Friday, 1 March 2013 - Monthly Climate Summary for Canberra - Product code IDCKGC15R0

Canberra in February 2013: Mild end to summer

  • Below average rainfall, but above average rain days
  • Close to normal temperatures

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

Canberra Airport recorded 31.6 mm of rain during February, below the historical average of 56.4 mm and the driest February since 2009. The rain fell over ten days, above the historical average of seven days, but no days recorded more than 10 mm at the airport (average 2 days). Elsewhere in the ACT, surface troughs and showers brought falls of up to 30.6 mm at Tharwa on the 25th, and 43.4 mm at Mt Ginini on the 28th

Temperature

The average maximum temperature at Canberra Airport during February was 27.4 °C, 0.3 °C above the historical average. There were six days above 30 °C during the month, slightly below the historical average of 8 days, with two consecutive days reaching 35 °C on the 9th and 10th.

The average minimum temperature was 12.8 °C, 0.3 °C below the historical average. Five nights dropped below 10 °C during the month, average for February, with the coolest night reaching 6.4 °C on the 3rd. The average temperature for Canberra during February was consequently 20.1 °C, equal to the historical average.

Further information

Climate Officer
NSW Climate Services Centre
NSW Regional Office
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (02) 9296 1555
Email climate.nsw@bom.gov.au
Extremes in February 2013
Hottest day 35.5 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on the 8th
Warmest days on average 27.4 °C at Canberra Airport
Coolest days on average 18.4 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Coldest day 12.0 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 2nd
Coldest night 0.7 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 2nd
Coolest nights on average 8.8 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Warmest nights on average 14.0 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Warmest night 19.1 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on the 28th
Warmest on average overall 20.4 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Coolest on average overall 13.6 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest overall 152.6 mm at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest day 43.4 mm at Mount Ginini AWS on the 28th
Highest wind gust 74 km/h at Mount Ginini AWS on the 24th

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for February 2013
Maximum temperatures
for February
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for February
(°C)		 Rainfall
for February
(millimetres)
Mean for
February
2013		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
February
2013		 Mean for
February
2013		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
February
2013		 Total for
February
2013		 Average
for
February		 Rank of
February
2013		 Fraction of
February
average
Canberra Airport 27.4 +0.3 35.1 9th 12.8 -0.3 6.4 3rd 31.6 56.4 average 56%
Mount Ginini AWS 18.4   26.5 9th 8.8   0.7 2nd 152.6
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 26.8   35.5 8th 14.0   7.8 3rd 65.0

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Notes

As of March 2010, the official station for Canberra is 70351 'Canberra Airport'. Averages from the previous site, 70014 Canberra Airport Comparison, are used for comparisons (all years of record).

A Monthly Climate Summary is prepared to list the main features of the weather in Canberra 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 10 am on Friday 1 March 2013. 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 20 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

Climate Officer
NSW Climate Services Centre
NSW Regional Office
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (02) 9296 1555
Email climate.nsw@bom.gov.au