Tuesday, 4 October 2011 - Monthly Climate Summary for Sydney - Greater Sydney - Product code IDCKGC15L0

Sydney in September 2011: Warm start to Spring

• Average rainfall.
• Above average maximum temperatures.
• Above average minimum temperatures, equal 11th warmest on record.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

Rainfall was close to average during September, with 71.6 mm recorded at Sydney Observatory Hill compared to the average of 68.9 mm, and above average rainfall in western suburbs. The rain fell over 10 days, average for September, with the majority of rain occurring in a single event on the 25th and 26th associated with moist easterly flow. Two-day totals reached 53.8 mm at Observatory Hill and up to 112.2 mm at Turramurra, with daily falls reaching 65 mm at Mona Vale on the 25th.

Sydney's water storage is currently at 78.6% of capacity, an decrease of 0.3% from the beginning of the month but 20.8% 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 during September was 21.7 °C, 1.7 °C above average, with above average temperatures recorded throughout the city. Two days exceeded 30 °C during the month, above average for September, reaching 32.5 °C on the 23rd, the warmest September day since September 28th 2008.

The average minimum temperature at Observatory Hill was 12.5 °C, 1.4 °C above the historical average of 11.1 °C and the equal 11th warmest on record, with warmer than average nights recorded throughout the city. Only three nights during the month dropped below 10 °C, well below the September average of eleven nights, the equal 6th fewest on record.

The mean daily temperature was 17.1 °C during the month, 1.5 °C above average.

Wind

Easterly winds were predominant in Sydney during September, with 65% of 3pm winds at Sydney Airport between NE and SE, slightly above average for September. Three strong wind days were reported at the Airport during the month, with 8 strong wind days across the Metropolitan region. Winds reached 96 km/hr at Richmond RAAF associated with a southerly change on the 29th.

Other phenomena

Sydney Airport recorded an average of 7.7 hours of sunshine during September, close to the historical average of 7.9 hours. There were no thunderstorms observed at the Airport, but storms were reported in the Metropolitan area on the 7th, 24th, and 29th, including reports of small hail at Parramatta North on the 29th.

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