Monday, 2 June, 2014 — Monthly Summary for Australia — Product Code IDCKGC1A00

Australia in May 2014

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

In Brief

Maximum temperatures during May were warmer than average across most of Australia, except for some parts of coastal Queensland and the west of Western Australia. A small area of coastal Western Australia north of Perth recorded cooler-than-average days for the month. Overnight minimum temperatures were warmer than average for the majority of Australia, with a large area focused on outback South Australia recording its warmest May on record for minimum temperatures. The national maximum temperature anomaly of +1.57 °C and minimum temperature anomaly of +1.66 °C combined to give a mean temperature anomaly of +1.62 °C. Persistent warmth during the month (see Special Climate Statement 49 – an exceptionally prolonged autumn warm spell over much of Australia for details) saw Australia record its third-warmest May on record for mean temperatures.

May rainfall was below average for large parts of the eastern states including much of southern central Victoria, coastal and northern New South Wales and large areas of Queensland's south, east coast and inland west. Rainfall was above average for much of Western Australia, southwest South Australia and the west of the Top End of the Northern Territory. Nationally, rainfall was 25% below average for May.

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Temperatures

Daytime temperatures during May were warmer than average across most of Australia. Daytime temperatures were near average for parts of the Queensland coast and the west of Western Australia, and below average between Perth and Geraldton. For 53% of Australia the monthly mean maximum temperature was in the highest 10% of records for May, and the highest on record for a small area on the South Australian–Queensland border and isolated areas around the southern coast and in the Northern Territory. The national area-averaged maximum temperature anomaly for May was +1.57 °C (fifth-highest on record). Monthly mean maximum temperatures were in the five warmest years on record for New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Following a brief cold period at the start of the month, May was dominated by a long-lived warm spell, which affected most of the country. A stable blocking pattern of high pressure over the Tasman Sea resulted in a generally northerly or northwesterly flow over most of southeastern Australia from the second week of May almost until the end of the month, bringing warm air from northern Australia and the Indian Ocean over most of the eastern states. A number of individual locations have set records for their warmest day so late in the season, but the event was especially significant because of its persistence, resulting in numerous records for consecutive days above certain thresholds, and for unusually warm overnight temperatures. Details of records set can be found in Special Climate Statement 49 – an exceptionally prolonged autumn warm spell over much of Australia.

Minimum temperatures were above average for the majority of Australia, with near-average minima recorded in a small area of inland Western Australia, parts of eastern New South Wales and parts of coastal northern Australia. The monthly mean minimum temperature was in the highest 10% of records for May for most of South Australia, Victoria, western New South Wales, parts of western and southwestern Queensland, the south of the Northern Territory, western and southwestern Western Australia and the Pilbara (47% of Australia in total). For an area of South Australia extending from the top of the Great Australian Bite to just across the Queensland border, it was the warmest May on record in terms of minimum temperatures. For South Australia as a whole, monthly minima were the warmest on record for May (3.03 °C above average) while the national area-averaged minimum temperature anomaly for May was +1.66 °C (fifth-highest on record).

Areal average temperatures
	Maximum Temperature			Minimum Temperature			Mean Temperature
	Rank (of 105)	Anomaly (°C)	Comment	Rank (of 105)	Anomaly (°C)	Comment	Rank (of 105)	Anomaly (°C)	Comment
Australia	101	+1.57	5th highest	101	+1.66	5th highest	103	+1.62	3rd highest (record +2.11 °C in 1958)
Queensland	96	+1.30	10th highest	94	+1.13		98	+1.22	8th highest
New South Wales	100	+1.98	6th highest	92	+1.20		102	+1.59	4th highest (record +2.14 °C in 2007)
Victoria	102	+1.67	4th highest (record +2.40 °C in 1947)	101	+1.79	5th highest	103	+1.73	3rd highest (record +2.22 °C in 2007)
Tasmania	94	+0.83		92	+0.98		95	+0.90
South Australia	101	+2.31	5th highest	105	+3.03	highest (was +2.75 °C in 2013)	105	+2.67	highest (was +2.57 °C in 2013)
Western Australia	88	+1.10		100	+1.65	6th highest	101	+1.38	5th highest
Northern Territory	102	+2.01	4th highest (record +2.55 °C in 1958)	94	+1.63		100	+1.82	6th highest

Rank ranges from 1 (lowest) to 105 (highest). A rank marked with ’=‘ indicates the value is tied for that rank. Anomaly is the departure from the long-term (1961–1990) average.

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

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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Rainfall

Nationally-averaged rainfall during May was 25% below the long-term mean, mostly as a result of below-average rainfall in the eastern states. The persistence of a blocking high pressure pattern over the Tasman Sea from mid-May onwards saw rain-bearing cold fronts slipping south of the mainland southeast as they approached from the west. The fronts did bring rain to the southwest of Western Australia and around the top of the Great Australian Bight while northwesterly flow behind the high brought rainfall to parts of northern and inland Western Australia.

Rainfall was above average for much of the west of the continent, including the west of the Top End, the western, west coast and Flinders areas of South Australia, and most of Western Australia. The eastern Kimberley, an area extending through the eastern Pilbara to the area around Wiluna and through the north of the South West Land Division and Southeastern Coastal District had average or below average rainfall. Despite these areas of low totals, Western Australia and South Australia recorded above-average rainfall while the other states and the Northern Territory came in below average. Mean rainfall for Western Austalia was 32% above their long-term area-average and South Australia 9% above average.

Rainfall was below average along the eastern coast of New South Wales to as far north as Townsville, over large areas of inland northern New South Wales, southern Queensland and parts of the northern Cape York Peninsula, central southern Victoria and northeastern Tasmania. A large area extending from inland western Queensland through much of the Victoria River and Barkly districts of the Northern Territory also recorded below-average rainfall, although apart from western Queensland these areas typically receive very little rainfall during May. Queensland recorded the largest departure from the long-term mean, with May rainfall 72% below average

Area-average rainfall
	Rank (of 115)	Average (mm)	Departure from mean	Comment
Australia	49	21.3	−25%
Queensland	21	8.6	−72%
New South Wales	36	20.6	−56%
Victoria	47	46.7	−28%
Tasmania	49	111.1	−19%
South Australia	78	23.2	+9%
Western Australia	87	33.9	+32%
Northern Territory	56	4.3	−68%
Murray-Darling Basin	36	21.8	−49%

Rank ranges from 1 (lowest) to 115 (highest). A rank marked with ’=‘ indicates the value is tied for that rank. Departure from mean is relative to the long-term (1961–1990) average.

Rainfall maps
	Totals	Percentages	Deciles
Total rainfall

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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Australian weather extremes during May 2014
Hottest day	38.3 °C at Bradshaw (NT) on 2 May
Coldest day	−1.2 °C at Thredbo AWS (NSW) on 2 May, and Charlotte Pass (Kosciusko Chalet) (NSW) on 1 May
Coldest night	−9.4 °C at Perisher Valley AWS (NSW) on 8 May
Warmest night	28.2 °C at McCluer Island (NT) on 1 May
Wettest day	144.0 mm at Daradgee (Qld) on 16 May

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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