Tuesday, 2 March, 2010 — Monthly Climate Summary for Australia — Product Code IDCKGC1A00

Australia in February 2010

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

In Brief

February 2010 was a wet month through most of the eastern two-thirds of Australia, with all three states of the mainland southeast receiving more than double their normal February rainfall. Maximum temperatures were also below normal over much of eastern Australia, except in the south. In contrast Western Australia was very warm and rather dry.

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Temperatures

Nationally averaged maximum temperatures were 0.37°C above normal (15th highest on record), with Tasmania having its third highest February maximum temperature on record and Western Australia its fourth. Temperatures were above normal almost throughout both states (except very locally on the west coast between Carnarvon and Karratha), as well as in Victoria, and South Australia away from the far northeast. The remaining states were mostly cooler than normal, except for the NT Top End, Cape York Peninsula, and the coast of New South Wales and southern Queensland.

The strongest maximum temperature anomalies were in Western Australia, reaching +5°C (locally highest on record) in parts of the inland Pilbara and at least +2°C over most of the state’s inland areas except the east Kimberley. These temperatures were mostly in the highest decile. Temperatures were also in the highest decile in most of Tasmania (where anomalies were around +2°C) and in patches across all three states of the northern tropics. Anomalies were more modest elsewhere, although maxima were at least 1°C above average in western and central Victoria, the agricultural areas of South Australia, and around Sydney.

The most pronounced cool daytime temperatures were in the eastern interior. Maximum temperatures were at least 1°C below normal over a region encompassing the southwestern half of Queensland, the southeastern Northern Territory, far northeastern South Australia and the northwest quarter of New South Wales. Anomalies surpassed −3°C (generally in the lowest decile) in a region centred on the SA/Queensland/NSW border, reaching −5°C in a few places.

Overnight minimum temperatures were well above normal, with the national anomaly of +1.03°C ranking as the fifth-highest on record. Victoria had its second-hottest February nights on record, and Western Australia its fourth. Much of the Western Australian interior was at least 2°C above normal, as was Victoria (except the southwest), most of the southern half of New South Wales, and the north coast of Tasmania. Anomalies reached +4°C in places in inland Western Australia, and +3°C in the NSW Riverina. All of these regions were generally in the highest decile, with records set around Wiluna (WA), in east Gippsland (Victoria) and the far south coast of New South Wales. Smaller anomalies, around +1°C, were sufficient to set records locally on the coasts of the NT Top End and Cape York Peninsula, and large parts of both regions were also in the highest decile.

The only significant areas which were cooler than normal were western Queensland and adjacent border areas of the Northern Territory, and the Western Australian coast between Geraldton and Karratha, with anomalies locally reaching −1°C in both areas.

Areal average temperatures
	Maximum Temperature			Minimum Temperature
	Rank (out of 61)	Anomaly* (°C)	Comment	Rank (out of 61)	Anomaly* (°C)	Comment
Australia	47	+0.37		57	+1.03
Queensland	15	−1.34		34	+0.13
New South Wales	25	−0.67		53	+1.43
Victoria	53	+1.24		60	+2.36	2nd highest; record is +2.60 (1997)
Tasmania	59	+2.40	3rd highest; record is +2.92 (2001)	47	+0.74
South Australia	34	+0.21		52	+1.44
Western Australia	58	+2.02		58	+1.45
Northern Territory	32	+0.01		49	+0.61

^*Anomaly is the departure from the long-term (1961-1990) average.

Temperature maps
	Mean	Anomaly	Deciles
Mean daily maximum temperatures
Mean daily minimum temperatures

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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Rainfall

Nationally averaged rainfall was 20% above normal. Most of the mainland outside Western Australia exceeded its February average, with only scattered exceptions, while rainfall was also above normal in the northern half of Tasmania and a few patches in the Esperance-Kalgoorlie corridor in Western Australia. New South Wales, which had its wettest February since 1976 (115% above normal), was especially wet; most of the state outside the northeast quarter was in the highest decile (wettest 10% of all years), and records were set locally to the south and northwest of Canberra. Some parts of the state’s south coast had more rain in February than they received in all of 2009. Falls in the highest decile also extended into most of southern inland Queensland west of the Darling Downs, and through that state’s central highlands to the coast around Rockhampton.

Another very wet area was a section of the interior, with totals in the highest decile covering the southeastern quarter of the Northern Territory (including Alice Springs), western border areas of Queensland, and the far northeast of South Australia (with records set around Moomba). Similarly heavy rainfalls also affected the Gulf of Carpentaria coast near the Queensland-Northern Territory border. Much of this rain fell in the last few days of the month, as a result of a monsoonal low whose influence extended into early March.

Most of Western Australia was drier than normal, with scattered areas in the lowest decile throughout the state’s west. Much of the west coast between Onslow and Perth received no rain for the month. It was also drier than normal in parts of the Top End of the Northern Territory and Cape York Peninsula; much of this area was exceptionally dry for February until heavy rains in the last few days of the month. Other drier-than-normal areas were more localised, and included southern Tasmania (locally decile 1 in the southwest), some of the agricultural areas of South Australia, the Victorian Mallee and some areas around Melbourne, and the Hunter, Mid-North Coast and Northern Tablelands regions of New South Wales.

There were no tropical cyclones in the Australian region during February, the first time this has occurred since comprehensive reliable records began in the 1960s.

Areal average rainfall
	Rank (out of 111)	Average (mm)	Departure from mean*	Comment
Australia	82	91.5	+20%
Queensland	96	172.1	+49%
New South Wales	102	106.5	+115%	Highest since 1976
Victoria	96	63.8	+104%
Tasmania	58	66.9	−2%
South Australia	97	39.0	+107%
Western Australia	30	26.1	−57%
Northern Territory	87	145.9	+20%
Murray-Darling Basin	102	93.5	+138%	Highest since 1994

^*The mean is calculated for the 1961-1990 reference period.

Rainfall maps
	Totals	Percentages	Deciles
Total rainfall

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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Australian weather extremes in February 2010
Hottest day	47.8 °C at Emu Creek (WA) on the 20th
Coldest day	4.7 °C at Mount Wellington (Tas) on the 28th
Coldest night	−2.6 °C at Liawenee and Lake St. Clair (Tas) on the 24th
Warmest night	33.6 °C at Paraburdoo (WA) on the 21st
Wettest day	372.0 mm at Mount Tamborine Alert (Qld) on the 7th

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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Further information

National Climate Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (03) 9669 4082
Email webclim@bom.gov.au

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