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Australia

• Warmest year on record; mean temperatures 1.20 °C above average
• Australia’s warmest day (7 January), month (January) and season during summer 2012–13
• Slightly below-average annual rainfall; 428 mm (1961–1990 average 465 mm)
• Sea surface temperatures third-warmest since 1910 (based on preliminary data)

1. Northern Australia

   • Unusually early start to the wet season with widespread heavy rain in the second half of November and an early tropical cyclone, Alessia, making landfall near Darwin on 24 November

2. Western Australia

   • Tropical cyclone Rusty caused flooding in the Pilbara and western Kimberley in late February
   • June rainfall records in the northwest follow unusual heavy dry-season rain, with flooding early and late in the month
   • Storms on 21–22 September with wind damage and significant storm surges between Perth and Busselton

3. South Australia

   • 49.6 °C at Moomba on 12 January; highest temperature in South Australia since 1960

4. Southeastern Australia

   • Significant January heat associated with numerous severe bushfires in early 2013, especially widespread in Victoria
   • Flooding in mid-June in Gippsland and in late June in East Gippsland and southeast New South Wales
   • Numerous damaging wind and storm events between late winter and early October; particularly affecting southeast South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria

5. Southeast Queensland and northeastern New South Wales

   • Ex-tropical cyclone Oswald caused heavy rain and flooding along the east coast in late January
   • Damaging hail and severe thunderstorms in late October and early November
   • Flooding in southeast Queensland and coastal New South Wales during late February–early March

6. Victoria

   • Major tornado outbreak in the northeast on 21 March with at least 5 confirmed tornadoes
   • Record-high June daily rainfall on the 1st and 2nd, with flash flooding in greater Melbourne

7. Tasmania

   • Flooding in the southeast in early April, with further flooding in the northern half of the State during winter and spring
   • Severe bushfires during January affected much of southern Tasmania, including the Tasman Peninsula

8. New South Wales

   • Early start to fire season on the east coast during spring, including severe bushfires in the Blue Mountains during September–October

9. Queensland

   • Below average rainfall for large parts of Queensland and parts of the Northern Territory

Issued Friday 3 January 2014