Tuesday, 8 February 2022 - Annual Climate Summary for Greater Brisbane - Product code IDCKGC54L0
Greater Brisbane in 2021: above average annual rainfall
Rainfall was above average in Greater Brisbane for 2021. A few sites had their wettest year on record, or their wettest year since 1988 or earlier.
Mean maximum temperatures were generally cooler than usual across Greater Brisbane for 2021 as a whole. Some inland and offshore island sites reported warmer than usual mean maximum temperatures. Mean minimum temperatures were mostly close to average or slightly warmer than average for 2021 as a whole.
Above average rainfall for 2021
- Annual rainfall was above average in Greater Brisbane for 2021. Thunderstorms activity throughout the year brought locally heavy, intense rainfall totals.Some sites had their highest total rainfall on record or their highest total rainfall for at least 20 years.
- In January, severe thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall and flash flooding in Brisbane, notable on the 18th.
- February rainfall was close to or slightly below average, with frequent showers and thunderstorms.
- There were frequent showers and thunderstorms in March and it was the
highest
March rainfall on record for Brisbane. A coastal trough brought
heavy rainfall to the south-east from the 21st, with 3-day rainfall
accumulations for the 22nd to 24th March of 200 mm or more. Point
Lookout had its highest daily rainfall
on record on 23 March 2021.
- It rained during the first week of April, resulting in near-average to above average rainfall across most of Greater Brisbane. May rainfall was reported mainly in the first half of the month, and was mostly above the May average.
- June rainfall was below average, but July rainfall was mostly above average across Greater Brisbane. August rainfall was below average.
- In September, rainfall totals were generally 10 mm to 20 mm, though the values are close to average at the start of spring.
- Rainfall in each of the months of October, November and December were all above average, with record high November rainfall at a few sites.
Temperatures close to average
- Mean maximum temperatures were generally cooler than usual across Greater Brisbane for 2021 as a whole. Some inland and offshore island sites reported warmer than usual mean maximum temperatures.
- Below average mean maximum temperatures were reported at Brisbane from January to July.
- The hottest day of the year was on 22 February, when the temperature reached 40.4 °C at University of Queensland Gatton. This was the only day and only site that exceeded 40 °C across Greater Brisbane in 2021.
- August and October were the only months with warmer than average mean maxima. September, November and December all reported below average mean maximum temperatures at Brisbane.
- Mean minimum temperatures were mostly close to average or slightly warmer than average for 2021 as a whole.
- Mean minimum temperatures were close to average in Brisbane for January, February and March, but 1.0 °C cooler than average in April.
- May reported close to average mean minima and June reported below average mean minima, though July and August reported mean minima 0.8 °C and 1.2 °C warmer than usual respectively.
- September and December had slightly cooler than usual mean minima, while both October and November where slightly warmer than usual.
Brisbane
- An equipment outage in December means the exact total for Brisbane is not known, but comparison with neighbouring sites suggests annual rainfall of around 1407 mm, which is 139% of the long-term average of 1011.5 mm.
- The mean daily maximum temperature for Brisbane was 26.3 °C, which is 0.4 °C below the long-term average of 26.7 °C.
- The warmest day was 36.6 °C on 4 October, and the coolest day was on 21 July when the temperature reached 17.4 °C.
- The mean daily minimum temperature for Brisbane was 16.6 °C, which is 0.2 °C above the long-term average of 16.4 °C.
- The coldest morning was 6.0 °C on 20 July, and the warmest morning was on 1 March when the minimum temperature was 24.1 °C.
Further information
- Media
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Extremes in 2021 | |
|---|---|
| Hottest day | 40.4 °C at University of Queensland Gatton on 22 February |
| Warmest days on average | 27.0 °C at both Amberley AMO and at University of Queensland Gatton |
| Coolest days on average | 24.1 °C at Cape Moreton Lighthouse |
| Coldest day | 15.0 °C at Cape Moreton Lighthouse on 21 July |
| Coldest night | -1.3 °C at Canungra (Defence) on 22 July |
| Coolest nights on average | 11.8 °C at Canungra (Defence) |
| Warmest nights on average | 18.5 °C at Cape Moreton Lighthouse |
| Warmest night | 24.7 °C at Point Lookout on 23 February |
| Warmest on average overall | 21.5 °C at Brisbane |
| Coolest on average overall | 18.6 °C at Canungra (Defence) |
| Wettest overall | 2234.3 mm at Mt Tamborine Fern St |
| Wettest day | 229.2 mm at Point Lookout on 23 March |
| Strongest wind gust | 117 km/h at Inner Reciprocal Marker on 9 December |
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Record highest daily rainfall | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (mm) |
Old record |
Years of record |
||||
| Point Lookout | 229.2 | on 23 Mar | 193.0 | on 17 Apr 2012 | 25 | |
| Record highest annual total rainfall | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (mm) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Annual average |
||
| Maroon Dam | 1486.0 | 1351.6 | in 1983 | 48 | 914.9 |
| Carneys Creek The Ranch | 1710.2 | 1520.5 | in 2010 | 34 | 1047.3 |
| Highest annual total rainfall for at least 20 years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observed (mm) |
Most recent higher |
Annual average |
|||
| Harrisville Mary Street | 1148.8 | 1169.2 | in 1956* | 791.7 | |
| Greenbank Thompson Road | 1349.0 | 1423.3 | in 1988* | 943.4 | |
| Mt Tamborine Fern St | 2234.3 | 2738.2 | in 1988* | 1565.3 | |
| Rocky Point Sugar Mill | 1772.7 | 1775.3 | in 1988* | 1342.4 | |
* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a higher value has gone unreported
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Summary statistics for 2021 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Rainfall (millimetres) |
||||||||||
| Mean for 2021 |
Diff from average |
Highest for 2021 |
Mean for 2021 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for 2021 |
Total for 2021 |
Average annual total |
Rank of 2021 |
Fraction of annual average |
|||
| Amberley AMO | 27.0 | +0.1 | 37.1 | 22 Feb | 13.0 | -0.1 | -0.7 | 22 Jul | 1084.4 | 857.2 | high | 127% |
| Archerfield Airport | 26.6 | +0.2 | 36.5 | 4 Oct | 14.9 | +0.4 | 3.1 | 11 Jun | 1214.8 | 1053.1 | high | 115% |
| Beaudesert Drumley Street | 26.5 | -0.6 | 35.8 | 5 Jan | 13.1 | 0.0 | -0.6 | 10 Jun | 1387.6 | 911.1 | v high | 152% |
| Beerburrum Forest Station | 26.1 | -0.5 | 37.9 | 4 Oct | 15.0 | +0.2 | 4.3 | 11 Jun | 1763.0 | 1414.1 | high | 125% |
| Brisbane | 26.3 | -0.4 | 36.6 | 4 Oct | 16.6 | +0.2 | 6.0 | 20 Jul | ||||
| Brisbane Aero | 25.3 | -0.1 | 33.2 | 24 Oct | 15.9 | +0.1 | 4.3 | 22 Jul | 1520.2 | 1042.3 | high | 146% |
| Canungra (Defence) | 25.3 | 34.3 | 4 Oct | 11.8 | -1.3 | 22 Jul | 1603.4 | |||||
| Cape Moreton Lighthouse | 24.1 | +0.7 | 32.3 | 24 Oct | 18.5 | +0.4 | 9.5 | 22 Jul | 1466.8 | 1478.4 | average | 99% |
| Greenbank (Defence) | 26.7 | 36.7 | 4 Oct | 13.0 | 0.2 | 27 Aug | 1379.6 | |||||
| Logan City Water Treatment Plant | 36.2 | 4 Oct | 15.5 | +0.3 | 4.7 | 10 Jun | 1503.9 | 1091.8 | high | 138% | ||
| Redcliffe | 34.7 | 21 Feb | 16.9 | -0.2 | 6.2 | 22 Jul | 1503.0 | 1082.7 | v high | 139% | ||
| Redland (Alexandra Hills) | 24.9 | 33.3 | 24 Oct | 15.8 | 5.6 | 20 Jul | 1599.2 | |||||
| University of Queensland Gatton | 27.0 | +0.1 | 40.4 | 22 Feb | 13.3 | +0.2 | 0.7 | 10 Jun | ||||
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
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. 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 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 9 am on Monday 7 February 2022. 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
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
Unless otherwise noted, all maps, graphs and diagrams in this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
