Thursday, 9 January 2020 - Annual Climate Summary for Greater Brisbane - Product code IDCKGC54L0

Greater Brisbane in 2019: a very warm and dry year

It was a dry year overall in Greater Brisbane, with some locations reporting their driest year on record. Days were record warm at several locations, including Brisbane city. Mean minimum temperatures were close to, or slightly above average.

Dry year overall, record dry at some locations

• 2019 was the driest year on record for some sites or the driest for several decades
• Not only was it driest on record for some sites, but it was substantially drier than the previous lowest year on record: Gatton and Esk both reported more than 30% below their previous annual record
• It was a dry start to the year in Brisbane, with a number of sites reporting their driest January on record, followed by a dry February where most sites reported less than half their February average rainfall
• While March rainfall totals were average to above average, April rainfall was mixed across Greater Brisbane, with low rainfall totals at inland sites
• In May, all sites reported less than 50% of their average, and close to average in June; but from July through to September saw well below average falls recorded
• October saw above average falls in northern and coastal locations, but November was particularly dry in Greater Brisbane, with very little rainfall recorded which is unusual for that time of year
• Severe thunderstorms in mid-December saw some sites report well above their average rainfall for that month, while others reported around 30% of their average December rainfall

Record warm days

• Annual mean maximum temperatures in Greater Brisbane were much warmer than usual, and record warm at some locations, including Brisbane, Gatton, Amberley and Archerfield
• Mean minimum temperatures in Greater Brisbane were generally close to, or slightly warmer than average at all locations
• A number of sites reported their highest mean temperature on record, including Gatton, Amberley and Archerfield
• It was a warm start to the year, with mean maximum temperatures well above average from January to March, then in the first week of May
• Cool nights were experienced at the end of May and start of June, and then through mid-July in Greater Brisbane
• By August, daytime temperatures were warmer than usual, with November to December mean maxima well above average at all locations

Brisbane

• An equipment outage in June means the exact total for Brisbane is not known, but comparison with neighbouring sites suggests annual rainfall of around 675 mm, which is 66% of the long-term average of 1011.5 mm
• The mean daily maximum temperature for Brisbane was 27.8 °C, which is 1.2 °C above the long-term average of 26.6 °C, and the highest on record for Brisbane at the current or previous site
• The warmest day was 41.2 °C on 16 December, and the coolest day was on 4 June when the temperature reached 17.2 °C
• The mean daily minimum temperature for Brisbane was 17.1 °C, which is 0.7 °C above the long-term average of 16.4 °C, and the third-warmest on record for Brisbane
• The coldest morning was 7.4 °C on 12 July, and the warmest morning was on 14 February when the minimum temperature was 25.4 °C

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top