Monday, 1 March 2010 - Monthly Climate Summary for Sydney - Greater Sydney - Product code IDCKGC25L0

Record warm nights in Sydney during February

• Warmest February on record for average minimum (overnight) temperatures
• Record 23 nights with a minimum temperature above 20°C
• Above average rainfall

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Rainfall

Following dry conditions in January, Sydney experienced well above average rainfall in February. Observatory Hill recorded a total rainfall of 239.4 mm, which is well above the historical average¹ of 117.9 mm. The majority of the rain was recorded on the 6th, 7th and 13th. This is the wettest February for Sydney since 2008, when 258.4 mm was recorded. There were 13 rain days recorded during the month, which is close to the February average.

An active low pressure trough, upper level low and prevailing moist onshore flow contributed towards the wet conditions in Sydney during the month.

Above average rainfall caused Sydney's storage levels to rise during February and are currently around 59.3% of capacity. Recent rainfall and current levels in Sydney's water catchments can be found on the Sydney Catchment Authority web site http://www.sca.nsw.gov.au/dams/rainfall.html

Temperature

Sydney recorded its warmest February on record for average minimum (overnight) temperatures. The average minimum temperature at Observatory Hill was 21.2 °C which is 2.4 °C above the historical average¹ of 18.8 °C. This surpasses the previous February minimum temperature record of 21.1°C in 1983. The highest daily minimum temperature for February was 26.0 °C recorded on the 23rd of the month.

There was a record 23 nights during February with a minimum temperature above 20°C, which is well above the historical average of 8 nights. This surpasses the previous record of 22 nights set in 2007. Additionally, 16 consecutive nights above 20 °C were recorded from the 1st to the 16th of the month. The record warm night time temperatures were a result of increased overnight cloud cover and humidity throughout the month combined with the background, long-term warming that has been observed across Australia since the start of the century.

Warm days prevailed in Sydney during February. The average maximum temperature at Observatory Hill was 27.4 °C, which is 1.7 °C above the historical February average of 25.7 °C. This is the warmest February in Sydney since 2006 (27.8 °C). Sydney Observatory Hill recorded 3 hot days (temperature over 30 °C) during the month, which is average for February.

Some sites had their warmest February night (highest daily minimum temperature) on record. Some sites had their highest February mean daily minimum temperature on record.

Wind

Coastal Sydney experienced E-NE winds (54% of the time) during afternoons in February which is average for this time of year. A total of 5 strong winds were observed, which is also average for February.

Other phenomena

Sydney Airport recorded 3 thunderstorms during the month (5th, 12th and 13th), which is average for February. Flash flooding, associated with the thunderstorms, was reported on the 12th and 13th. Sunshine averaged 7.0 hours per day, which is average.

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Daily rainfall

Most values are the precipitation in the 24 hours to 9 am on the day indicated. Days marked with »» are part of a longer accumulation, which is marked like this on the final day. Values over 100 mm have been rounded to the nearest whole millimetre. Days marked with - have a rainfall report of zero; days left blank have no rainfall report (which often indicates no rain fell).
This table is very wide; you may have to scroll sideways to see all the days, and you may need to set the paper to 'landscape' to print.

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