Monday, 1 August, 2011 — Monthly Climate Summary for Australia — Product Code IDCKGC1A00

Australia in July 2011

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

In Brief

July 2011 was a generally warmer than normal month for most of Australia, with both maximum and minimum temperatures above normal across most of the country. Parts of eastern Australia had below normal overnight minimum temperatures. Rainfall was mostly close to normal, with the west slightly above average, and the east slightly below average.

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Temperatures

Nationally averaged maximum temperatures were 0.60 °C above normal (equal 22nd highest of 62 years of record). No states or territories were ranked in the top or bottom ten of the historical record, however temperatures were above normal for all states and territories for the first time since April 2010, just prior to the recent La Niña of 2010−11.

Most of the country experienced close to average temperatures for the month, with most of Australia within 1 °C of the normal. Small parts of the interior of WA, the southern NT, an area surrounding Moomba in SA, and the Riverina district of NSW all experienced temperatures in excess of 1 °C above normal. The western Kimberley in WA experienced temperatures in excess of 2 °C above normal. This region of the western Kimberley, as well as a small area of the Riverina, recorded maximum temperatures in the highest decile.

Overnight minimum temperatures were also above average, with a national anomaly of +0.41 °C, ranking as the 26th warmest of 62 years. Temperatures were warmer than normal over the southwestern half of the continent and cooler than normal over the northeastern half. Minimum temperatures of 1 °C above normal were measured across most of WA, the western half of SA, southwest coastal Victoria, and parts of the Top End and southwest NT. Anomalies exceeded +3 °C in the northern interior region of WA, extending over the WA-NT border. Large areas of WA, western SA and southwest coastal Victoria recorded overnight minima in the highest decile, with an area near the WA-SA southern border receiving its warmest July minima on record. WA as a whole, had its 4th warmest July minima on record, and SA its equal 8th.

Significant areas of cooler than average minimum temperatures were measured across parts of the central NT, the eastern half of Queensland and small areas of northern NSW, with anomalies locally reaching −1 °C in these areas. Small parts of southeast Queensland recorded anomalies cooler than −2 °C.

Temperatures of note for July include a −11.2 °C on the 23rd at Liawenee, which was the lowest temperature recorded in Tasmania since 1983. Canberra Airport had its lowest temperature since August 1994, with −8.0 °C on the 29th, while Arltunga recorded the lowest temperature in the NT since 2002 with −6.1 °C on the 25th.

Areal average temperatures
	Maximum Temperature			Minimum Temperature
	Rank (out of 62)	Anomaly* (°C)	Comment	Rank (out of 62)	Anomaly* (°C)	Comment
Australia	40.5	+0.60		37	+0.41
Queensland	39	+0.54		16	−0.82
New South Wales	39	+0.62		24.5	−0.09
Victoria	45	+0.54		49	+0.62
Tasmania	38.5	+0.35		32	+0.18
South Australia	43	+0.74		54.5	+1.16
Western Australia	39	+0.63		59	+1.31	4th highest; record is +2.46 (1973)
Northern Territory	37	+0.53		31.5	+0.03

^*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

Rainfall averaged over Australia was 10% below normal (55th driest of 112 years of record). Most states recorded rainfall on the dry side of normal, with the exception of WA and SA, which recorded above average rainfall.

Above average falls were recorded across a large area of southern WA, western SA and a large area of central Australia. Above average falls were also recorded across the eastern coast of NSW, extending into the Gippsland region of Victoria. This rainfall on the eastern coast was mostly the result of a strong complex low in the region during the second half of the month.

Rainfall significantly below normal was generally confined to parts of the Cape York Peninsula and southeast Queensland, eastern NSW (away from the coast), northwest Victoria and northeast Tasmania. Small areas within these regions recorded rainfall in the bottom 10% of historical records.

Areal average rainfall
	Rank (out of 112)	Average (mm)	Departure from mean*	Comment
Australia	55	19.9	−10%
Queensland	54	11.3	−41%
New South Wales	28	23.0	−42%
Victoria	63	69.4	−1%
Tasmania	46	140.2	−12%
South Australia	75	20.5	+10%
Western Australia	79	24.7	+23%
Northern Territory	77	5.0	−28%
Murray-Darling Basin	24	23.7	−41%

^*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 2011
Hottest day	35.5 °C at Noonamah (NT) on the 17th
Coldest day	−3.7 °C at Mount Hotham (Vic) on the 7th
Coldest night	−16.0 °C at Charlotte Pass (NSW) on the 27th
Warmest night	25.5 °C at Coconut Island (Qld) on the 7th
Wettest day	130.4 mm at Terrey Hills (NSW) on the 22nd

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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