in 2001; the long-term average is three. Perth recorded 32 nights when the minimum temperature was 5 degrees or less, the greatest number of such nights since the 38 nights in 2004; the average is 26. Perth's mean annual sunshine hours in 2006 was 9.0 hours which was above the long term average of 8.8 hours and just below the record of 9.1 hours in 1994. Note: Official Perth observations have been recorded at several different sites with varying instrumentation over the years, and these changes can affect the continuity of the climate record. For the current Mt Lawley site, the most significant changes of this kind relate to temperature and rain days. For that reason, current mean temperature and rain-day data quoted here are based only on readings from the Mt Lawley site, which commenced observations in 1993. Sunshine recordings are from Perth Airport and for similar reasons current means use only Perth Airport data, which commenced in 1993. Further
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