Australian Capital Territory in 2022: Wet with warm nights

Rainfall in 2022 for the Australian Capital Territory was very much above average with 7 months of the year being wet, including a very wet May and October. Daytime temperatures were around 0.5-1 °C;° below the 1961-1990 average. Night-time temperatures were 0.5-1 °C above average

Wet for seven months of the year

  • Despite some dry periods, it was generally a wet year across the Australian Capital Territory with rainfall totals around 40-80% above average.
  • Three sites had their highest total rainfall on record.
  • July was the driest month of the year when rainfall dropped to below 50% of historical average in most sites.
  • October was the wettest month across territory and many sites had their highest daily or monthly total rainfall record. Canberra Airport recorded 100 mm , or 1.8 times, more than, its average.
  • Wet conditions in October resulted in flash floods around Canberra.
  • May was also a wet month and some sites had their highest total rainfall on the record.

Warm nights cool days

  • The territory experienced warmer than average nights and mostly cooler than average days.
  • Mean maximum temperatures over the Territory were 0.8 °C below the 1961-1990 average.
  • Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) with 26 years of data had its lowest mean daily maximum temperature on record
  • Canberra Airport recorded a total of 14 days with maximum temperatures at least 30 °C(4 in January,6 in February and 4 consecutive days in December), which was the least number of 30 °C days since 1992 (6 days).
  • Mean minimum temperature was around 0.4  °C above the 1961-1990 average
  • Canberra Airport recorded 2 frosty nights with minimum temperatures below 2 °C in December, which equalled the record high number set in 1962.

Canberra Airport

  • Total rainfall for Canberra Airport was 892.4 mm, which was 139% of the average at the current site of 643.6 mm and 143.6% of the long-term average of 621.5 mm.
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Canberra Airport was 19.3 °C, which was 1.7 °C below the maximum temperature at the current site of 21 °C and 0.6 °C below the long-term average of 19.9 °C. The warmest day was 33.6 °C on 26 Dec, and the coolest day was on 14 Jun when the temperature reached 6.8 °C.
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Canberra Airport was 7.1 °C, which was 0.3 °C above the minimum temperature at the current site of 6.8 °C and 0.6 °C above the long-term average of 6.5 °C. The coldest morning was -6.5 °C on 30 Jul, and the warmest morning was on 29 Jan when the minimum temperature was 19.8 °C.

Further information

Media
(03) 9669 4057

Extremes in 2022
Hottest day 33.6 °C at Canberra Airport on 26 Dec
Warmest days on average 19.3 °C at Canberra Airport
Coolest days on average 9.6 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Coldest day -3.0 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on 1 Jun
Coldest night -6.7 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on 19 Jul
Coolest nights on average 2.9 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Warmest nights on average 7.5 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Warmest night 19.8 °C at Canberra Airport on 29 Jan
Warmest on average overall 13.3 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Coolest on average overall 6.2 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest overall 1632.8 mm at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest day 81.6 mm at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on 27 Feb
Strongest wind gust 96 km/h at Mount Ginini AWS on 1 Nov

Record highest annual total rainfall
New record
(mm)
Old
record
Years of
record
Annual
average
Melba (Verbrugghen Street) 1119.5 1042.0 in 2010 40 681.7
Torrens (Darke St) 1187.6 1060.0 in 2021 37 685.0
Canberra Parliament House 1014.8 997.4 in 1974 34 647.3
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 1186.8 902.4 in 2020 23 645.1



Record lowest annual mean daily maximum temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Annual
average
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 19.1 19.6 in 2021 26 20.8



Summary statistics for 2022
Maximum temperatures
(°C)
Minimum temperatures
(°C)
Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean
for
2022
Diff
from
average
Highest
for
2022
Mean
for
2022
Diff
from
average
Lowest
for
2022
Total
for
2022
Average
annual
total
Rank
of
2022
Fraction
of annual
average
Canberra Airport 19.3 -1.7 33.6 26 Dec 7.1 +0.3 -6.5 30 Jul 892.4 643.6 high 139%
Mount Ginini AWS 9.6 -2.0 24.0 2 Jan 2.9 -0.6 -6.7 19 Jul 1632.8 1085.4 v high 150%
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 19.1 -1.7 33.5 2 Jan 7.5 +0.5 -6.6 30 Jul 1186.8 645.1 highest 184%
Note: Observations for “Canberra Airport” are taken from the current site (Bureau number 070351), which opened in late 2008.
Comparisons are made against data from the previous site Canberra Airport Comparison (070014), which ran from 1939 to 2010,
combined with the current site from March 2010 onwards.

Notes

The Annual climate summary, generally published on the second working day of the year, lists the main features of the weather in Australian Capital Territory using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated. More extensive discussion of significant weather events, along with later information and data that has had greater opportunity for quality control, will be presented in the Monthly Weather Review.

This summary includes data from observing sites in or near the Australian Capital Territory “Greater Capital City Statistical Area” (GCCSA). The Australian Bureau of Statistics designed the GCCSAs to “include the population within the urban area of the city, as well as people who regularly s °Cialise, shop or work within the city, and live in small towns and rural areas surrounding the city. It is important to note that GCCSAs do not define the built up edge of the city. They provide a stable definition for these cities and are designed for the output of a range of s °Cial and economic survey data.

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 3 pm on Saturday 21 January 2023. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

In some situations, some or all of the rainfall is in the form of hail or snow. In these cases the totals given are for the water equivalent: the depth of liquid water that results from melting any frozen precipitation. There can be significant 'undercatch' of snow in strong winds, meaning the true precipitation can be higher than that reported.

Averages for individual sites are long-term means based on observations from all available years of record, which vary widely from site to site. They are not shown for sites with less than 10 years of record, as they cannot then be calculated reliably.
The median is sometimes more representative than the mean of long-term average rain.

The Rank indicates how rainfall this time compares with the climate record for the site, based on the decile ranking (very low rainfall is in decile 1, low in decile 2 or 3, average in decile 4 to 7, high in decile 8 or 9 and very high is in decile 10).
The Fraction of average shows how much rain has fallen this time as a percentage of the long-term mean.

Where temperature area averages are mentioned, they are derived from the ACORN-SAT dataset.

Further information

Media
(03) 9669 4057

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