Thursday, 5 January 2017 - Monthly Climate Summary for Canberra - Product code IDCKGC15L0
Canberra in December 2016: Second-warmest December on record
December was the warmest for Canberra since 1997, with few cool nights and the most days above 30 °C on record. A cool spell mid-month brought the coldest December day in twenty years, but the month ended with the longest December warm spell since 1975. Rainfall was slightly above average, with a thunderstorm causing heavy rain on the 25th.
Below average rainfall
- Rainfall was slightly above average during December
- The rain fell over 11 days, above the December average of 8 days, with totals above 10 mm recorded on the 6th, 17th, and 25th
- A thunderstorm on the 24th produced heavy rain and lightning, with small hail and minor flooding reported in parts of the ACT
Record numbers of warm days
- Mean temperatures in December were the second-warmest on record for Canberra Airport behind 1997
- Both maximum and minimum temperatures were more than 2 °C above average at Canberra Airport, with average overnight temperatures the third-warmest on record
- 16 days reached 30 °C, the highest number on record for December and twice the average of seven warm days
- Five nights had temperatures below 10 °C, half the December average of ten nights and the fewest since 2007
- The month ended with nine consecutive days above 29 °C, the longest December warm spell since 1975 and equal third-longest spell on record for December
- The minimum temperature was 21.6 °C on the 14th, the warmest December night since 21.8 °C on 1 December 2004
- The maximum temperature at Canberra Airport was just 14.8 °C on the 15th, the coldest December day since 14.6 °C was recorded on 6 December 1995
Further information
- Media
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
- Enquiries
- helpdesk.climate@bom.gov.au
Extremes Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top
| Extremes in December 2016 | |
|---|---|
| Hottest day | 33.9 °C at Canberra Airport on the 13th |
| Warmest days on average | 28.7 °C at Canberra Airport |
| Coolest days on average | 18.6 °C at Mount Ginini AWS |
| Coldest day | 8.8 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 15th |
| Coldest night | 1.1 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 9th |
| Coolest nights on average | 8.7 °C at Mount Ginini AWS |
| Warmest nights on average | 14.0 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS |
| Warmest night | 22.0 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on the 29th |
| Warmest on average overall | 21.1 °C at Canberra
Airport 21.1 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS |
| Coolest on average overall | 13.6 °C at Mount Ginini AWS |
| Wettest overall | 93.4 mm at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS |
| Driest overall | 52.3 mm at Nicholls (Gungahlin Lakes) |
| Wettest day | 34.0 mm at Mount Ginini AWS on the 6th |
| Strongest wind gust | 72 km/h at Mount
Ginini AWS on the 20th 72 km/h at Mount Ginini AWS on the 30th |
Extremes Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top
| Record lowest December daily maximum temperature | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for December |
|||
| Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS | 14.6 | on the 15th | 16.1 | on the 3rd in 2005 | 21 | 27.1 |
| Record highest December daily minimum temperature | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for December |
|||
| Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS | 22.0 | on the 29th | 20.6 | on the 23rd in 2013 | 21 | 12.1 |
| Record highest December mean daily minimum temperature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for December |
||
| Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS | 14.0 | 13.7 | in 2014 | 20 | 12.1 |
Extremes Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top
| Summary statistics for December 2016 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Rainfall (millimetres) |
||||||||||
| Mean for December 2016 |
Diff from average |
Highest for December 2016 |
Mean for December 2016 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for December 2016 |
Total for December 2016 |
Average for December |
Rank of December 2016 |
Fraction of December average |
|||
| Canberra Airport | 28.7 | +2.6 | 33.9 | 13th | 13.5 | +2.1 | 7.3 | 10th | 64.6 | 53.8 | average | 120% |
| Mount Ginini AWS | 18.6 | +0.9 | 23.2 | 4th | 8.7 | +1.6 | 1.1 | 9th | 92.0 | 102.1 | average | 90% |
| Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS | 28.1 | +1.0 | 33.2 | 13th | 14.0 | +1.9 | 9.4 | 8th | 93.4 | 66.9 | average | 140% |
| Note:
Observations for “Canberra Airport” are taken from
the current site (Bureau number 070351), which opened in late 2008.
Comparisons are made against data from the previous site Canberra Airport Comparison (070014), which ran from 1939 to 2010. |
||||||||||||
Extremes Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top
| Daily maximum temperatures for December 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
| Canberra Airport | 28.8 | 30.3 | 30.9 | 32.8 | 31.4 | 23.1 | 26.9 | 31.3 | 21.6 | 25.2 | 28.0 | 31.2 | 33.9 | 28.6 | 14.8 | 20.1 | 27.9 | 24.9 | 26.5 | 30.8 | 28.7 | 26.6 | 31.8 | 32.5 | 30.9 | 31.5 | 31.9 | 31.9 | 29.9 | 32.8 | 31.5 |
| Mount Ginini AWS | 18.9 | 20.2 | 20.5 | 23.2 | 22.9 | 14.2 | 17.0 | 19.2 | 11.4 | 16.3 | 18.8 | 20.6 | 22.5 | 15.9 | 8.8 | 12.0 | 16.3 | 15.5 | 16.9 | 18.5 | 19.6 | 19.3 | 22.5 | 22.4 | 21.2 | 21.3 | 21.8 | 20.4 | 17.9 | 18.5 | 21.2 |
| Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS | 28.3 | 30.1 | 30.6 | 32.3 | 31.4 | 22.9 | 26.3 | 30.3 | 21.5 | 25.0 | 27.2 | 30.5 | 33.2 | 26.6 | 14.6 | 19.8 | 27.3 | 24.1 | 25.7 | 29.4 | 28.2 | 26.2 | 31.2 | 32.3 | 31.1 | 31.0 | 30.9 | 31.7 | 29.3 | 32.2 | 31.0 |
| Values are the maximum
temperature, usually in the 24 hours from 9 am on the day
indicated, and typically occurred in the afternoon of that day. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Temperatures coloured according to
their difference from the long-term average for the period |
-10.0 | -9.0 | -8.0 | -7.0 | -6.0 | -5.0 | -4.0 | -3.0 | -2.0 | -1.0 | 0.0 | +1.0 | +2.0 | +3.0 | +4.0 | +5.0 | +6.0 | +7.0 | +8.0 | +9.0 | +10.0 | °C | Grey
outline marks highest and lowest for the period |
||||||||
| Daily minimum temperatures for December 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
| Canberra Airport | 12.1 | 8.5 | 11.7 | 10.6 | 17.7 | 16.9 | 8.9 | 10.1 | 11.0 | 7.3 | 12.8 | 15.3 | 10.6 | 21.6 | 12.8 | 12.3 | 13.5 | 11.4 | 11.1 | 9.7 | 8.9 | 14.6 | 14.6 | 14.1 | 11.3 | 14.0 | 18.4 | 16.3 | 21.8 | 20.3 | 18.9 |
| Mount Ginini AWS | 7.7 | 10.2 | 9.9 | 11.8 | 12.8 | 11.0 | 5.3 | 9.4 | 1.1 | 2.6 | 4.4 | 7.5 | 12.5 | 13.5 | 7.3 | 5.8 | 7.0 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 6.9 | 6.3 | 7.3 | 7.0 | 11.8 | 10.3 | 11.5 | 12.7 | 12.9 | 12.8 | 14.0 | 11.4 |
| Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS | 14.1 | 10.1 | 12.2 | 11.4 | 18.1 | 17.3 | 9.6 | 9.4 | 12.7 | 9.5 | 12.3 | 16.3 | 11.2 | 20.5 | 11.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 9.7 | 10.5 | 15.0 | 16.3 | 15.9 | 11.5 | 15.0 | 19.6 | 15.8 | 22.0 | 20.5 | 18.3 |
| Values are the minimum
temperature, usually in the 24 hours to 9 am on the day
indicated, and typically occurred that morning. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Temperatures coloured according to
their difference from the long-term average for the period |
-10.0 | -9.0 | -8.0 | -7.0 | -6.0 | -5.0 | -4.0 | -3.0 | -2.0 | -1.0 | 0.0 | +1.0 | +2.0 | +3.0 | +4.0 | +5.0 | +6.0 | +7.0 | +8.0 | +9.0 | +10.0 | °C | Grey
outline marks highest and lowest for the period |
||||||||
| Daily rainfall for December 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | ||
| Canberra (Australian National Botanic Ga | - | - | - | - | 1.3 | 10.4 | 0.4 | - | 2.4 | - | - | - | - | - | 2.4 | 7.0 | 11.1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | → | 44.2 | - | - | - | |||
| Canberra Airport | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 13.4 | 0.2 | - | 2.0 | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 5.8 | 11.4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 22.4 | - | - | 0.2 | - | 2.2 | 3.0 | |
| Mount Ginini AWS | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 34.0 | 0.2 | - | 3.4 | - | - | - | - | - | 4.6 | 4.2 | 7.2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.6 | - | - | - | 0.8 | 15.0 | 18.0 | |
| Nicholls (Gungahlin Lakes) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 7.4 | 0.5 | - | 2.4 | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 10.0 | 11.8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 11.2 | - | - | - | - | 3.8 | ||
| Torrens (Darke St) | - | - | - | - | 1.4 | 24.8 | - | - | 0.4 | - | - | - | - | - | 2.6 | 8.6 | 12.0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.8 | - | - | - | - | 3.6 | 16.0 | |
| Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS | - | - | - | - | 1.6 | 29.6 | - | - | 0.2 | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7.0 | 12.0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | - | - | - | - | 4.4 | 29.6 | |
| Most values are the precipitation
in the 24 hours to 9 am on the day indicated. Days marked
with → are part of a longer accumulation, which is shown on the
final day. Values over 100 mm have been rounded to the nearest whole millimetre. Days marked with - have a rainfall report of zero; days left blank have no rainfall report (which often indicates no rain fell). |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rainfalls coloured according to the amount |
0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 15.0 | 25.0 | 50.0 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 600 | millimetres | ||||||||||||||||||
Extremes Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top
Notes
The Monthly climate summary, generally published on the first working day of each month, lists 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. 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 statement has been prepared based on information available at 8 am on Tuesday 3 January 2017. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.
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.
Observations for “Canberra Airport” are taken from the
current site (Bureau number 070351), which opened in late 2008.
Comparisons are made against data from the previous site
Canberra Airport Comparison (070014), which ran from 1939 to 2010.
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
- Enquiries
- helpdesk.climate@bom.gov.au
Unless otherwise noted, all maps, graphs and diagrams in this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
