Greater Brisbane in 2022: A wetter than average year with cooler days

Rainfall was very above average across Greater Brisbane during 2022 with many locations having their wettest year on record. Mean maximum temperatures were cooler than average at most sites, and more than one degree below average at some inland sites. Mean minimum temperatures were generally warmer than average at most sites across Greater Brisbane.

Record high rainfall for many locations

Cooler days, warmer nights

Brisbane

  • Total rainfall for Brisbane was estimated (from nearby sites) at 2036 mm, which is 191% of the long-term calculated average of 1067.3 mm. This is the wettest annual total since 1974 (using combined sites) and the fifth-wettest on record since official Brisbane records began in 1840.
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Brisbane was 25.7 °C, which is 0.9 °C below the long-term average of 26.6 °C
  • The warmest day was 35.5 °C on 2 February, and the coolest day was on 5 July when the temperature reached 14.0 °C
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Brisbane was 16.4 °C, equal to the long-term average
  • The coldest morning was 6.0 °C on 15 August, and the warmest morning was on 2 February when the minimum temperature was 25.3 °C

Further information

Media
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Extremes in 2022
Hottest day 38.4 °C at Amberley AMO on 6 Dec
Warmest days on average 26.3 °C at Amberley AMO
Coolest days on average 23.6 °C at Cape Moreton Lighthouse
Coldest day 12.2 °C at University of Queensland Gatton on 4 Jul
Coldest night -1.3 °C at Canungra (Defence) on 9 Jun
Coolest nights on average 12.2 °C at Canungra (Defence)
Warmest nights on average 18.2 °C at Cape Moreton Lighthouse
Warmest night 26.4 °C at Point Lookout on 2 Feb
Warmest on average overall 21.5 °C at Point Lookout
Coolest on average overall 18.5 °C at Canungra (Defence)
Wettest overall 2952.1 mm at Peachester
Wettest day 345.0 mm at Landsborough on 26 Feb
Strongest wind gust 111 km/h at Cape Moreton Lighthouse on 1 Dec

Record highest daily rainfall
New record
(mm)
Old
record
Years of
record
Lowood Don St 240.0 on 26 Feb 223.0 on 20 Jul 1965 136
Forest Hill 269.8 on 26 Feb 181.4 on 20 Jul 1965 129
Alderley 344.8 on 28 Feb 308.4 on 14 Mar 1908 124
Mt Brisbane 250.0 on 26 Feb 186.7 on 6 Feb 1931 120
Coominya Post Office 226.8 on 26 Feb 194.0 on 27 Jan 1974 106
McKenzie Creek 271.0 on 26 Feb 247.9 on 3 Apr 1972 70
Placid Hills 302.3 on 26 Feb 141.5 on 28 Jan 2013 53
Clontarf 340.0 on 27 Feb 252.0 on 25 Jan 2012 36
Cressbrook Dam 189.4 on 26 Feb 171.4 on 9 Feb 1999 33
Brisbane Aero 231.8 on 26 Feb 176.0 on 2 May 1996 29
Wivenhoe Dam 314.6 on 26 Feb 248.8 on 11 Jan 2011 28
Point Lookout 239.6 on 29 Mar 229.2 on 23 Mar 2021 26
Brisbane 228.4 on 27 Feb 182.6 on 2 May 2015 24
Mt Tarampa 292.2 on 26 Feb 134.0 on 11 Jan 2011 24
Woodford Stanmore 262.4 on 26 Feb 224.2 on 12 Jan 2011 23



Record highest annual total rainfall
New record
(mm)
Old
record
Years of
record
Annual
average
Lowood Don St 1449.3 1444.9 in 1890 126 815.2
Mt Brisbane 1600.8 1465.8 in 2010 122 840.0
Rosewood Walloon Rd 1774.0 1489.5 in 1974 122 884.6
Harrisville Mary Street 1480.7 1410.4 in 1947 118 797.5
Lindfield 1842.2 1800.4 in 1999 100 1066.9
Coominya Post Office 1650.1 1313.4 in 2010 95 828.5
Somerset Dam 1781.5 1573.8 in 1956 80 983.8
Amberley AMO 1666.0 1398.1 in 1974 77 867.7
Little Yabba SFR 274 2357.9 2072.6 in 1956 70 1243.9
Conondale Township 2058.2 1952.4 in 2010 66 1199.0
McKenzie Creek 2269.5 2083.3 in 1974 64 1223.4
Wamuran 2404.9 2255.1 in 1999 53 1275.7
Danewood Vale 2009.7 1855.4 in 1999 52 1052.8
New Beith 1847.8 1681.0 in 1974 50 1026.3
Placid Hills 1519.2 1300.7 in 1988 47 811.3
Greenbank Thompson Road 1761.2 1423.3 in 1988 41 963.4
Shailer Park Oregon Drve 2183.2 1744.2 in 1988 40 1201.8
Oxley 1726.7 1676.1 in 1972 38 1060.3
Wivenhoe Dam 1445.8 1132.8 in 2011 28 727.4
Cressbrook Dam 1397.8 1133.6 in 1999 27 762.7
Clontarf 2311.0 1573.6 in 2012 20 1147.5

Highest annual total rainfall for at least 20 years
Observed
(mm)
Most recent
higher
Annual
average
Esk Post Office 1782.9 2166.0 in 1893* 930.4
Wilsons Peak 1814.4 1866.6 in 1956* 1214.4
Gatton Allan Street 1260.0 1331.0 in 1950* 773.8
Kalbar State School 1290.7 1330.5 in 1947* 876.3
Alderley 2252.3 2268.4 in 1972* 1154.0
Archerfield Airport 1710.6 1964.2 in 1974* 1060.7
Canungra Finch Road 2253.2 2358.4 in 1974* 1173.8
Mt Tamborine Fern St 2927.6 3643.1 in 1974* 1584.8
Beerburrum Forest Station 2415.6 2802.0 in 1974* 1429.5
Capalaba Water Treat 1820.1 2374.3 in 1974* 1208.1
Karragarra Island 2218.3 2782.6 in 1974* 1461.8
Highvale 2173.0 2362.1 in 1974* 1173.7
Mt Alford 1450.5 1539.1 in 1947* 937.2
Mount Cotton West 2270.5 2525.3 in 1974* 1348.6
Cape Moreton Lighthouse 1682.6 1906.4 in 1990* 1479.8
Brisbane Aero 1700.0 1728.8 in 1999* 1068.4

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




Record lowest annual mean daily maximum temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Annual
average
Beerburrum Forest Station 25.3 25.6 in 2010 23 26.5
Brisbane 25.7 = 25.7 in 2008 23 26.6

Lowest annual mean daily maximum temperature for at least 20 years
Observed
(°C)
Most recent
lower
Annual
average
Logan City Water Treatment Plant 25.5 25.1 in 1999 26.1
Cape Moreton Lighthouse 23.6 23.3 in 2000 23.4



Lowest annual mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years
Observed
(°C)
Most recent
lower
Annual
average
Cape Moreton Lighthouse 18.2 =18.2 in 1992* 18.1

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




Record lowest annual mean temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Annual
average
Beerburrum Forest Station 20.2 = 20.2 in 2011 23 20.7
Point Lookout 21.5 = 21.5 in 2003 22 22.1

Lowest annual mean temperature for at least 20 years
Observed
(°C)
Most recent
lower
Annual
average
Cape Moreton Lighthouse 20.9 =20.9 in 2000 20.7



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
Amberley AMO 26.3 -0.6 38.4 6 Dec 13.2 +0.1 -0.2 25 Jun 1666.0 867.7 highest 192%
Archerfield Airport 25.9 -0.5 36.8 6 Dec 14.9 +0.4 3.1 15 Aug 1710.6 1060.7 v high 161%
Beaudesert Drumley Street 25.9 -1.1 37.3 6 Dec 13.5 +0.4 -0.6 10 Jun
Beerburrum Forest Station 25.3 -1.2 36.5 6 Dec 15.2 +0.4 5.2 11 Jul 2415.6 1429.5 v high 169%
Brisbane 25.7 -0.9 35.5 2 Feb 16.4 0.0 6.0 15 Aug
Brisbane Aero 24.9 -0.5 34.6 9 Mar 15.8 0.0 4.9 10 Jun 1700.0 1068.4 v high 159%
Canungra (Defence) 24.8   36.3 6 Dec 12.2   -1.3 9 Jun 2338.4
Cape Moreton Lighthouse 23.6 +0.2 30.9 28 Oct 18.2 +0.1 8.6 10 Jun 1682.6 1479.8 high 114%
Greenbank (Defence) 25.9   37.7 1 Feb 13.3   0.9 25 Jun 1953.6
Logan City Water Treatment Plant 25.5 -0.6 36.0 6 Dec 15.6 +0.4 4.4 9 Jun
Point Lookout 24.9 -0.8 32.9 19 Jan 18.1 -0.4 7.8 10 Jun
Redcliffe 24.8 -0.5 34.9 2 Feb 16.7 -0.3 5.6 9 Jun 2252.6 1166.2 v high 193%
Redland (Alexandra Hills) 24.5   33.6 21 Nov 15.7   6.3 10 Jun 1974.6

Notes

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

This summary includes data from observing sites in or near the Greater Brisbane “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 socialise, 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 social and economic survey data.

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Wednesday 25 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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