Thursday, 1 September 2011 - Monthly Climate Summary for Sydney - Greater Sydney - Product code IDCKGC25L0

Sydney in August 2011: Warm end to winter

• Below average rainfall.
• 4th warmest August on record for mean temperatures.
• Equal 3rd warmest August on record for minimum temperatures.
• Warm start to the month, warmest spell on record this early in August.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

Sydney Observatory Hill recorded 52.2 mm of rain during August, below the historical average of 80.8 mm but the wettest August since 2007. The rain fell over 12 days, slightly above the August average of 10 days, of which just two recorded more than 10 mm, both associated with offshore low pressure troughs and coastal showers. The first was on the 12th, with daily falls of 13 mm at Observatory Hill, while falls on the 20th reached 20.2 mm at Observatory Hill and up to 78 mm at Wisemans Ferry in the north west.

Sydney's water storage is currently at 78.9% of capacity, an increase of 0.8% from July levels and 21% higher than at this time in 2010. Current water storage information can be found on the Bureau of Meteorology Water Storage web site.

Temperature

The average maximum temperature at Observatory Hill was 19.8 °C during August, 2.0 °C above the historical average and the equal 7th warmest on record. Temperatures were above average throughout the Metropolitan region, but warmest in the eastern suburbs. The warm temperatures were particularly associated with a sustained warm spell in early August, with ten consecutive days above 20 °C between July 28 and August 6, reaching 25.7 °C on the 3rd. This is the fourth time such a warm spell has occurred during August, equal to 1954, 2006 and 2009, and the first time this early in the month.

The average minimum temperature was 10.7 °C, 1.8 °C above the historical average of 8.9 °C and the equal 3rd warmest on record for August, associated with below average sunshine during the month and a lack of cold nights. Twenty-one days had minimums above 10 °C during the month, twice the historical average and the equal 3rd highest on record, reaching 13.6 °C on the 30th and 13.7 °C on the 7th.

Mean temperatures were consequently 15.2 °C during August, 1.8 °C above the historical average and the 4th warmest on record.

Wind

There was no dominant wind direction at Sydney Airport during August, but southerly winds were less frequent than usual, while northerly winds were more than twice as common as typical for August. This contributed to the warm conditions during the month, particularly during the first week of August, with NNE to NW winds every day between the 3rd and 7th.

There were two strong wind days during the month, the fewest for August since 1999, with a maximum wind gust of 81 km/hr on the 19th, reaching 104 km/hr at Wattamolla. These strong winds caused minor damage in the northern and eastern suburbs from fallen trees and branches.

Other phenomena

Syndey Airport recorded 7.0 hours of sunshine during August, below the historical average of 7.8 hours. There was one thunderstorm at the Airport on the 7th, typical for August, associated with small hail of 5 to 10 mm.

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