Wednesday, 1 May 2013 - Monthly Climate Summary for Canberra - Product code IDCKGC25R0

Canberra in April 2013: Dry weather brings warm days and cool nights

  • Fourth consecutive dry April
  • Sixth warmest maximum temperatures on record; longest April mild spell
  • Well below average minimum temperatures

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall - Dry month for Canberra

Canberra Airport recorded 9.8 mm of rain during April, well below the historical average of 46 mm and the 11th driest on record. This is the fourth consecutive dry April in Canberra, although not as dry as April 2011 (8.8 mm). The rain fell over seven days, equal to the historical average, with the wettest day recording just 3.4 mm on the 22nd; on average Canberra experiences 2-3 days with at least 5 mm of rain during April.

Temperature - Warm days and cold nights

The average maximum temperature at Canberra Airport during April was 22.1 °C, 2.1 °C above the historical average. This was the equal sixth warmest April on record for Canberra, and the warmest since 2007, associated with the dry conditions during the month. Five days reached at least 25 °C during the month, double the historical average, with just one day dropping below 15 °C (average 3 days) and 9 days below 20 °C (average 15 days).

A particularly warm spell occurred between the 7th and 15th, with nine consecutive days above 24 °C. This is the first such spell on record for Canberra, with the previous latest such spell ending on 31 March 1940. Temperatures also reached 25.7 °C on the 28th; this is only the second time on record with such a warm temperature this late in autumn, following 26.2 °C on 28 April 2005.

The average minimum temperature was 5.5 °C, 1.2 °C below the historical average. This is the coolest April since 2011 (5.4 °C), with only three nights reaching 10 °C (average 6-7 nights) while 14 nights dropped below 5 °C, the most since 2006 (average 10 nights). Two consecutive nights dropped below -1 °C on the 24th and 25th, the coolest spell since 29-30 April 2008. The warm days and cold nights contributed to a mean temperature of 13.8 °C, 0.4 °C above the historical average.

Further information

NSW Climate Services Centre
NSW Regional Office
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (02) 9296 1500
Email climate.nsw@bom.gov.au
Extremes in April 2013
Hottest day 27.6 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on the 14th
Warmest days on average 22.1 °C at Canberra Airport
Coolest days on average 11.8 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Coldest day 4.3 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 19th
Coldest night -1.9 °C at Canberra Airport on the 24th
Coolest nights on average 3.9 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Warmest nights on average 6.0 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Warmest night 12.1 °C at Canberra Airport on the 30th
12.1 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on the 30th
Warmest on average overall 13.9 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Coolest on average overall 7.9 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest overall 30.4 mm at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest day 7.8 mm at Mount Ginini AWS on the 7th
Highest wind gust 76 km/h at Mount Ginini AWS on the 19th

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for April 2013
Maximum temperatures
for April
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for April
(°C)		 Rainfall
for April
(millimetres)
Mean for
April
2013		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
April
2013		 Mean for
April
2013		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
April
2013		 Total for
April
2013		 Average
for
April		 Rank of
April
2013		 Fraction of
April
average
Canberra Airport 22.1 +2.1 26.9 14th 5.5 -1.2 -1.9 24th 9.8 46.0 low 21%
Mount Ginini AWS 11.8   17.1 14th 3.9   -1.6 19th 30.4
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 21.8   27.6 14th 6.0   -0.9 24th 15.2

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 9 am on Wednesday 1 May 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

NSW Climate Services Centre
NSW Regional Office
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (02) 9296 1500
Email climate.nsw@bom.gov.au