Monday, 3 March 2014 - Monthly Climate Summary for Canberra - Product code IDCKGC25R0

Canberra in February 2014: Warm, wet end to summer

  • Above average rainfall
  • Heavy rain and flooding on the 19th
  • Well above average maximum temperatures

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

Canberra airport recorded 83.6 mm of rain during February 2014, well above the historical average of 56.4 mm. There were 9 rain days, slightly above the historical average of 7 days, with most of the rain associated with two surface troughs and storms mid-month.

Between the 15th and 17th, 47.8 mm was recorded at Canberra airport, with 92 mm at Mt Ginini. This was followed by 33.2 mm at the airport to 9am on the 20th, with localised falls of 81.8 mm at Tuggeranong and 86.4 mm at Torrens, its wettest February day on record. The heavy rain caused widespread flooding in the ACT on the 19th, with reports of downed trees and powerlines and more than 500 calls for assistance to the SES.

Some sites had their highest February daily rainfall on record.

Temperature

The average maximum temperature at Canberra airport during February was 29.4 °C, 2.3 °C above the historical average. Thirteen days reached at least 30 °C (average 8 days) and seven days reached at least 35 °C (average 2 days), the second-highest on record after 8 days in 2004. Days were particularly warm during the first half of the month associated with warm northerlies, including a record-breaking hot spell of six consecutive days above 37 °C between 29 January and 3 February.

The average minimum temperature was 13.5 °C, close to the historical average of 13.1 °C. Three nights dropped below 10 °C during the month (average 4 nights) with just 5.1 °C recorded on the 21st, the coldest February night since 5.0 °C on 18 February 1998. The mean temperature for Canberra airport was consequently 21.5 °C, 1.2 °C above 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 2014
Hottest day 39.3 °C at Canberra Airport on the 2nd
39.3 °C at Canberra Airport on the 3rd
Warmest days on average 29.4 °C at Canberra Airport
Coolest days on average 20.9 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Coldest day 10.1 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 28th
Coldest night 0.9 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 20th
Coolest nights on average 9.8 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Warmest nights on average 14.2 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Warmest night 18.6 °C at Canberra Airport on the 16th
18.6 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on the 16th
Warmest on average overall 21.5 °C at Canberra Airport
21.5 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Coolest on average overall 15.4 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest overall 150.8 mm at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Wettest day 86.4 mm at Torrens (Darke St) on the 20th
81.8 mm at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on the 20th
Highest wind gust 74 km/h at Canberra Airport on the 15th
74 km/h at Canberra Airport on the 19th

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Record highest February daily rainfall
Highest daily rainfall
in February 2014 (mm) 		Previous wettest
for February		 Years of
record
Torrens (Darke St) 86.4 on the 20th 75.2 on the 5th in 2001 30

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for February 2014
Maximum temperatures
for February
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for February
(°C)		 Rainfall
for February
(millimetres)
Mean for
February
2014		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
February
2014		 Mean for
February
2014		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
February
2014		 Total for
February
2014		 Average
for
February		 Rank of
February
2014		 Fraction of
February
average
Canberra Airport 29.4 +2.3 39.3 3rd 13.5 +0.4 5.1 21st 83.6 56.4 high 148%
Mount Ginini AWS 20.9   30.0 2nd 9.8   0.9 20th 134.4
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 28.9   38.4 3rd 14.2   5.5 21st 150.8

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 8 am on Monday 3 March 2014. 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.

The ACORN-SAT dataset is being used for temperature area averages from December 2012 onwards. The major change from earlier datasets is that the ACORN-SAT dataset commences in 1910, rather than 1950, and hence rankings are calculated using a larger set of years.

Further information

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