Thursday 1 August 2019 — Monthly Summary for Australia — Product Code IDCKGC1A00

Australia in July 2019

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

In brief

• Warmer than average July for Australia
• Mean maximum temperature above average for nearly all of the country
• Mean minimum temperature above average for large areas, particularly the southeast; below average for some areas of the far north
• July rainfall below to very much below average for very large areas, including most of New South Wales, southern Queensland, South Australia, and the southern half of Western Australia
• Rainfall above average for western Tasmania, parts of northern Queensland and the Gulf Coast
• It has been the second-warmest January–July on record for Australia (spanning 110 years), with rainfall also below to very much below average over most of the country, and fifth-lowest on record for Australia as a whole (spanning 120 years)

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Temperatures

July was the fourth-warmest on record for Australia as a whole, with the national mean temperature 1.62 °C above average. The mean maximum temperature for the month was the third-highest on record for July, at 2.23 °C above average, while the mean minimum temperature was 1.01 °C above average.

The Northern Territory and all States except Tasmania and Victoria placed amongst the ten warmest Julys on record for mean maximum temperature, while mean minimum temperature for the month was amongst the ten warmest on record for Victoria and Tasmania.

The seven months of the year to date has been very warm for the country as a whole; Australia observed its second-warmest mean temperature on record for January–July. The mean maximum and mean minimum temperature have also been very warm; respectively they were the highest and fifth-highest on record for Australia over the same period.

Maximum temperatures were above to very much above average nearly all of Western Australia, with a near-average mean maximum temperature for July only observed over part of eastern Queensland extending from the Central Coast and adjacent inland areas up the eastern half and north of Cape York Peninsula. Mean maximum temperature for the month was very much above average (decile 10, in the highest 10% of historical observations) for much of the country, and warmest on record for a large area of northwestern to northern inland Western Australia, and areas in eastern New South Wales, extending into adjacent southeast Queensland.

The mean minimum temperature for the month was warmer than average for large parts of Australia, including the Victoria River and Barkly districts in the Northern Territory; the area south of the Gulf of Carpentaria, much of western Queensland and parts of the inland south, Central Highlands, and coastal southeast; most of New South Wales away from the central north and northeast; Victoria and Tasmania; the southeastern quarter of South Australia and the northwest of that State, continuing through central Western Australia and the Pilbara; and along the southwest and southern coast of Western Australia.

Cooler than average mean minimum temperatures were observed in much of the Top End of the Northern Territory, and also in small areas in the northern Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, and in Western Australia in the northern and western Kimberley, the central Gascoyne, and northern Goldfields districts.

A number of sites in Western Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland observed their highest July mean daily maximum temperature on record. A few sites in Victoria and South Australia also observed a record warm July mean maximum temperature.

A number of sites in South Australia, including Adelaide West Terrace / ngayirdapira, observed their highest July mean daily minimum temperature on record, as did some in Victoria.

Some sites in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia observed their highest July mean temperature on record.

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, July rainfall was below average, with Australia ranking 12th-driest out of 120 Julys.

Rainfall was below to very much below average across most of New South Wales, extending into much of southern Queensland, and parts of East Gippsland and Central Victoria. Rainfall for the month was also below average for nearly all of South Australia, much of Western Australia except the Kimberley and parts of the western Pilbara and northwest Gascoyne, and along the east coast of Tasmania.

A number of sites in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia had their lowest July total rainfall on record, or for at least 20 years.

Despite the drier than average month overall, a cold front and associated cloudband brought a wet day to Western Australia's South West Land Division on the 5th, with some sites observing a record wet day for July.

July is a seasonally dry month for the Northern Territory and the tropics of Western Australia, meaning these areas typically receive very little rainfall during this month.

For the year to date (January–July), rainfall has been below to very much below average over much of Australia. For Australia as a whole, it was the fifth-driest January–July on record, and amongst the ten driest on record for New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory.

Rainfall for July was above average for the western half of Tasmania, a large area of Queensland's Central and Tropical coasts, extending into parts of the Central West District and the southern half of Cape York Peninsula, and for parts of the Gulf of Carpentaria coast, and small pockets of southwest and northwest Victoria.

Above average rainfall in western Tasmania resulted from frequent rain throughout the month associated with westerly winds and cold fronts. Some sites in Tasmania had record high daily rainfall for July during the month, or observed their wettest July on record overall. Above average rainfall in areas of Queensland mostly resulted from a period of showers associated with an upper-level trough during the first third of the month.

Area-average rainfall
	Rank (of 120)	Average (mm)	Departure from mean	Comment
Australia	12	10.5	−53%
Queensland	48	9.5	−50%
New South Wales	14	14.2	−64%
Victoria	42	56.2	−20%
Tasmania	109	215.9	+36%
South Australia	8	5.9	−68%	8th lowest; lowest since 1997
Western Australia	10	7.8	−61%	10th lowest
Northern Territory	19	0.1	−99%
Murray-Darling Basin	17	16.4	−59%

Rank ranges from 1 (lowest) to 120 (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 2019
Hottest day	36.4 °C	at Kalumburu, West Roebuck, and Yampi Sound (Defence) (all WA) on the 30th
Coldest day	−5.2 °C	at Thredbo AWS (NSW) on the 13th
Coldest night	−12.3 °C	at Glen Innes Airport AWS (NSW) on the 19th
Warmest night	25.2 °C	at Coconut Island (Qld) on the 8th
Wettest day	86.0 mm	at Babinda Post Office (Qld) on the 9th

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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