Australian Capital Territory in November 2020: a warm and wet month

November 2020 was a wet month in the ACT. Both daytime maximum and overnight minimum temperatures were above average.

Rainfall above average

  • Rainfall was above average at all ACT locations.
  • There were two major periods of significant rain in the month; the first in the first few days of November, then on 23 and 24 November when there was widespread thunderstorm activity.

A warm month

  • Both daytime maximum and overnight minimum temperatures were above average at all sites, although maximum temperatures were lower than those of November 2019.
  • It was a warm finish to the month, with Canberra Airport reaching 30 °C on three successive days from 26 to 28 November.

Canberra Airport

  • Total rainfall for Canberra Airport was 93.0 mm, which is 144% of the long-term average of 64.4 mm and the wettest November since 2013.
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Canberra Airport was 25.1 °C, which is 2.0 °C above the long-term average of 23.1 °C.
  • The warmest day was 35.3 °C on the 28th, and the coolest day was on the 5th when the temperature reached 11.6 °C, the coldest November day since 1986.
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Canberra Airport was 10.4 °C, which is 1.5 °C above the long-term average of 8.9 °C.
  • The coldest morning was 4.0 °C on the 6th, and the warmest morning was on the 29th when the minimum temperature was 16.8 °C.

Wettest year for a decade

  • Canberra Airport has now received 748.4 mm of rain for the year, about 35% above the long-term average, and the highest January-November total since 2010.
  • Maximum temperatures for the year to date are 0.6 °C above the long-term average, but are the lowest since 2012.
  • Minimum temperatures for the year to date are 1.2 °C above the long-term average, the highest since 2009.

Further information

Media
(03) 9669 4057

Extremes in November 2020
Hottest day 35.3 °C at Canberra Airport on the 28th
Warmest days on average 25.3 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Coolest days on average 17.0 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Coldest day 5.0 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 5th
Coldest night -0.4 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 6th
Coolest nights on average 7.1 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Warmest nights on average 10.9 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Warmest night 18.0 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on the 29th
Warmest on average overall 18.1 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Coolest on average overall 12.0 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest overall 121.0 mm at Mount Ginini AWS
Driest overall 79.2 mm at Aranda (Bindaga St)
Wettest day 50.6 mm at Mount Ginini AWS on the 23rd
Strongest wind gust 93 km/h at Mount Ginini AWS on the 23rd




Summary statistics for November 2020
Maximum temperatures
(°C)
Minimum temperatures
(°C)
Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
November
2020
Diff
from
average
Highest for
November
2020
Mean for
November
2020
Diff
from
average
Lowest for
November
2020
Total for
November
2020
Average
for
November
Rank of
November
2020
Fraction of
November
average
Canberra Airport 25.1 +2.0 35.3 28th 10.4 +1.5 4.0 6th 93.0 64.4 high 144%
Mount Ginini AWS 17.0 +1.4 25.1 28th 7.1 +1.3 -0.4 6th 121.0 108.7 average 111%
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 25.3 +0.9 34.9 28th 10.9 +1.1 4.5 6th 96.4 75.1 high 128%
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.

Daily maximum temperatures for November 2020
123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
Canberra Airport21.321.924.626.811.619.820.220.122.025.126.922.523.922.827.728.024.025.828.633.529.427.320.823.826.130.931.435.327.823.2
Mount Ginini AWS12.514.317.418.75.012.310.211.613.116.119.812.513.715.421.317.517.618.620.924.724.219.913.616.118.022.122.325.117.417.2
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS21.222.525.128.013.120.819.319.722.325.227.722.623.822.828.528.824.725.728.434.029.826.819.823.325.831.331.534.927.923.1
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 November 2020
123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
Canberra Airport10.75.48.77.89.04.06.84.810.77.47.816.012.88.56.813.85.510.89.211.411.014.315.710.013.911.513.314.916.813.6
Mount Ginini AWS2.24.57.18.80.9-0.42.10.52.15.78.710.37.42.46.914.44.13.99.114.110.913.99.95.16.59.29.215.712.64.5
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS10.75.19.77.79.04.57.19.010.87.28.416.314.07.46.314.05.711.510.812.011.614.416.611.114.211.214.015.118.013.2
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 November 2020
123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
Aranda (Bindaga St) 18.0 - - - 15.8 3.4 - - - - - - 5.2 - - - - - - - 29.8 7.0
Bruce (Australian Institute of Sport) - 27.8 - - 13.2 6.6 - - - - - - 8.0 - - - - - - - 30.0 7.8 - - - 3.2
Canberra (Australian National Botanic Ga 18.6 - - - 15.0 4.0 - - - - - - 14.8 - -














Canberra Airport 21.4 - - - 17.8 3.4 0.2 - - - - - 4.2 - - - - - - - - - 30.0 12.6 - - - - 3.4 -
Ginninderra (Charnwood (ACT)) 23.2 - - - 12.4 2.2

- - - - 10.2 - - - - 0.2 - - - - 31.6 4.8 0.2 - - - 2.0
Mount Ginini AWS 23.0 - - - 7.6 0.8 - - - - - - 13.0 - - - 0.4 - - - - - 50.6 23.0 - - - - 2.6 -
Nicholls (Gungahlin Lakes) 20.0 - - - 14.2 2.0 - - - - - - 11.6
















Torrens (Darke St) 24.6 - - - 13.8 2.0 - - - - - - 5.0 - - - - - - - - - 33.2 13.0 - - - - 3.2
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 25.8 - - - 18.4 0.8 - - - - - - 2.4 - - - - - - - - - 34.0 8.2 - - - - 6.8 -
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

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 10 am on Tuesday 1 December 2020. 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

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