Friday, 1 November 2019 - Monthly Climate Summary for New South Wales - Product code IDCKGC15R0

New South Wales in October 2019: warm days, rain below average

October was another dry month for much of New South Wales, although there were some showers near the coast. Warm to hot days were common, including some record high temperatures early in the month. There were several cool nights, especially in the south and the northeast.

Another dry month for much of the State

• Rainfall was again below average over much of New South Wales
• Almost all of the State had below average rain, with large areas very much below average and patches of record low (several sites in the west had their lowest total October rainfall on record)
• Much of the western half of the State had little or no rain for month, althugh rain in northern parts of the west near the end of the month meant near-average October totals there
• Rainfall was close to average in many areas near the coast apart from the far north coast
• The total rainfall over the State was about one-quarter the October average, making it the fifth-driest October on record and the driest since 2006
• New South Wales has received less than half its average rainfall for the year so far, the driest first 10 months of the year since 1940; every month apart from March has seen markedly less rainfall than average

Warm to hot days

• Daytime temperatures were above average across almost all of the State
• There were several bursts of warm to hot weather, most notably from the 6th to the 8th, when Casino, Grafton and Kempsey all exceeded 40 °C and several inland sites had their highest October temperature on record
• A cool change brought a period of relatively cool weather for much of the State between the 9th and the 13th
• More hot weather in the final week broke records at Bathurst, Braidwood and Bombala
• Strong winds combined with ongoing dry weather to create areas of raised dust and dangerous fire weather conditions several times during the month
• The State's mean maximum temperature was 3.28 °C above average, the fourth-warmest October on record (but much cooler than the record-setting October 2015)
• Night-time temperatures were above average across much of the west, but below average in the south and in the northeast
• The morning of the 25th was especially warm in the southwest, and the morning of the 26th was warm in the northeast; several sites had their warmest October night (highest daily minimum temperature) on record
• The State's mean minimum temperature was 1.27 °C above average, more than a degree cooler than it was in October 2018
• The overall mean temperature was 2.28 °C above average, the fourth-warmest October on record
• It has been the warmest January–October on record for New South Wales for overall mean temperature and for mean maximum temperature, with the mean minimum temperature second only to 2016

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Maps
	Observed	Anomaly	Decile rank
Total rainfall
Mean daily maximum temperatures
Mean daily minimum temperatures

Click on a map to show it full size in a pop-up window

* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a lower value has gone unreported

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top