Northern Territory in 2022: warm across the Top End

It was warm across the Top End in 2022, with both daytime and night-time temperatures well above the long-term average. Temperatures were close to average in southern areas of the Northern Territory. A very wet October to December period resulted in above average annual rainfall for the Northern Territory overall.

Wetter than average overall

  • The Northern Territory area-average rainfall for 2022 was 613.2 mm, 12% above the 1961–1990 average and the wettest year since 2017.
  • Rainfall was above average for the southern two-thirds, and north-western coast of the Northern Territory, but parts of Arnhem Land and the Carpentaria District had below average rainfall.
  • On 12 January, Tropical Cyclone Tiffany crossed the eastern Top End coast near Port Roper, bringing moderate to locally heavy falls over the following week and impacting major roads and railways.
  • Maranboy Hill had its highest daily rainfall on record on 13 January.
  • An absence of monsoon burst activity saw the Northern Territory have its driest March since 2009, and the ninth-driest on record since 1900.
  • The lack of monsoon burst activity in the second half of the 2021–22 wet season (February to April) resulted in serious rainfall deficiencies (totals in the lowest 10% of years since 1900) for much of the Barkly and Gregory Districts.
  • Cloud bands crossed the Northern Territory in each month from June to September, bringing unseasonal widespread moderate rainfall.
  • It was the wettest October since 2010, the fifth-wettest November on record, and the seventh-wettest December on record.
  • The October to December period was the wettest such period for the Northern Territory since 2000, and the third-wettest on record.
  • The Northern Rainfall Onset threshold (50 mm of rainfall since 1 September) was reached 1 to 2 months earlier than usual in many areas.
  • There were frequent thunderstorms and showers across the Northern Territory in October and November, while Tropical Cyclone Ellie crossed the western Top End coast shortly before midnight on 22 December, bringing heavy rain to northern and central areas.
  • At Darwin Airport the monsoon onset was observed on 22 December, about a week earlier than the long-term average but typical during a La Niña year.

Warm across the Top End, cooler in the south

  • For the Top End mean maximum and minimum temperatures in 2022 were very much above average (warmest 10% of all years since 1910) in many areas.
  • Victoria River Downs equalled its highest mean temperature on record.
  • Temperatures in southern areas of the Northern Territory were generally close to or slightly below average.
  • For the Northern Territory overall, the annual mean temperature was 0.69 °C above the 1961–1990 average, the maximum temperature 0.68 °C above average and the minimum temperature 0.69 °C above average.
  • It was the second-warmest March on record since 1910, and the third-warmest April on record, in terms of mean temperature, during the unusually dry end to the wet season.
  • July had cool days and cold nights, particularly in the south; overall it was the coolest July since 1983, with mean minimum temperatures the fifth-coolest on record.
  • It was very warm across the Top End in September, with a number of sites having their warmest September mean maximum temperatures on record.
  • Late October saw heatwave conditions across the Top End, reaching Severe to Extreme intensity in some areas; many sites had their warmest October night on record during this period.

Darwin Airport

  • Total rainfall for Darwin Airport was 1972.2 mm, which is 114% of the long-term average of 1726.9 mm.
  • The October to December rainfall total of 923.6 mm was a record for Darwin Airport, exceeding the previous record of 910.9 mm in 1974.
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Darwin Airport was 32.9 °C, which is 0.8 °C above the long-term average of 32.1 °C.
  • The warmest day was 37.4 °C on 14 September, and the coolest day was on 29 June when the temperature reached 25.3 °C.
  • The mean daily maximum temperature was the equal fifth-warmest on record since 1941, but cooler than each of the previous three years.
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Darwin Airport was 23.8 °C, which is 0.6 °C above the long-term average of 23.2 °C.
  • The coldest morning was 14.1 °C on 24 July, and the warmest morning was on 24 October when the minimum temperature was 29.2 °C.
  • July daily minimum temperatures were below 20 °C for the entire month, only the third such occurrence after June 2011 and July 1965.

Alice Springs Airport

  • Total rainfall for Alice Springs Airport was 439.2 mm, which is 156% of the long-term average of 281.6 mm.
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Alice Springs Airport was 28.9 °C, which is equal to the long-term average.
  • The warmest day was 42.9 °C on 10 January, and the coolest days were on 11 June and 1 September when the temperature reached 13.5 °C.
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Alice Springs Airport was 12.6 °C, which is 0.6 °C below the long-term average of 13.2 °C.
  • The coldest morning was -4.0 °C on 15 July, and the warmest morning was on 15 January when the minimum temperature was 28.5 °C.
  • July had 15 consecutive nights (3rd to the 17th) with a minimum temperature below 0 °C, the longest such sequence there with records beginning in 1941.

Further information

Media
(03) 9669 4057

Extremes in 2022
Hottest day 46.5 °C at Rabbit Flat on 11 Jan
Warmest days on average 36.1 °C at Bradshaw - Angallari Valley (Defence)
Coolest days on average 28.9 °C at Alice Springs Airport
Coldest day 10.7 °C at Curtin Springs on 1 Jun
Coldest night -4.2 °C at Watarrka on 6 Jul
Coolest nights on average 12.6 °C at Alice Springs Airport
Warmest nights on average 26.3 °C at McCluer Island
Warmest night 32.3 °C at Walungurru Airport on 4 Jan
Warmest on average overall 29.4 °C at Jabiru Airport
Coolest on average overall 20.7 °C at Alice Springs Airport
Wettest overall 2535.4 mm at Pirlangimpi Airport
Wettest day 221.4 mm at Gove Airport on 17 Apr
Strongest wind gust 137 km/h at Darwin Airport on 8 Oct

Maps
ObservedAnomalyDecile rank
Total
rainfall
Map of Rainfall totals Map of Percentage of normal rainfall Map of Rainfall deciles
Mean
daily
maximum
temperatures
Map of Mean maximum temperature Map of Anomaly in mean maximum temperature Map of Decile rank of mean maximum temperature
Mean
daily
minimum
temperatures
Map of Mean minimum temperature Map of Anomaly in mean minimum temperature Map of Decile rank of mean minimum temperature

Click on a map to show it full size in a pop-up window


Monthly maps
Rainfall rankMaximum temperature rankMinimum temperature rank
January Map of Rainfall deciles Map of Decile rank of mean maximum temperature Map of Decile rank of mean minimum temperature
February Map of Rainfall deciles Map of Decile rank of mean maximum temperature Map of Decile rank of mean minimum temperature
March Map of Rainfall deciles Map of Decile rank of mean maximum temperature Map of Decile rank of mean minimum temperature
April Map of Rainfall deciles Map of Decile rank of mean maximum temperature Map of Decile rank of mean minimum temperature
May Map of Rainfall deciles Map of Decile rank of mean maximum temperature Map of Decile rank of mean minimum temperature
June Map of Rainfall deciles Map of Decile rank of mean maximum temperature Map of Decile rank of mean minimum temperature
July Map of Rainfall deciles Map of Decile rank of mean maximum temperature Map of Decile rank of mean minimum temperature
August Map of Rainfall deciles Map of Decile rank of mean maximum temperature Map of Decile rank of mean minimum temperature
September Map of Rainfall deciles Map of Decile rank of mean maximum temperature Map of Decile rank of mean minimum temperature
October Map of Rainfall deciles Map of Decile rank of mean maximum temperature Map of Decile rank of mean minimum temperature
November Map of Rainfall deciles Map of Decile rank of mean maximum temperature Map of Decile rank of mean minimum temperature
December Map of Rainfall deciles Map of Decile rank of mean maximum temperature Map of Decile rank of mean minimum temperature

Click on a map to show it full size in a pop-up window


Record highest daily rainfall
New record
(mm)
Old
record
Years of
record
Kurundi 168.0 on 25 Dec 155.2 on 23 Feb 1936 71
Jervois 153.2 on 22 Jan 139.2 on 7 Feb 1976 57
Allambi 194.0 on 2 Feb 146.6 on 7 Feb 1976 55
Montejinni 221.0 on 25 Dec 212.0 on 2 Jan 2017 52
Maranboy Hill 155.2 on 13 Jan 126.8 on 22 Dec 2003 20



Highest annual total rainfall for at least 20 years
Observed
(mm)
Most recent
higher
Annual
average
Warruwi Airport 1423.8 1628.5 in 2000* 1135.7

* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a higher value has gone unreported




Highest annual mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years
Observed
(°C)
Most recent
higher
Annual
average
Victoria River Downs 21.2 21.3 in 1992 19.6



Record highest annual mean temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Annual
average
Victoria River Downs 28.6 = 28.6 in 2016 50 27.1



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
Darwin-Daly (district 14GA)
Batchelor Airport 33.7 -0.1 39.7 2 Nov 21.7 +0.5 10.4 23 Jul 1550.6 1516.4 average 102%
Central Arnhem Plateau 32.9 +0.6 39.4 2 Nov 21.0 +0.4 7.8 23 Jul 874.8 1142.7 low 77%
Charles Point 31.5   35.1 10 Oct 24.3   15.8 12 Jul 1520.2
Croker Island Airport 32.6   36.4 16 Nov 24.4   15.5 24 Jul 1430.4
Darwin Airport 32.9 +0.8 37.4 14 Sep 23.8 +0.6 14.1 24 Jul 1972.2 1726.9 high 114%
Delamere Weapons Range 34.7 +0.7 42.2 23 Oct 21.6 +0.6 9.6 15 Jul 753.0 845.8 average 89%
Douglas River Research Farm 34.7 +0.2 41.7 2 Nov 20.5 +0.6 5.2 24 Jul 1223.8 1246.0 average 98%
Jabiru Airport 35.3 +0.8 41.1 2 Nov 23.5 +0.8 12.2 24 Jul 1112.8 1543.2 v low 72%
Knuckey Lagoon 33.5   38.2 21 Sep 22.2   10.3 24 Jul
McCluer Island 30.7 +0.5 34.2 2 Dec 26.3 +0.7 20.1 23 Jul 1027.2 1160.1 average 89%
Middle Point 34.5 0.0 40.3 2 Nov 21.2 +0.5 6.7 15 Jul 1682.4 1400.9 high 120%
Mount Bundey North (Defence) 34.7   40.9 2 Nov 22.7   12.6 24 Jul 1262.4
Murganella Airstrip 33.5   40.2 1 Nov 21.7   8.9 23 Jul 1364.6
Noonamah Airstrip 34.3   39.3 21 Sep     9.2 13 Jul 1326.0
Oenpelli Airport 35.0   40.0 30 Oct 23.2   11.2 23 Jul 1352.0
Pirlangimpi Airport 33.2 +0.7 36.7 28 Oct 22.7 +0.4 12.4 15 Jul 2535.4 1998.3 high 127%
Point Fawcett 32.0 +0.1 34.9 4 Nov 22.8 +0.1 11.0 15 Jul 1797.4 1595.7 average 113%
Point Stuart 33.4   37.8 10 Oct 23.1   9.2 14 Jul 1465.8 1362.5 average 108%
Tindal RAAF 35.0 +0.9 41.8 2 Nov 21.2 +0.7 6.6 24 Jul 850.4 1063.1 low 80%
Arnhem (district 14BC)
Cape Wessel 32.5 +0.4 37.1 3 Nov 25.4 0.0 21.6 18 Aug 1835.4 1287.2 high 143%
Gove Airport 31.6 +0.8 36.5 1 Nov 23.8 +1.2 13.8 18 Aug 1838.8 1444.7 high 127%
Groote Eylandt Airport 32.6 +0.4 40.0 1 Nov 21.6 +0.6 7.7 16 Aug 1103.8 1278.1 average 86%
Milingimbi Airport 33.0 +0.6 37.5 1 Dec 23.6 +0.5 13.6 6 Jul 1067.6 1169.5 average 91%
Warruwi Airport 32.1 +0.8 36.7 1 Nov 25.0 +0.6 18.1 23 Jul 1423.8 1135.7 high 125%
Roper-Mcarthur (district 14DE)
Borroloola Airport 35.4 +1.3 43.0 2 Mar 20.5 +0.8 5.2 15 Jul 512.6 887.6 low 58%
Centre Island 32.1 +0.8 40.2 1 Mar 24.8 +0.9 15.3 16 Jul 463.2 1022.8 v low 45%
Daly Waters Airstrip 35.4 +1.3 43.3 11 Dec 19.5 +0.4 4.0 24 Jul 561.4 675.9 low 83%
McArthur River Mine Airport 35.9 +1.1 43.4 4 Mar 20.5 +0.7 4.1 16 Jul 644.6 770.4 average 84%
Victoria (district 14F)
Bradshaw 36.0 +0.4 42.9 2 Nov 22.2 +0.3 6.9 15 Jul 1199.4 982.5 average 122%
Bradshaw - Angallari Valley (Defence) 36.1   43.5 9 Dec     8.8 12 Jul 909.0
Bradshaw - Koolendong Valley (Defence) 35.4   41.9 9 Dec 19.7   3.1 15 Jul 993.6
Lajamanu Airport 34.7 +0.7 46.0 11 Jan 19.7 +1.4 3.8 12 Jul 758.8 510.8 high 149%
Victoria River Downs 36.0 +1.4 44.4 24 Oct 21.2 +1.6 4.2 13 Jul 743.4 651.9 average 114%
Barkly (district 15A)
Tennant Creek Airport 32.5 +0.4 44.1 3 Jan 20.3 +0.4 7.5 4 Jul 605.6 469.4 high 129%
Alice Springs (district 15B)
Alice Springs Airport 28.9 0.0 42.9 10 Jan 12.6 -0.6 -4.0 15 Jul 439.2 281.6 high 156%
Jervois 30.7 -0.3 45.6 2 Jan 15.1 +0.3 -1.8 16 Jul 442.6 288.1 high 154%
Rabbit Flat 34.6 +0.6 46.5 11 Jan 17.2 +0.6 -1.6 8 Jul 497.2 466.6 average 107%
Territory Grape Farm 30.9 -0.1 43.6 11 Jan 14.7 +0.1 -2.5 7 Jul 338.2 315.0 average 107%
Walungurru Airport 31.8 -1.0 45.7 11 Jan 19.3 -0.2 4.5 4 Jul 407.0 277.5 high 147%
Yulara Airport 29.4 -0.8 43.8 11 Jan 14.4 +0.2 -2.0 6 Jul 344.0 270.6 high 127%

Notes

The Annual climate summary, lists the main features of the weather in Northern Territory using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated.

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 6 pm on Tuesday 31 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.

Information about Australian Indigenous seasonal calendars is available at the Indigenous Weather Knowledge website.

Further information

Media
(03) 9669 4057

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