Wednesday, 5 January, 2011 — Monthly Climate Summary for Australia — Product Code IDCKGC1A00

Australia in December 2010

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

In Brief

December was another exceptionally wet month through most of Australia. It was the second-wettest December on record for the country as a whole, and the wettest December on record for Queensland. This resulted in widespread flooding in eastern Australia. It was also a rather cool month for most of the country, particularly for daytime maximum temperatures.

---

Temperatures

Daytime maximum temperatures were below normal through most of the country, with the national average anomaly of −1.35°C the equal second lowest on record, and Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory all ranking in the bottom five. Only a few parts of the country had above-normal maximum temperatures, notably the interior of Western Australia and the state’s west coast south of Carnarvon; other areas with maxima slightly above normal were the southern coastal fringe of South Australia and Victoria, and north Queensland north of Townsville.

Elsewhere, daytime temperatures were below normal. They were at least 2°C below normal in most of inland Queensland and northern New South Wales, along with the eastern Northern Territory, and were in the lowest decile over most of this region. Over southern and central inland Queensland, and adjacent areas of northern New South Wales, they were 3 to 5°C below normal, with records set locally in the Central Highlands and Darling Downs of Queensland, and northern New South Wales.

Minimum temperatures were closer to normal with the national mean 0.19°C below average, with nights cooler than normal in the central and eastern interior and warmer than normal in most other areas. Areas with above-normal minimum temperatures included most of Western Australia except for the Kimberley, Victoria, the eastern halves of Queensland and New South Wales, Tasmania (except the far south), and the agricultural areas of South Australia.

Minima were 1-2°C below normal over a region of the eastern interior encompassing far western Queensland, the southeast Northern Territory, northeast South Australia and far northwest New South Wales, although they only reached the lowest decile in a few places. In contrast, they were 1-3°C above normal in western Western Australia between Perth and Port Hedland, with records set locally around North-West Cape.

Areal average temperatures
	Maximum Temperature			Minimum Temperature
	Rank (out of 61)	Anomaly* (°C)	Comment	Rank (out of 61)	Anomaly* (°C)	Comment
Australia	2.5	−1.35	Equal 2nd lowest on record; record is −1.92 (1999)	26	−0.12
Queensland	4	−2.41	Lowest since 2000	31.5	−0.01
New South Wales	5	−2.18	Lowest since 1999	26	−0.21
Victoria	23	−0.63		40.5	+0.37
Tasmania	27	−0.11		31	+0.01
South Australia	18	−0.94		26.5	−0.05
Western Australia	27	−0.43		45	+0.32
Northern Territory	5	−1.66	Lowest since 2000	5.5	−1.22	Lowest since 1978

^*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

---

Rainfall

Rainfall averaged over Australia was 99% above normal, and ranked only behind December 1975. A record was set in Queensland (+154%), with Victoria ranking fifth and New South Wales eighth. Rainfall was above normal almost throughout the eastern states, the only significant exceptions being southern Tasmania, parts of coastal New South Wales around Sydney and Newcastle, and some areas west of Melbourne. Further west, it was also drier than normal in most of southern Western Australia from Perth southwards, as well as in the state’s interior and adjacent parts of far western South Australia and the southwest Northern Territory.

Large areas of the country had rainfall in the highest decile. These included most of the eastern half of Queensland, the ranges and western slopes of New South Wales (except in the far north), northern and western Victoria, and South Australia south and east of Port Augusta. Another area with rainfall in the highest decile was the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. December records were set in numerous areas, most notably in much of the southeast quarter of Queensland, a band extending from Canberra to Dubbo, areas on either side of the Victoria-South Australia border, and areas around and inland from Carnarvon. No significant areas had rainfall in the lowest decile.

Areal average rainfall
	Rank (out of 111)	Average (mm)	Departure from mean*	Comment
Australia	110	104.0	+99%	2nd highest; record is 107.9 (1975)
Queensland	111	209.5	+154%	Highest on record; previous record 200.1 (1975)
New South Wales	104	98.9	+83%
Victoria	107	103.9	+118%	Highest since 1992
Tasmania	83	122.9	+18%
South Australia	84	27.4	+49%
Western Australia	91	53.7	+68%
Northern Territory	91	121.0	+63%
Murray-Darling Basin	110	107.0	+119%	2nd highest; record is 120.7 (1992)

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

Rainfall maps
	Totals	Percentages	Deciles
Total rainfall

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

---

Australian weather extremes in December 2010
Hottest day	47.6 °C at Gacoyne Junction (WA) on the 27th
Coldest day	1.2 °C at Mount Hotham (Vic) on the 19th
Coldest night	−4.4 °C at Mount Hotham (Vic) on the 28th
Warmest night	32.1 °C at Warburton (WA) on the 31st
Wettest day	304.0 mm at Corsis (Qld) on the 25th

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

---

---

---