Tuesday, 1 February 2011 - Monthly Climate Summary for Sydney - Greater Sydney - Product code IDCKGC15L0

Sydney in January 2011: Warm start to 2011

• Below average rainfall.
• Well above average maximum temperatures.
• Second warmest January on record for minimum temperatures.
• 23 nights exceeding 20 °C, the second highest frequency on record.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

Sydney recorded 53.8mm of rain during January, well below the historical average of 101.5mm. The rain fell over 15 rain days, above the January average of 12 rain days; however, the highest daily rainfall was just 9.4mm on the 9th compared to the historical average of 2.7 days exceeding 10mm. The last month with the maximum daily precipitation below 10mm was March 2010, and the last January with maximum daily rain below 10mm was in 2003, with a maximum of just 3.6mm.

Rain was higher in the Blue Mountains, with total rainfall of 130mm at Valley Heights. Two days had rainfall exceeding 25mm somewhere within Sydney - 25mm at North Rocks on the 3rd associated with a thunderstorm, 27.8 mm at Valley Heights on the 10th, and 25mm at Rose Bay on the 19th.

Sydney's water storage is currently at 73.5% of capacity. This is similar to December levels, and 23% higher than at the beginning of 2010 (51%). Current water storage information can be found on the new Bureau of Meteorology Water Storage web site.

Temperature

The average daily maximum temperature in Sydney during January was 27.4 °C, 1.5 °C above the historical record of 25.9 °C. This is the 11th consecutive year with above average maximum temperatures in Sydney. Four days above 30 °C were recorded during the month, slightly above the historical average of 3 days, with the warmest temperatures on the 24th when 35.4 °C was recorded in the city. Temperatures were warmer in the west, particularly on Australia Day, when Penrith reached 39.6 °C at 6pm, and on the 31st, with Penrith reaching 41.5 °C.

Minimum temperatures were also well above average during the month, averaging 20.9 °C compared to the historical average of 18.7 °C. This was the second warmest January on record for overnight temperatures, following 21 °C in January 1991. In addition, Sydney Airport and Riverview Observatory recorded their warmest average night time temperatures on record during the month. Mean temperatures were consequently 24.1 °C, well above the historical average of 22.3 °C and the equal 4th warmest year on record for Sydney.

23 nights during the month had minimum temperatures of at least 20 °C at Sydney Observatory Hill, well above the historical average of 8 nights and the second highest frequency on record following 24 days in January 1991. The lowest temperature was 17.2°C, the 8th warmest "coldest day" on record.

Some sites had their highest January mean daily minimum temperature on record.

Wind

Winds were generally northerly to easterly at Sydney Airport during January, with 60% of 3pm winds coming from that direction. The remaining winds were generally S to SE with almost no wind arising from the west, similar to average wind patterns at this station. The strongest winds in the Sydney region occurred on the 24th associated with the passage of a cold front, with 80 km/hr recorded at Port Botany and 74 km/hr at Little Bay.

Other phenomena

Sydney Airport recorded an average of 7.6 hours of sunshine per day during this month, which is average for January. Just two thunderstorms were reported at the airport, on the 2nd and 3rd of the month, slightly below the historical average of 3 storms and well below the 6 recorded in 2010. These were the only storms recorded in the metropolitan region during the month.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

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.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top