Monday, 3 June 2019 - Monthly Climate Summary for Australian Capital Territory - Product code IDCKGC15L0

Australian Capital Territory in May 2019: Above-average daytime temperatures despite cold finish, near average rainfall

Daytime maximum temperatures in the ACT in May were generally above average, despite a cold finish to the month. Overnight minimum temperatures and rainfall were close to average.

Rainfall close to average

  • May rainfall at Canberra Airport and other longer-term sites was close to the long-term average. It was only the third May since 2000 where rainfall at Canberra Airport has exceeded the long-term average.
  • Rainfall at some other sites with shorter periods of record was above average. The averages at these sites reflect a run of dry Mays in recent years.

Maximum temperatures above average

  • Daytime maximum temperatures were generally above average, despite the cold finish to the month.
  • On the 27th, the maximum temperature was 9.1 °C, which was the coldest May day in Canberra since 2000.
  • Overnight minimum temperatures were close to average.
  • Canberra Airport had its warmest May night on record on the 3rd, with 15.2 °C, exceeding the previous record of 15.1 °C set on 5 May 2000.

Canberra Airport

  • Total rainfall for Canberra Airport was 46.2 mm, which is 110% of the long-term average of 42.1 mm
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Canberra Airport was 16.6 °C, which is 0.9 °C above the long-term average of 15.7 °C. The warmest day was 23.8 °C on the 2nd, and the coolest day was on the 27th when the temperature reached 9.1 °C
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Canberra Airport was 3.3 °C, which is 0.3 °C above the long-term average of 3.0 °C. The coldest morning was -2.7 °C on the 31st, and the warmest morning was on the 3rd when the minimum temperature was 15.2 °C

Significant events

  • Snow settled above 1000 metres elevation on the 27th, with reports of falling snow in some elevated suburbs.

Further information

Media
(03) 9669 4057
Enquiries

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top

Extremes in May 2019
Hottest day 23.8 °C at Canberra Airport on the 2nd
Warmest days on average 16.6 °C at Canberra Airport
Coolest days on average 7.3 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Coldest day -2.6 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 27th
Coldest night -6.1 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 30th
Coolest nights on average 1.3 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Warmest nights on average 3.3 °C at Canberra Airport
Warmest night 15.3 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on the 3rd
Warmest on average overall 10.0 °C at Canberra Airport
Coolest on average overall 4.3 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest overall 123.0 mm at Mount Ginini AWS
Driest overall 46.2 mm at Canberra Airport
Wettest day 31.8 mm at Mount Ginini AWS on the 3rd
Strongest wind gust 70 km/h at Mount Ginini AWS on the 26th

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top



Extremes Maps Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top

Summary statistics for May 2019
Maximum temperatures
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
(°C)		 Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
May
2019		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
May
2019		 Mean for
May
2019		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
May
2019		 Total for
May
2019		 Average
for
May		 Rank of
May
2019		 Fraction of
May
average
Canberra Airport 16.6 +0.9 23.8 2nd 3.3 +0.3 -2.7 31st 46.2 42.1 high 110%
Mount Ginini AWS 7.3 -0.4 12.1 18th 1.3 +0.2 -6.1 30th 123.0 61.5 v high 200%
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 16.4 -0.2 22.7 2nd 2.9 +0.4 -3.5 31st 55.2 24.8 high 223%
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,
combined with the current site from March 2010 onwards.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top

Daily maximum temperatures for May 2019
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
Canberra Airport20.823.820.419.017.416.615.513.114.411.016.212.017.318.117.519.019.119.218.919.421.320.719.417.420.014.49.110.49.811.012.0
Mount Ginini AWS10.311.310.06.56.68.89.01.06.02.66.48.88.310.610.910.310.312.110.79.99.211.710.99.310.93.7-2.60.0-0.9-0.14.3
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS20.322.720.217.517.016.716.413.314.510.816.210.217.417.817.318.619.219.619.019.521.020.619.315.419.814.89.310.410.011.512.7
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 May 2019
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
Canberra Airport6.58.815.25.04.92.20.01.40.83.44.40.20.70.3-1.62.00.3-0.13.64.65.73.46.8-0.31.88.65.84.26.51.1-2.7
Mount Ginini AWS6.57.88.50.20.1-0.51.2-0.5-1.40.5-1.90.02.72.13.92.62.03.62.44.04.84.54.33.43.70.1-4.0-4.6-3.3-6.1-5.2
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS7.410.715.33.57.11.6-0.63.1-0.42.14.10.21.7-1.3-2.50.2-0.7-0.82.12.85.51.96.8-1.41.18.95.94.86.1-1.3-3.5
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 May 2019
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
Bruce (Australian Institute of Sport) - - - → → 21.2 - 2.0 - - → → 13.0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9.8 4.8 1.2
Canberra (Australian National Botanic Ga - - 22.0 0.4 - - - 1.7 - - 13.4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8.6 1.0 1.3 3.5 1.6 -
Canberra Airport - - 20.8 0.6 - - - 1.8 - - 10.4 0.2 0.2 - - - - - - - - - - - - 8.0 0.4 0.4 1.2 2.2 -
Canberra Parliament House - - 17.8 → → 0.6 - 1.8 - - → → 11.4

















Ginninderra (Charnwood (ACT)) - - 23.2 1.2 - 0.4 0.2 2.0 0.2 - 14.6 0.2 0.2 0.2 - - - - - - 0.2 - - - - 6.2 1.2 0.6 2.8 1.4 -
Mount Ginini AWS - 3.2 31.8 1.8 - 0.4 - 5.4 0.6 - 18.2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 14.2 6.6 5.2 21.4 12.2 2.0
Nicholls (Gungahlin Lakes) - - 20.2 1.8 - - - 3.2 - - 11.2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6.8 1.8 0.6


Torrens (Darke St) - - → 20.6 - 0.2
























Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS - - 22.0 0.8 - 0.6 - 1.8 - - 17.0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8.8 0.8 0.2 1.8 1.4 -
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 Maps 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 Australian Capital Territory 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 Australian Capital Territory “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 3 June 2019. 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
(03) 9669 4057
Enquiries

Creative Commons By Attribution logo Unless otherwise noted, all maps, graphs and diagrams in this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Climate