Tuesday, 6 January 2015 - Monthly Climate Summary for Canberra - Product code IDCKGC15L0

Canberra in December 2014: A wet end to 2014

Canberra Airport recorded 102 mm of rainfall during December, 89% above the historical average of 53.8 mm. The rain fell over 14 days, almost double the historical average (8 days). Most of the rainfall was associated with several thunderstorms that moved across the state. The most significant thunderstorm was triggered on 6 December, producing daily totals in excess of 40 mm in some areas (recorded to 9 am on 7 December), as well as half-hourly totals in excess of 12 mm at Canberra Airport.

Both maximum (+1.6 °C) and minimum (+1.3 °C) temperatures were well above average at Canberra Airport, despite generally cloudy conditions during the month. There were no days with maximum temperatures below 20 °C, the 6th instance on record (average 3 days), with 8 days reaching at least 30 °C, close to normal for December. There were also 8 nights which remained above 15 °C (average 5 nights), including four consecutive warm nights between the 23rd and 26th.

  • Several thunderstorms cause wet days
  • Wettest December since 2010
  • Above average maximum and minimum temperatures

Extremes Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top

Further information

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Extremes in December 2014
Hottest day 33.0 °C at Canberra Airport on the 2nd
Warmest days on average 27.7 °C at Canberra Airport
Coolest days on average 18.0 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Coldest day 11.2 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 11th
Coldest night 2.9 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on the 19th
Coolest nights on average 7.3 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Warmest nights on average 13.7 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Warmest night 17.6 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on the 6th
Warmest on average overall 20.5 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Coolest on average overall 12.6 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest overall 121.0 mm at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest day 48.2 mm at Torrens (Darke St) on the 7th
Strongest wind gust 81 km/h at Mount Ginini AWS on the 16th

Extremes Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top

Summary statistics for December 2014
Maximum temperatures
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
(°C)		 Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
December
2014		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
December
2014		 Mean for
December
2014		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
December
2014		 Total for
December
2014		 Average
for
December		 Rank of
December
2014		 Fraction of
December
average
Canberra Airport 27.7 +1.6 33.0 2nd 12.7 +1.3 7.2 14th 102.0 53.8 high 189%
Mount Ginini AWS 18.0 +0.5 22.2 10th 7.3 +0.4 2.9 19th 121.0 108.1 average 112%
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 27.3 +0.3 32.6 22nd 13.7 +1.6 7.9 31st 88.6 67.4 average 131%

Extremes Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top

Daily maximum temperatures for December 2014
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
Canberra Airport32.733.031.828.228.422.627.529.129.430.822.622.222.528.130.832.625.927.425.327.430.230.829.024.927.024.622.726.729.725.029.2
Mount Ginini AWS21.621.720.214.919.513.415.818.220.422.211.212.914.818.221.821.318.217.316.118.721.222.018.418.519.015.414.318.516.914.519.6
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS31.632.030.427.827.822.326.328.029.530.321.221.622.327.630.832.125.726.925.926.730.532.629.124.526.325.322.727.128.425.029.4
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 December 2014
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
Canberra Airport11.613.813.514.513.415.810.411.016.013.815.011.612.07.29.616.214.49.68.610.712.414.316.417.216.815.011.69.711.211.07.9
Mount Ginini AWS9.09.011.710.59.29.67.07.78.77.56.03.13.15.49.010.35.73.62.93.37.612.310.110.211.66.03.85.28.73.26.4
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS12.816.014.815.914.017.612.110.516.416.415.911.612.78.09.816.315.113.410.812.912.914.317.217.617.013.812.811.212.813.57.9
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 December 2014
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
Canberra (Australian National Botanic Ga 5.0 0.2 - 26.4 3.1 - 23.2 - - 12.2 - 2.8 0.2 - - 4.2 - - - - - - 6.8 6.6 - - - -
Canberra Airport 4.0 0.8 - 19.6 6.0 - 42.4 - - - 10.6 1.4 - - - 1.6 1.2 - - - - - 5.2 3.6 0.6 4.8 0.2 - - - -
Mount Ginini AWS 16.2 - - 12.2 5.2 16.6 26.4 - - - 6.6 0.4 - - - 3.2 0.4 - - - - - 11.4 16.4 - - - - 3.4 2.6 -
Nicholls (Gungahlin Lakes) 6.6 3.8 - 14.2 3.8 - 17.0 - - - 4.6 - - - - - - - - - - - 5.8 10.4 - 13.4




Tharwa General Store 5.8 - - 12.4 8.6 5.0 25.0 - - - 14.6 1.2 - - - 3.0 - - - - - - 11.0 5.0 - 0.6 - - - 3.0
Torrens (Darke St) 7.4 - - 11.8 7.4 - 48.2 - - - 12.0 3.8 0.2 - - 2.0 1.8 - - - - - 7.4 3.0 2.2 1.6 - - 2.0

Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 5.4 - - 8.2 10.4 - 29.6 - - - 12.0 1.0 - - 1.6 2.4 0.6 - - - - - 8.8 4.0 0.4 1.8 - - - 2.4 -
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 Records Summaries Daily observations 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.

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.

A Climate Summary is generally published on the first working day of each month.

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 9 am on Tuesday 6 January 2015. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

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.

The ACORN-SAT dataset is used for temperature area averages.

Further information

Media
(03) 9669 4057
Enquiries