Tuesday, 4 January 2011 - Annual Climate Summary for Melbourne Metropolitan Area and Environs - Product code IDCKGC2xx0

Melbourne Metropolitan Area, 2010: Wet with warm nights

  • Some stations had their wettest year ever, but generally, rainfall totals were above average.
  • Night-time temperatures were very much above average, some sites had their hottest nights on record.
  • Daytime temperatures were mixed but the majority of stations recorded average maximum temperatures.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

Rainfall totals exceeded their long-term averages at all stations for the first time in a number of years. For Melbourne Regional Office, the official station for Melbourne, this was the first time since 1996 an above average annual total was recorded. The annual totals were also the highest for a number years. Totals for 2010 ranged from 558.0 mm at Avalon Airport to 1026.8 mm at Coldstream. Scoresby Research Institute had the smallest anomaly, receiving just above normal rainfall while Coldstream had the largest anomaly, receiving one and a half times their normal rainfall. The wettest single day was 31 October when Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) received 75.6 mm, several other sites recorded their wettest daily total for the year on 31 October. Coldstream and Viewbank (ARPANSA) recorded their wettest year ever.

Some sites had their highest total rainfall for at least 20 years.

Maximum temperature

Average maximum temperatures for 2010 ranged from 15.5 °C at Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) to 21.0 at Melbourne Regional Office. Viewbank (ARPANSA) had the coolest anomaly, -0.3 °C, while Essendon Airport had the warmest with 0.7 °C. The hottest day was 11 January when Avalon Airport sweltered through 45.7 °C, several other sites recorded their hottest day on 11 January. The coldest day was 29 June when Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) recorded a maximum temperature of only 4.9 °C. No stations recorded either their highest or lowest average maximum temperatures during 2010.

Minimum temperature

Average minimum temperatures for 2010 ranged from 8.2 °C at Coldstream to 12.1 °C at Melbourne Regional Office. Viewbank (ARPANSA) and Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) had the smallest anomalies, 0.3 °C above the long-term average, while Melbourne Regional Office had the largest, 1.9 °C. The coldest night was 9 July when Coldstream shivered through -3.2 °C. The warmest night was 12 January when Melbourne Airport recorded 28.8 °C, several other stations also recorded their warmest night for the year on 12 January. Melbourne Regional Office recorded its equal highest overnight minimum temperature during the night of January 12th to 13th of 30.6 °C.

Wind

The strongest wind gusts were 102 km/h recorded at Melbourne Airport on 6 March and at Laverton RAAF on 5 Sep.

Severe thunderstorms

On March 6 severe thunderstorms developed to the northwest of the Melbourne metropolitan area and moved through the city from early afternoon, progressing to the eastern suburbs. Widespread flash flooding and water damage to property occurred across the CBD and the eastern suburbs with extensive hail damage to cars and property. The largest hailstones, 10 cm, were reported in the Ferntree Gully area.

Warm spell

Melbourne Regional Office recorded a warm spell of maximum temperatures above 20.0 °C that lasted for 123 consecutive days from 9 December 2009 to 10 April 2010. This was the longest run of maximum temperatures above 20.0 °C on record. The previous longest warm spell of maximum temperatures above 20.0 °C only lasted 78 days.

Cool spell

Melbourne Regional Office recorded a cool spell of maximum temperatures below 20.0 °C that lasted for 138 consecutive days from 11 May to 25 September. This was the longest run of maximum temperatures below 20.0 °C since 1992.

Further information

Dr Harvey Stern, Belinda Campbell and Jonathan Pollock
Climatologists
Victoria Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (03) 9669 4956
Email climate.vic@bom.gov.au
Extremes in 2010
Hottest day 45.7 °C at Avalon Airport on 11 Jan
Warmest days on average 21.0 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Coolest days on average 15.5 °C at Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill)
Coldest day 4.9 °C at Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) on 29 Jun and 25 Aug
Coldest night -3.2 °C at Coldstream on 9 Jul
Coolest nights on average 8.2 °C at Coldstream
Warmest nights on average 12.1 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Warmest night 28.8 °C at Melbourne Airport on 12 Jan
Wettest overall 1026.8 mm at Coldstream
Driest overall 558.0 mm at Avalon Airport
Wettest day 75.6 mm at Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) on 31 Oct
Highest wind gust 102 km/h at Melbourne Airport on 6 Mar
102 km/h at Laverton RAAF on 5 Sep

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Highest total annual rainfall for at least 20 years
Total rainfall
for 2010 (mm)		 Most recent annual
at least this wet		 Years since
wetter		 Annual
average
Melbourne Airport 729.8 820.8 in 1978 30 545.4
Moorabbin Airport 869.2 944.8 in 1978 28 713.8
Avalon Airport 558.0 776.0 in 1978 21 451.6


Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for 2010
Maximum temperatures
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
(°C)		 Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean
for
2010		 Diff
from
average		 Highest
for
2010		 Mean
for
2010		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest
for
2010		 Total
for
2010		 Average
annual
total		 Rank
of
2010		 Fraction
of annual
average
East Central (district 86)
Bundoora (Latrobe University) 20.3 +0.3 43.6 11 Jan 10.3 +0.8 0.1 9 Jul 755.7 665.2 high 114%
Cerberus 19.2 +0.2 42.7 11 Jan 10.3 +0.6 -0.3 16 Jun 854.6 719.0 high 119%
Coldstream 20.4 +0.2 42.4 11 Jan 8.2 +1.0 -3.2 9 Jul 1026.8 719.2 v high 143%
Essendon Airport 20.2 +0.7 43.4 11 Jan 10.2 +1.1 0.2 23 May 681.2 591.3 high 115%
Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) 15.5 -0.1 37.2 11 Jan 8.7 +0.3 0.3 25 Aug
Melbourne Airport 20.0 +0.3 42.5 11 Jan 10.0 +0.5 1.4 22 Jun 729.8 545.4 v high 134%
Melbourne Regional Office 21.0 +1.2 43.6 11 Jan 12.1 +1.9 3.2 20 Jul 780.6 648.6 high 120%
Moorabbin Airport 19.9 +0.2 43.9 11 Jan 10.7 +0.7 0.5 22 Jun 869.2 713.8 high 122%
Scoresby Research Institute 20.0 +0.5 42.1 11 Jan 9.9 +0.4 0.2 22 Jun 972.2 862.8 high 113%
Viewbank (ARPANSA) 20.5 -0.3 43.1 11 Jan 10.1 +0.3 0.0 20 Jul 884.2 646.0 v high 137%
West Central (district 87)
Avalon Airport 20.3 +0.1 45.7 11 Jan 9.6 +0.4 -1.1 16 Jun 558.0 451.6 high 124%
Laverton RAAF 20.1 +0.4 44.7 11 Jan 10.2 +1.0 0.1 23 May 613.0 539.9 high 114%

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Notes

An Annual Climate Summary is prepared to list the main features of the weather in Melbourne Metropolitan Area and Environs using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated. Later information, including data that has had greater opportunity for quality control, will be presented in the Monthly Weather Review, usually published in the fourth week of the month.

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 9 am on Tuesday 4 January 2011. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

Averages 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.

Further information

Dr Harvey Stern, Belinda Campbell and Jonathan Pollock
Climatologists
Victoria Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (03) 9669 4956
Email climate.vic@bom.gov.au