Monday, 2 August, 2010 — Monthly Climate Summary for Australia — Product Code IDCKGC1A00

Australia in July 2010

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

In Brief

July 2010 was mostly warmer than normal in the north, and cooler than normal in the south, with stronger minimum temperature anomalies. Tasmania had its warmest daytime temperatures on record for the month. Australia has had its wettest July since 1998.

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Temperatures

Nationally averaged maximum temperatures were slightly above normal. The most notable warmth was in the northern tropics and Tasmania. Days were about 1°C warmer than normal in Tasmania, the Snowy Mountains region of NSW, and also in the far north of the Kimberley. Small areas in the west of the Kimberley and Pilbara in WA were also about 1°C warmer than normal.

Below average maximum temperatures were mostly confined to central Australia. Anomalies of −1°C to −3°C were located in the Alice Springs district of the NT, and slightly over the borders, stretching into the Kimberley and Interior districts of WA. Anomalies of about −1°C were also found near Cook in SA, and in the far southwest of Queensland.

Tasmania as a whole, had its highest on record maximum temperatures for July. The region surrounding Darwin, as well as the far southeast of Tasmania, and areas of northern Queensland also had their highest on record maximum temperatures for July. Timber Creek and Bradshaw, both in the NT, recorded the hottest day for the month, with 37.5°C. This was 0.1°C off the July record.

Overnight minimum temperatures for Australia were 6th warmest on record. Generally, the northern areas of Australia were well above normal, while the southern areas were below normal.

The warmest overnight anomalies were in the tropical north of Australia. The Kimberley region of WA, the northern NT, and the Peninsula and Gulf Country districts of Queensland all had anomalies above 3°C, with some areas recording an exceptional 5°C above normal. Elsewhere, overnight anomalies of 1° to 3°C above normal were recorded in the Pilbara and Interior districts of WA, the southern NT, reaching into northern SA, the remainder of Queensland and northern NSW.

Areas of below average minimum temperatures were confined to southern Australia. The region of WA, extending downwards from Carnarvon and across to Esperance had anomalies of −1° to −3°C, with the cooler anomalies closer to Perth. Anomalies of −1° to −3°C were also recorded in SA, in a small band reaching from Tarcoola, down to the Victorian and NSW borders.

Queensland as a whole, had its third warmest July on record, with an anomaly of 2.91°C. Areas of northern Queensland, the Darwin-Daly district in the NT and the region surrounding Derby in WA all had their warmest July minimum on record. Southwest WA on the other hand, had its 5th coldest overnight minimums on record.

Areal average temperatures
	Maximum Temperature			Minimum Temperature
	Rank (out of 61)	Anomaly* (°C)	Comment	Rank (out of 61)	Anomaly* (°C)	Comment
Australia	29	+0.24		56	+1.32	Highest since 1998
Queensland	49	+1.04		59	+2.91	3rd highest; highest since 1993
New South Wales	33	+0.30		44	+0.73
Victoria	40	+0.39		19	−0.37	Lowest since 1998
Tasmania	61	+1.90	Highest on record	53	+1.03
South Australia	15	−0.57	Lowest since 1998	32	+0.25
Western Australia	30	+0.08		47	+0.59
Northern Territory	24	−0.03		56	+2.12	Highest since 1998

^*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 55% above normal. Generally the southern areas were drier than normal, while the northern and central areas were wetter than normal. The NT was particularly wet, with its 5th wettest July on record. The Murray Darling Basin region also had a reasonably wet month, with rainfall 37% above normal; its wettest July since 1998.

It was a wet month for large areas of northern Australia. The areas that measured above average rainfall were northern WA, the southern NT, most of NSW and southern and northeast coastal Queensland. Small areas of northern WA, the Alice Springs district of the NT, the Peninsula district of Queensland and the Upper Western district of NSW had highest on record falls.

Further south was generally drier. Areas that measured below average rainfall were the southern region of WA, extending across to Esperance, southeast SA, southeast Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania. Small areas of Gippsland in Victoria and southeast Tasmania had lowest on record falls.

Areal average rainfall
	Rank (out of 111)	Average (mm)	Departure from mean*	Comment
Australia	99	34.4	+55%	Highest since 1998
Queensland	85	27.5	+44%
New South Wales	91	59.4	+51%	Highest since 1998
Victoria	26	46.1	−34%
Tasmania	17	103.4	−35%
South Australia	71	19.1	+3%
Western Australia	97	31.1	+55%
Northern Territory	107	40.1	+483%	Highest since 1998
Murray-Darling Basin	91	54.5	+37%	Highest since 1998

^*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 July 2010
Hottest day	37.5 °C at Timber Creek and Bradshaw (NT) on the 30th
Coldest day	−3.2 °C at Thredbo (NSW) on the 15th
Coldest night	−16.6 °C at Charlotte Pass (NSW) on the 21st
Warmest night	26.9 °C at Cape Don (NT) on the 26th
Wettest day	173.0 mm at Point Lookout (QLD) on the 29th

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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