Thursday, 1 March 2012 - Monthly Climate Summary for ACT Monthly Summary - Product code IDCKGC15R0

Canberra in February 2012: Cool, wet end to summer

• 8th wettest February on record
• Below average temperatures, coolest since 2008.
• Record numbers of wet, overcast days.
• Fewest hot days since 2002.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

Canberra Airport recorded 127.0 mm of rain during February 2012, well above the historical average of 56.4 mm. This is the 8th wettest February on record, although slightly drier than both 2010 (133.2 mm) and 2011 (129.2 mm). The rain fell over 15 rain days, well above the historical average of 7 rain days and the most wet days on record, following 14 days in February 1973. The wettest day was on the 29th, as a broad low pressure trough brought widespread rain across the state, reaching 29.8 mm at Canberra Airport and 48.2 mm at Mt Ginini. Significant rain was also recorded on the 3rd, with 24.2 mm recorded at Canberra Airport associated with a low pressure trough, while 20.8 mm fell on the 18th associated with widespread thunderstorm activity. The above average rain is consistent with the ongoing summer La Niña event.

Temperature

Canberra Airport experienced an average maximum temperature of 25.0 °C during February, 2.1 °C below the historical average. This is the coldest February for Canberra since 24.6 °C was recorded in February 2008, associated with the cloudy, wet conditions during the month. Only two days reached 30 °C during February, well below the historical average of 8 days and the fewest hot days since no days reached 30 °C in February 2002.

Minimum temperatures were also slightly below average during February, at 12.9 °C compared to the historical average of 13.1 °C, also the coolest since 2008. The mean February temperature was consequently 19 °C, the coolest February in Canberra since 2008.

Wind

The prevailing wind direction at Canberra Airport was S-E in the mornings, forming 63% of 9am winds, while 39% of 3pm winds were WNW-NNW, normal for February. The strongest wind gust was associated with a thunderstorm on the 17th, reaching 59 km/hr at Canberra Airport.

Other phenomena

Canberra Airport had an average cloud cover of 5 eights of the sky at 9am and 6 eights at 3pm, above average for February. There were at least 13 days during February with completely overcast conditions at 3pm, the equal highest on record with February 1955. There were 13 thunderstorms across the ACT during February, the most since 19 storms in 2007, with reports of hail on the 18th.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top