Friday 1 February, 2013 — Monthly Climate Summary for Australia — Product Code IDCKGC1A00

Australia in January 2013

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

In Brief

January rainfall was below average across most of central and eastern Australia, including Tasmania, except for the eastern seaboard of New South Wales and Queensland where monthly rainfall was above average to highest on record. Western Australia west of a line from Eucla to Broome generally recorded above-average rainfall. For Australia as a whole, the monthly rainfall total was somewhat below average. The nationally-averaged January maximum temperature was the highest on record, surpassing the previous record by a significant margin. Maxima were above average for all of Australia except parts of eastern and northern Western Australia where they were generally near average. Large parts of the eastern interior of the continent observed their highest January monthly maxima on record. The Northern Territory recorded its warmest January maxima, while Queensland and New South Wales also recorded monthly maxima in the top three records. Nationally-averaged January minima were also significantly above average, placing at third-highest on record. Minima were above average for most of Australia, although near average for most of Tasmania, Victoria, southern South Australia, and other scattered areas in central and northern Australia. Queensland and Western Australia recorded their third-highest area-averaged monthly minima.

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Temperatures

The January-averaged maximum temperature was the highest on record for Australia as a whole. The national anomaly was +2.28 °C, a substantial increase on the previous record of +2.17 °C in January 1932. All States and the Northern Territory recorded positive monthly anomalies for maxima with four also recording anomalies in the top six records: Northern Territory +2.52 °C, highest on record; Queensland +2.62 °C, second highest on record; New South Wales +3.66 °C, third highest on record; and South Australia +2.89 °C, sixth highest on record. This continues the string of very-warm months observed in Australia since spring last year, and again saw heatwaves across the continent. The records broken and notable near-misses are too numerous to list here, but are discussed in Special Climate Statement 43 along with the contributory weather patterns.

The monthly decile map shows maxima were above average for nearly all of Australia. Western Australia west of a line from Kalumburu to Perth generally saw near-average maxima, although parts of this region were also warmer than average, including the western Kimberley and west Gascoyne. Nearly all of the Northern Territory, New South Wales, inland Queensland, northern South Australia, and northeastern Victoria observed January maxima in the highest 10 per cent of records. A region spanning western Queensland with small cross-border extensions, and smaller areas in far southeastern New South Wales and western Western Australia observed their highest January monthly maxima on record. Anomalies for central Australia exceeded +3 °C, while anomalies in inland parts of the eastern States reached 4 to 6 degrees above average.

Minima were also above average for most of Australia, with large parts of Western Australia, the Northern Territory, the Cape York Peninsula, inland and southeastern Queensland, and northern and northeastern New South Wales observing January minima in the highest 10 per cent of records. Anomalies exceeding 2 to 3 degrees above average were recorded over a large area of central Australia and inland northern New South Wales and southern Queensland. The national-average monthly minimum temperature was the third-highest on record at 1.26 °C above average. Queensland and Western Australia also recorded their third-highest January minima, with anomalies of +1.40 °C and +1.20 °C, respectively. Minima were near average for most of Tasmania, southern South Australia, Victoria excluding the northeast, and other small areas of central and northern Australia.

Areal average temperatures
	Maximum Temperature			Minimum Temperature
	Rank (out of 104)	Anomaly* (°C)	Comment	Rank (out of 104)	Anomaly* (°C)	Comment
Australia	104	+2.28	highest on record (previous record 2.17, in 1932)	102	+1.26	third highest
Queensland	103	+2.62	second highest, highest since 1947	102	+1.40	third highest
New South Wales	102	+3.66	third highest, highest since 1939	96	+1.92
Victoria	95	+2.20		66	+0.37
Tasmania	82	+0.93		66	+0.12
South Australia	99	+2.89	sixth highest	79	+0.91
Western Australia	94	+1.25		102	+1.20	third highest
Northern Territory	104	+2.52	highest on record (previous record 2.39, in 1971)	98	+1.25

^*Anomaly is the departure from the long-term (1961–1990) average.
A fractional rank indicates that the value is tied for that rank.

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

For Australia as a whole, January's monthly rainfall was somewhat below average, at 64.4 mm compared to the long-term average of 79.9 mm. January rainfall was above average along the eastern coast of New South Wales and Queensland as well as across most of Western Australia. A large region of the eastern coast between Mackay and Newcastle, extending inland to near Walgett recorded totals in the highest 10 per cent of records with an area between Rockhampton and Bundaberg observing its highest January total on record. This rainfall was mostly due to a significant event near the end of the month as ex-tropical cyclone Oswald brought extreme falls across the Cape York Peninsula, coastal Queensland, and the coast of New South Wales from the Illawarra northwards, resulting in significant flooding in multiple catchments. Daily totals in excess of 400 mm were not uncommon around Rockhampton on the 25th while on the 26th and 27th similar totals were recorded around Gladstone and Bundaberg. Numerous southeast Queensland sites recorded totals exceeding 400 mm on the 28th, with two exceeding 700 mm. A summary of daily and multi-day rainfall records broken at various sites and across catchments is provided in the soon-to-be-released Special Climate Statement 44. Queensland was the only state to record above-average rainfall for the month, although it surpassed the January average (126.6 mm) by a mere 3.2 mm.

The Kimberley and Top End, central Australia, inland Queensland and New South Wales, and much of South Australia and Tasmania recorded below-average rainfall. Rainfall was especially deficient over most of Victoria, with most of the State except East Gippsland, Mallee, and Riverina recording monthly rainfall in the lowest 10 per cent of January records. Small areas of southern Victoria, inland New South Wales and Queensland observed their lowest recorded January total, with a number of stations in western and central Victoria receiving no rain for the month. Victoria recorded its seventh-driest January, 79 per cent below average; South Australian rainfall was 88 per cent below average and the driest since 1989; January in the Northern Territory was the driest since 1994 owing in part to the late onset of the North Australian Monsoon, although the area-average rainfall exhibited a smaller departure (45 per cent below average) than in the other two States.

Area-average rainfall
	Rank (out of 114)	Average (mm)	Departure from mean*	Comment
Australia	43	64.4	−19%
Queensland	70	129.8	+3%
New South Wales	72	56.2	−14%
Victoria	7	8.5	−79%	seventh lowest
Tasmania	27	52.3	−31%
South Australia	14	2.8	−88%	lowest since 1989
Western Australia	60	50.7	−11%
Northern Territory	22	66.4	−45%	lowest since 1994
Murray-Darling Basin	51	36.5	−34%

^*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 January 2013
Hottest day	49.63 °C at Moomba (SA) on 12 January
Coldest day	−5.3 °C at Mount Wellington (Tas) on 9 January
Coldest night	−2.3 °C at Mount Hotham (Vic) on 14 January
Warmest night	34.1 °C at Bedourie Police Station (Qld) on 14 January
Wettest day	556.8 mm at Pacific Heights (Qld) on 25 January

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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