Tuesday 1 March 2016 — Monthly Summary for Australia — Product Code IDCKGC1A00

Australia in February 2016

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

In brief

• Ninth-warmest February on record for Australia
• Cooler than normal only across southeast Western Australia and southern South Australia
• Rainfall was below average for Australia as a whole, and for all States and territories
• Very much below average rainfall for much of northern Australia and New South Wales
• Wetter than normal to the north of the Great Australian Bight, and through central inland Queensland

February was warmer than average across the country, with no State or Territory recording a negative area-averaged temperature anomaly for either maximum or mean temperatures. The national mean temperature anomaly was +0.92 °C, with the monthly maximum temperature 1.43 °C above normal. The monthly minimum temperature was 0.42 °C above normal.

Rainfall across Australia was mostly below average throughout the country's north, northern South Australia and for much of New South Wales and eastern Victoria. Rainfall was very much above average for southwestern South Australia and southeastern Western Australia.

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Temperatures

February was very warm across northern and eastern Australia. Queensland recorded its fifth-warmest February on record for mean temperatures and equal sixth-warmest for both maximum and minimum temperatures. Tasmania was sixth-warmest for minimum temperatures.

Parts of Cape York Peninsula the north tropical Queensland coast, the Kimberley and the northeast tip of Arnhem Land recorded highest on record monthly mean temperatures. Very much above average mean temperatures extend across northwest Western Australia, most of northern and inland Queensland and the associated border regions with Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales. The extent of very much above average temperatures were similar for maximum temperatures, but were slightly narrower for minimum temperatures. Below average mean, maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded across southeast Western Australia and throughout parts of southern coastal South Australia.

Areal average temperatures
	Maximum Temperature			Minimum Temperature			Mean Temperature
	Rank (of 107)	Anomaly (°C)	Comment	Rank (of 107)	Anomaly (°C)	Comment	Rank (of 107)	Anomaly (°C)	Comment
Australia	100	+1.43	8th highest	= 85	+0.42		99	+0.92	9th highest
Queensland	=101	+2.02	equal 6th highest	= 101	+1.12	equal 6th highest	103	+1.57	5th highest
New South Wales	97	+1.91		77	+0.64		89	+1.28
Victoria	82	+0.70		= 73	+0.56		79	+0.63
Tasmania	88	+0.79		102	+1.97	6th highest	99	+1.38	9th highest
South Australia	= 76	+0.74		57	−0.05		=65	+0.35
Western Australia	86	+0.96		= 64	−0.03		80	+0.47
Northern Territory	100	+1.93	8th highest; highest since 1989	84	+0.44		98	+1.18	10th highest; highest since 1998

Rank ranges from 1 (lowest) to 107 (highest). A rank marked with = indicates the value is tied for that rank. Anomaly is the departure from the long-term (19611990) 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

February rainfall was below average for Australia and all States and Territories. New South Wales recorded its driest February since 1978, with statewide area average rainfall 69 per cent lower than the long term mean. Rainfall across the tropical north in the Northern Territory and Queensland was mostly below to very much below average, following similar low rainfall totals recorded in these regions during January 2016. Below average rainfall was recorded in the north and west of Western Australia. However the passage of ex-tropical cyclone Stan through Western Australia and and southern parts of South Australia contributed to very much above average rainfall in the southeast of Western Australia and border areas with South Australia. Above average rainfall was recorded along the South Australian coast and small pockets of central Queensland. Northern South Australia and eastern Victoria recorded below average rainfall.

Area-average rainfall
	Rank (of 117)	Average (mm)	Departure from mean	Comment
Australia	20	42.7	−44%
Queensland	29	78.4	−32%
New South Wales	12	15.7	−69%
Victoria	36	18.6	−42%
Tasmania	51	56.9	−14%
South Australia	63	15.0	−23%
Western Australia	34	32.3	−47%
Northern Territory	23	56.3	−53%
Murray-Darling Basin	21	19.5	−52%

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 February 2016
Hottest day	47.8 °C at Emu Creek Station (WA) on 13 February and  47.8 °C at Mardie (WA) on 12 February
Coldest day	2.6 °C at Kunanyi (Mount Wellington Pinnacle, Tas.) on 16 February
Coldest night	−1.4 °C at Kunanyi (Mount Wellington Pinnacle, Tas.) on 16 February
Warmest night	33.2 °C at Boulia Airport (Qld) on 4 February
Wettest day	252.0 mm at Mount Jukes (Qld) on 6 February

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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