Thursday, 1 November 2018 - Monthly Climate Summary for Australian Capital Territory - Product code IDCKGC15L0

Australian Capital Territory in October 2018: drier than average

October rainfall was below average across the Australian Capital Territory, including areas of very much below average in the north. Both daytime and night time temperatures were warmer than average, with a long run of warm days during the second half of the month.

Drier than average

  • October rainfall was below average across the ACT, with northern areas of the Territory very much drier than average
  • Canberra's highest totals were on the 21st as a cloud band with embedded thunderstorms passed over the city
  • Canberra Airport had six rain days, less than the October average of ten rain days
  • October continued a run of eight consecutive months of below average rainfall for Canberra
  • Rainfall totals ranged from 23% of average at Canberra Airport to 76% of average at Mount Ginini

Warm days and nights

  • A run of 17 consecutive days with maximum temperatures above 21 °C during the second half of the month resulted in an October mean maximum temperature at Canberra Airport that was 3.2 °C warmer than the city's long-term average, the sixth-highest on record for October
  • October ended with Canberra Airport reaching a maximum temperature of 31.1 °C on the 31st, which was the hottest day at the site since 11 April
  • Nights were warmer than average at sites across the ACT, with Canberra Airport having its tenth-highest mean minimum temperature on record for October
  • At Canberra Airport, only the first two nights of the month were cooler than 2 °C, compared to an October average of five nights below 2 °C during the month
  • Canberra's overall mean temperature for October was the fifth-warmest on record

Canberra Airport

  • Total rainfall for Canberra Airport was 14.2 mm, which is 23% of the long-term average of 60.7 mm
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Canberra Airport was 22.8 °C, which is 3.2 °C above the long-term average of 19.6 °C. The warmest day was 31.1 °C on the 31st, and the coolest day was on the 10th when the temperature reached 13.2 °C
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Canberra Airport was 7.3 °C, which is 1.3 °C above the long-term average of 6.0 °C. The coldest morning was 0.0 °C on the 2nd, and the warmest morning was on the 16th when the minimum temperature was 14.8 °C

Further information

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Extremes Maps Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top

Extremes in October 2018
Hottest day 31.1 °C at Canberra Airport on the 31st
Warmest days on average 22.8 °C at Canberra Airport
Coolest days on average 13.3 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Coldest day 3.6 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 10th
Coldest night -2.4 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 11th
Coolest nights on average 3.7 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Warmest nights on average 7.9 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Warmest night 14.8 °C at Canberra Airport on the 16th
Warmest on average overall 15.1 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Coolest on average overall 8.5 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest overall 55.6 mm at Mount Ginini AWS
Driest overall 14.2 mm at Canberra Airport
Wettest day 20.4 mm at Ginninderra (Charnwood (ACT)) on the 12th
20.4 mm at Mount Ginini AWS on the 18th
Strongest wind gust 61 km/h at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on the 20th

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top

Summary statistics for October 2018
Maximum temperatures
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
(°C)		 Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
October
2018		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
October
2018		 Mean for
October
2018		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
October
2018		 Total for
October
2018		 Average
for
October		 Rank of
October
2018		 Fraction of
October
average
Canberra Airport 22.8 +3.2 31.1 31st 7.3 +1.3 0.0 2nd 14.2 60.7 v low 23%
Mount Ginini AWS 13.3 +0.5 21.4 31st 3.7 +0.8 -2.4 11th 55.6 71.7 average 78%
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 22.4 +1.5 30.8 31st 7.9 +1.5 0.4 1st 27.4 50.4 low 54%
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 October 2018
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
Canberra Airport22.624.717.614.016.418.621.223.524.213.214.716.821.318.023.726.122.924.927.827.221.925.528.921.425.226.427.924.224.629.131.1
Mount Ginini AWS14.516.67.36.56.510.513.016.113.93.65.37.911.07.613.415.610.613.417.613.714.717.018.015.015.817.117.617.315.718.821.4
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS22.324.917.014.016.019.021.224.124.312.414.615.420.418.323.224.422.325.127.324.521.725.828.321.425.126.127.524.023.828.230.8
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 October 2018
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
Canberra Airport0.40.06.59.18.23.72.38.55.010.96.26.05.710.811.814.811.611.45.510.34.78.84.69.98.87.66.45.96.08.46.4
Mount Ginini AWS1.34.57.14.20.4-1.32.35.05.51.4-2.4-1.6-0.82.64.25.67.36.25.89.11.27.72.61.94.05.51.55.55.39.6
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS0.41.36.79.78.57.12.710.86.09.96.08.27.99.911.414.513.913.55.310.46.57.44.38.47.68.66.211.45.7
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 October 2018
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
Aranda (Bindaga St) - - - 1.6 0.8
Bruce (Australian Institute of Sport) - - - 1.4 1.0 - - - - 0.8 0.8



















Canberra (Australian National Botanic Ga - - - 1.5 0.8 - - - 0.4 1.0 - - 0.3 - - - 0.2 0.8 - - 9.0









Canberra Airport - - - 1.0 1.0 - - - - 1.8 - - 0.2 - - - - 0.8 - - 9.4 - - - - - - - - - -
Canberra Parliament House - - - 1.2 1.0 - - - - 2.6 - - - - - - - 1.0 - → → 10.6








Ginninderra (Charnwood (ACT)) - - - 0.2 0.4 - - - - 0.4 - 20.4 - - - - - 0.2 0.2 - 7.4 - - - - - - - - - -
Mount Ginini AWS - - 0.2 7.6 0.6 - - - - 13.8 1.0 - - 2.0 4.2 - 1.4 20.4 - - 4.2 0.2 - - - - - - - - -
Sutton (Uba) - - - 1.5 4.2 0.2
























Torrens (Darke St) - - - 1.8 1.4 - - - - 12.4 1.8 - 0.4 - 0.6 - 0.6 - - - 15.0









Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS - - - 2.2 0.4 - - - 0.4 11.0 2.0 - 0.2 - 0.4 - - 0.6 - - 10.2 - - - - - - - - - -
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 10 am on Thursday 1 November 2018. 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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