Monday 3 August 2015 — Monthly Summary for Australia — Product Code IDCKGC1A00

Australia in July 2015

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

In brief

July rainfall was below average for the southwest of Western Australia and also for most of Tasmania, and parts of the east coast, South Australia and western Victoria. Rainfall was higher than average for parts of northern Australia, some areas of the east, and some parts of the west of Western Australia. Nationally, rainfall was 32% below average.

Maximum temperatures for July were warmer than average across the north and west of Australia. Maxima were below average for most of the mainland southeast, extending into southern Queensland and across much of South Australia. Nationally, maximum temperatures were 0.42 °C warmer than average.

Minimum temperatures were warmer than average for most of Western Australia and much of central to northern Queensland, but cooler than average for parts of the Northern Territory, a large part of the southeast inland of the Great Dividing Range and most of Tasmania. Nationally, minimum temperatures were 0.41 °C above average.

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Temperatures

The national July mean temperature was 0.42 °C above the long-term mean. Both maximum (+0.42 °C) and minimum (+0.41 °C) temperatures were above average for the country as a whole.

A significant cold outbreak around mid-month was notable for its spatial extent, producing widespread snow along the Great Dividing Range from the Southern Tablelands in New South Wales to the Granite Belt in southern Queensland. Settling snow was reported to levels as low as 400 metres across the central west of New South Wales while for locations in elevated areas of southeast Queensland it was the heaviest snowfall since 1984.

A notable warm spell followed towards the end of the month, with record-warm July temperatures in parts of the north, associated with the passage of a strong high pressure system across southern Australia. Several locations in Queensland observed their warmest July day on record on the 26th, with some locations in Western Australia and the Northern Territory observing their warmest July day between the 25th and 30th. A number of locations in Western Australia also observed their warmest July night on record on the last or second-last day of the month.

Maximum temperatures were warmer than average in a broad band around the western and northern coastline of Western Australia, across the top of the Northern Territory, and through most of Queensland except the Channel Country and the south. Daytime temperatures were in the highest 10% of observations (decile 10) for pockets in this band in the southwest, the western Kimberley, the eastern Top End, and the central Cape York Peninsula. Maxima were cooler than average over much of the southeastern quadrant of Australia, extending from central Australia through much of South Australia, large parts of Victoria, nearly all of New South Wales, a narrow strip of southern Queensland, and also northwestern Tasmania.

Minimum temperatures were warmer than average for most of Western Australia, part of adjacent northwestern South Australia, and a large part of Queensland extending from the south of the Gulf of Carpentaria, across the base of the Cape York Peninsula to the east coast and into the Central West district. Minima were in the highest 10% of observations (decile 10) for large areas of Western Australia's western and southern coast. Minimum temperatures were below average for a large area of the Alice Springs district of the Northern Territory, extending into adjacent parts of Western Australia and Queensland. Cooler nights were recorded in a small area of the Roper–McArthur district of the Northern Territory, and across a broad area of the southeast mainland inland of the Great Dividing Range, spanning the eastern third of South Australia, northwestern to central Victoria, and southwestern New South Wales, as well as across much of Tasmania.

Areal average temperatures
	Maximum Temperature			Minimum Temperature			Mean Temperature
	Rank (of 106)	Anomaly (°C)	Comment	Rank (of 106)	Anomaly (°C)	Comment	Rank (of 106)	Anomaly (°C)	Comment
Australia	67	+0.42		= 69	+0.41		= 70	+0.42
Queensland	75	+0.55		81	+0.98		85	+0.77
New South Wales	37	−0.47		= 52	+0.12		38	−0.17
Victoria	32	−0.39		27	−0.50		= 20	−0.44
Tasmania	22	−0.44		30	−0.35		24	−0.39
South Australia	= 41	−0.21		= 37	−0.31		39	−0.25
Western Australia	86	+0.97		= 92	+0.84		96	+0.91
Northern Territory	67	+0.44		49	−0.24		58	+0.10

Rank ranges from 1 (lowest) to 106 (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 July was 32% below the long-term mean. All States and the Northern Territory observed area-averaged rainfall below the long-term mean.

Rainfall was below to very much below average for most of the South West Land Division in Western Australia, extending into part of the Southeast Coastal district. Monthly rainfall was also below average for much of Tasmania, particularly in the south, for large parts of agricultural and pastoral South Australia, along a band extending from north-central and western Victoria, through parts of western New South Wales into western Queensland, and also for parts of southeast Queensland and the central coast of New South Wales. A number of locations in southwest Western Australia observed their wettest July day on record on the 31st.

Areas of below-average rainfall in parts of northern Australia generally reflect very small negative anomalies as away from the greater southeast and eastern coastal margin of Queensland July is typically a dry month for northern Australia (the northern dry season spans May to September).

Rainfall was above average for the Arnhem district of the Northern Territory and parts of the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, for parts of the coastal Kimberley in Western Australia and areas between the Pilbara and Eucla districts. In the east of the country rainfall was above average for the Darling Downs in southern Queensland, an area of central New South Wales inland of the Great Dividing Range, and for an area spanning far southeastern New South Wales and East Gippsland in Victoria.

Area-average rainfall
	Rank (of 116)	Average (mm)	Departure from mean	Comment
Australia	28	15.1	−32%
Queensland	38	7.2	−62%
New South Wales	57	35.2	−11%
Victoria	46	59.4	−15%
Tasmania	29	114.1	−28%
South Australia	34	11.3	−39%
Western Australia	39	16.2	−20%
Northern Territory	54	1.2	−83%
Murray-Darling Basin	58	35.1	−12%

Rank ranges from 1 (lowest) to 116 (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 July 2015
Hottest day	36.8 °C at Wyndham Aero on 26 July (WA)
Coldest day	−4.3 °C at Mount Hotham (Vic.) on 14 July
Coldest night	−11.0 °C at Thredbo Village (NSW) on 20 July
Warmest night	25.5 °C at Troughton Island (WA) on 3 July
Wettest day	110.6 mm at Jervis Bay (Point Perpendicular AWS) (NSW) on 17 July

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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