Friday, 1 February 2008 - Monthly Climate Summary for Northern Territory - Product code IDCKGC12R0
Northern Territory in January 2008
Hottest on record in the Territory.
Summary
Southern parts of the Territory experienced extreme heat this January. Several meteorological recording stations reported a monthly average maximum temperature in excess of 40°C, exceeding previous records. The Northern Territory as a whole recorded its hottest area-averaged maximum and minimum temperatures for any January since comparable records began in 1950.
The month began with an active monsoon trough in the north. Tropical Cyclone Helen crossed the west coast of the Top End near Channel Point on the evening of the 4th, bringing gale force winds to Darwin and widespread heavy rainfall to many parts of the Top End, especially the Adelaide River catchment. A week later Darwin recorded a remarkable deluge when 212 mm of rain fell in a 2-hour burst overnight. The monsoon event subsequently waned and did not directly impact southern parts of the Territory, which as a consequence, experienced mostly clear skies, little rain and hot days.
Rainfall
Much of the rain that fell in the Territory was associated with the monsoon event that started in late December and continued in to early January. This included the landfall of Tropical Cyclone Helen on the west coast of the Territory's Top End on 4 January. See the information page on TC Helen. While areas of inland Queensland experienced flooding, most areas south of the Top End in the Territory remained dry until the last few days of the month, when thunderstorm activity resulted in some falls.
The wettest overall was 515.2 mm at Darwin Airport
The wettest single day was 242.0 mm at Darwin Airport on the 13th
Some sites had their highest daily January rainfall on record.
Some sites had their lowest total January rainfall on record.
Maximum temperature
When averaged over the whole of the Territory January 2008 was 2.7°C above normal, the hottest January since comparable records began in 1950. This was principally due to the sweltering conditions in the southern half of the Territory, where several new extreme temperature records were established.
The hottest day was 44.6°C at Wulungurru AWS on the 11th
The warmest average maximum temperature was 42.2°C at Wulungurru AWS
The coolest average maximum temperature was 31.1°C at McCluer Island AWS
The coldest day was 24.8°C at Douglas River on the 4th
Some sites had their highest January temperature on record.
Some sites had their coldest January day (lowest maximum temperature) on record.
Some sites had their highest January mean daily maximum temperature on record.
Some sites had their highest number of January days 40°C or higher.
Some sites had their highest number of days 40°C or higher for any month.
Minimum temperature
Minimum temperatures averaged over the Territory were 1.5°C above normal, also the warmest on record, with the biggest anomalies also recorded in southern parts of the Territory.
The coldest night was 14.4°C at Arltunga on the 19th
The coolest average minimum temperature was 23.1°C at Alice Springs Airport
The warmest average minimum temperature was 28.4°C at Wulungurru AWS
The warmest night was 33.5°C at Wulungurru on the 10th
Some sites had their lowest January temperature on record.
Some sites had their warmest January night (highest daily minimum temperature) on record.
Some sites had their highest January mean daily minimum temperature on record.
Further information
NT Climate Services CentreBureau of Meteorology
Phone (08) 8920 3819
Email climate.NT@bom.gov.au
Extremes
| Hottest day Highest temperature |
44.6°C at Wulungurru AWS on the 11th |
|---|---|
| Warmest days on average Highest mean daily maximum temperature |
42.2°C at Wulungurru AWS |
| Coolest days on average Lowest mean daily maximum temperature |
31.1°C at McCluer Island AWS |
| Coldest day Lowest daily maximum temperature | 24.8°C at Douglas River on the 4th |
| Coldest night Lowest temperature | 14.4°C at Arltunga on the 19th |
| Coolest nights on average Lowest mean daily minimum temperature | 23.1°C at Alice Springs Airport |
| Warmest nights on average Highest mean daily minimum temperature |
26.9°C at Centre Island AWS |
| Warmest night Highest daily minimum temperature |
33.5°C at Wulungurru AWS on the 10th |
| Wettest overall Highest total rainfall | 515.2 mm at Darwin Airport |
| Wettest day Highest daily rainfall | 242.0 mm at Darwin Airport on the 13th |
Jump to: Extremes Records Summaries Notes the top
Records
| Record highest daily rainfall for January 2008 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highest daily rainfall (mm) |
Previous highest | Years of record |
|||
Adelaide River PO |
144 |
on the 5th |
133 |
on the 16th in 1982 |
31 |
Alyangula Police |
150.4 |
on the 6th |
147.8 |
on the 25th in 1998 |
29 |
Jabiru Airport AWS |
117.0 |
on the 5th |
104.8 |
on the 10th in 1976 |
18 |
Stokes Hill |
156.4 |
on the 13th |
139.2 |
on the 23rd in 1981 |
14 |
| Record lowest total rainfall for January 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Total rainfall (mm) |
Previous lowest | Years of record |
||
Timber Creek |
71.2 |
87.0 |
in 1985 |
25 |
| Record highest temperature for January 2008 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Highest temperature (°C) |
Previous highest | Years of record |
|||
Lajamanu AWS |
44.4 |
on the 21st |
44.0 |
on the 26th in 2005 |
14 |
Kidman Springs |
43.2 |
on the 9th |
41.5 |
on the 24th in 2005 |
11 |
| Record lowest daily maximum temperature for January 2008 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Lowest daily maximum temperature (°C) |
Previous lowest | Years of record |
|||
Douglas River |
24.8 |
on the 4th |
25.9 |
on the 26th in 1998 |
14 |
| Record highest mean daily maximum temperature for January 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mean daily maximum temperature (°C) |
Previous highest | Years of record |
||
Tennant Creek Airport |
40.4 |
40.2 |
in 1971 |
38 |
Yuendumu |
40.6 |
39.2 |
in1994 |
37 |
Yulara Aero AWS |
40.7 |
40.4 |
in 2006 |
20 |
Ali Curung |
41.1 |
40.2 |
in 1998 |
19 |
Lajamanu AWS |
40.6 |
40.4 |
in 1970 |
14 |
Borroloola AWS |
35.6 |
35.5 |
in 1987 |
11 |
Kidman Springs |
38.0 |
36.9 |
in 2002 |
11 |
Rabbit Flat |
41.5 |
41.3 |
in 2005 |
10 |
| Record number of days 40°C or higher for January 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of days 40°C or higher | Previous highest | Years of record |
||
Alice Springs Airport |
18 |
16 |
in 2006 |
66 |
Curtin Springs |
25 = |
25 |
in 2006 |
42 |
Tennant Creek Airport |
20 |
17 |
in 1985 |
38 |
Yuendumu |
19 |
13 |
in 1994 |
37 |
Jervois |
27 |
23 |
in 1999 |
32 |
Yulara Aero AWS |
22 |
20 |
in 2006 |
20 |
Ali Curung |
23 |
19 |
in 1994 |
19 |
Territory Grape Farm AWS |
24 |
18 |
in 1994 |
13 |
Kidman Springs |
6 |
3 |
in 1999 |
11 |
| Record number of days 40°C or higher for any month | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of days 40°C or higher | Previous highest | Years of record |
||
Alice Springs Airport |
18 |
16 |
in Jan 2006 |
65 |
Curtin Springs |
25 = |
25 |
in Jan 2006 |
38 |
Tennant Creek Airport |
20 |
17 |
in Jan 1985 & Nov 1990 |
37 |
Jervois |
27 |
23 |
in Jan 1999 & Feb 1983 |
26 |
Yuendumu |
19 |
14 |
in Dec 1990 |
24 |
Yulara Aero AWS |
22 = |
22 |
in Feb 2007 |
16 |
Ali Curung |
23 |
19 |
in Jan 1994 |
15 |
| Record highest daily minimum temperature for January 2008 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Highest daily minimum temperature (°C) |
Previous highest | Years of record |
|||
Kidman Springs |
29.1 |
on the 18th |
29.0 |
on the 7th in 2007 |
11 |
| Record lowest temperature for January 2008 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Lowest temperature (°C) |
Previous lowest | Years of record |
|||
Point Fawcett AWS |
21.8 |
on the 18th |
22.0 |
on the 23rd in 1999 |
10 |
| Record highest mean daily minimum temperature for January 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mean daily minimum temperature (°C) |
Previous highest | Years of record |
||
McArthur River Mine |
26.2 |
26.0 |
in 1988 |
27 |
Kidman Springs |
26.0 |
25.8 |
in 2007 |
11 |
Jump to: Extremes Records Summaries Notes the top
Summaries
This table is very wide and may not fit if printed.
| Summary statistics for January 2008 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Rainfall (millimetres) |
||||||||||
| Mean | Diff from normal |
Highest | Mean | Diff from normal |
Lowest | Total | Rank | Fraction of normal |
||||
| Darwin-Daly (district 14GA) | ||||||||||||
Batchelor Aero AWS |
32.8 |
0.0 |
35.5 |
31st |
23.8 |
–0.1 |
20.3 |
9th |
318.4 |
high |
112% |
|
Black Point |
31.8 |
+0.4 |
33.2 |
28th |
26.7 |
+0.9 |
24.0 |
5th |
121.1 |
low |
40% |
|
Bradshaw AWS |
35.7 |
38.3 |
28th |
25.2 |
21.6 |
25th |
191.4 |
|||||
Cape Don AWS |
31.7 |
33.9 |
31st |
26.2 |
22.2 |
6th |
153.0 |
normal |
67% |
|||
Central Arnhem Plateau AWS |
32.0 |
35.2 |
22nd |
23.4 |
20.8 |
5th |
313.2 |
|||||
Darwin Airport |
32.2 |
+0.4 |
34.0 |
31st |
25.0 |
+0.2 |
21.8 |
2nd |
515.2 |
high |
124% |
|
Delamere Weapons Range AWS |
35.7 |
+1.5 |
40.0 |
9th |
24.0 |
+0.2 |
19.0 |
18th |
125.2 |
normal |
60% |
|
Douglas River |
33.6 |
–0.1 |
35.7 |
26th |
24.0 |
+0.3 |
21.9 |
5th |
374.2 |
high |
136% |
|
Dum In Mirrie AWS |
31.6 |
+0.1 |
33.1 |
29th |
25.3 |
–0.4 |
21.8 |
9th |
320.2 |
normal |
97% |
|
Jabiru Airport AWS |
34.2 |
+0.6 |
36.8 |
23rd |
25.0 |
+0.5 |
22.6 |
7th |
265.8 |
low |
74% |
|
Katherine Aviation Museum |
34.7 |
–0.1 |
37.6 |
18th |
24.0 |
–0.2 |
20.9 |
19th |
217.8 |
normal |
80% |
|
Mango Farm |
33.6 |
0.0 |
36.2 |
31st |
23.8 |
–0.1 |
21.0 |
9th |
437.5 |
high |
133% |
|
McCluer Island AWS |
31.1 |
32.5 |
28th |
26.7 |
22.1 |
6th |
176.0 |
normal |
78% |
|||
Middle Point AWS |
33.8 |
36.3 |
28th |
24.0 |
21.7 |
10th |
325.8 |
|||||
Pine Creek Council |
33.6 |
35.4 |
8th |
23.6 |
20.4 |
7th |
458.2 |
|||||
Pirlangimpi AWS |
32.0 |
+0.2 |
34.2 |
24th |
24.9 |
+0.4 |
21.9 |
10th |
322.2 |
normal |
78% |
|
Point Fawcett AWS |
31.4 |
–0.3 |
33.0 |
31st |
25.3 |
–0.5 |
21.8 |
18th |
369.4 |
normal |
110% |
|
Tindal RAAF AWS |
34.2 |
+0.2 |
37.0 |
28th |
24.2 |
0.0 |
21.1 |
19th |
201.6 |
normal |
75% |
|
Arnhem (district 14BC) | ||||||||||||
Alyangula Police |
33.0 |
–0.1 |
35.2 |
20th |
26.4 |
+0.6 |
21.9 |
6th |
197.6 |
normal |
92% |
|
Gove Airport |
32.1 |
+0.2 |
35.1 |
19th |
25.2 |
+0.6 |
21.2 |
6th |
281.4 |
normal |
99% |
|
Groote Eylandt Airport AWS |
33.1 |
36.5 |
19th |
25.0 |
21.6 |
16th |
402.2 |
|||||
Maningrida Aero AWS |
33.0 |
35.9 |
19th |
25.4 |
22.7 |
6th |
240.4 |
|||||
Milingimbi AWS |
33.1 |
35.3 |
19th |
25.6 |
20.8 |
6th |
234.8 |
|||||
Ngayawili AWS |
31.6 |
32.7 |
31st |
25.7 |
20.3 |
7th |
518.6 |
|||||
Warruwi AWS |
32.7 |
+0.7 |
35.0 |
17th |
26.4 |
+0.8 |
24.1 |
6th |
88.6 |
very low |
33% |
|
Roper-Mcarthur (district 14DE) | ||||||||||||
Borroloola AWS |
35.6 |
+1.6 |
39.5 |
18th |
25.2 |
+0.4 |
22.7 |
9th |
157.8 |
normal |
76% |
|
Bulman AWS |
35.3 |
39.2 |
18th |
24.3 |
20.8 |
7th |
362.2 |
|||||
Centre Island AWS |
34.4 |
+0.8 |
37.7 |
16th |
26.9 |
+0.2 |
23.2 |
16th |
154.6 |
normal |
70% |
|
Daly Waters AWS |
37.7 |
+1.9 |
40.6 |
21st |
24.7 |
+0.7 |
22.8 |
10th |
116.6 |
normal |
77% |
|
Larrimah |
36.5 |
+1.2 |
39.9 |
10th |
24.4 |
+0.4 |
22.5 |
22nd |
66.9 |
very low |
32% |
|
McArthur River Mine |
37.6 |
+1.6 |
41.6 |
19th |
26.2 |
+1.5 |
20.6 |
21st |
170.0 |
normal |
85% |
|
Wollogorang |
36.7 |
+1.8 |
40.1 |
16th |
25.1 |
+0.8 |
22.8 |
26th |
140.5 |
normal |
66% |
|
Victoria (district 14F) | ||||||||||||
Kidman Springs |
38.0 |
+2.1 |
43.2 |
9th |
26.0 |
+1.0 |
22.1 |
14th |
104.0 |
low |
63% |
|
Lajamanu AWS |
40.6 |
+3.7 |
44.4 |
21st |
24.8 |
+0.9 |
20.9 |
23rd |
39.2 |
low |
26% |
|
Timber Creek |
37.4 |
+1.5 |
40.0 |
9th |
25.0 |
0.0 |
19.5 |
19th |
71.2 |
lowest |
31% |
|
Victoria River Downs |
37.5 |
+0.8 |
41.2 |
9th |
25.4 |
+0.6 |
22.0 |
11th |
148.8 |
normal |
99% |
|
Wave Hill |
39.3 |
+2.3 |
43.6 |
21st |
25.2 |
+0.9 |
22.1 |
29th |
65.2 |
low |
44% |
|
Barkly (district 15A) | ||||||||||||
Brunette Downs |
40.1 |
+3.0 |
44.1 |
16th |
25.8 |
+1.3 |
22.7 |
2nd |
39.8 |
normal |
38% |
|
Elliott |
40.2 |
+2.7 |
44.0 |
21st |
24.8 |
+0.7 |
22.4 |
19th |
103.1 |
normal |
74% |
|
Tennant Creek Airport |
40.4 |
+3.7 |
43.0 |
15th |
26.8 |
+1.9 |
23.1 |
2nd |
17.2 |
low |
16% |
|
Alice Springs (district 15B) | ||||||||||||
Ali Curung |
41.1 |
+3.2 |
43.0 |
16th |
24.8 |
+1.0 |
20.6 |
20th |
21.2 |
low |
26% |
|
Alice Springs Airport |
39.8 |
+3.5 |
42.0 |
11th |
23.1 |
+1.7 |
17.9 |
19th |
6.8 |
normal |
18% |
|
Arltunga |
38.5 |
40.0 |
24th |
23.6 |
14.4 |
19th |
11.9 |
normal |
29% |
|||
Curtin Springs |
41.1 |
+3.4 |
44.3 |
5th |
24.1 |
+2.1 |
17.2 |
18th |
9.0 |
normal |
31% |
|
Jervois |
41.0 |
+2.6 |
42.8 |
9th |
24.9 |
+2.4 |
17.3 |
19th |
20.8 |
normal |
42% |
|
Papunya |
41.6 |
44.0 |
5th |
23.4 |
16.9 |
20th |
6.2 |
low |
14% |
|||
Rabbit Flat |
41.5 |
+3.2 |
44.1 |
21st |
24.0 |
+0.1 |
18.8 |
21st |
30.0 |
low |
24% |
|
Territory Grape Farm AWS |
40.2 |
+2.8 |
42.7 |
5th |
23.7 |
+2.2 |
18.0 |
19th |
30.2 |
normal |
63% |
|
Watarrka |
40.1 |
+1.7 |
42.5 |
5th |
23.4 |
–0.2 |
15.9 |
19th |
17.7 |
normal |
55% |
|
Wulungurru AWS |
42.2 |
44.6 |
11th |
28.4 |
23.9 |
15th |
0 |
|||||
Yuendumu |
40.6 |
+4.3 |
43.0 |
6th |
18.5 |
19th |
8.0 |
low |
12% |
|||
Yulara Aero AWS |
40.7 |
+2.3 |
43.7 |
10th |
24.3 |
+1.8 |
18.0 |
18th |
10.8 |
normal |
40% |
|
Jump to: Extremes Records Summaries Notes the top
Notes
This statement has been prepared based on information available at 12 pm on Friday 1 February 2008. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.
The Rank indicates how rainfall this time compares with the climate record for the site,
based on the
decile ranking
(very low rainfall is in decile 1, low in decile 2 or 3,
normal in decile 4 to 7, high in decile 8 or 9
and very high is in decile 10).
The Fraction of normal shows how much rain has fallen this time as a
percentage of the long-term mean.
Further information
NT Climate Services CentreBureau of Meteorology
Phone (08) 8920 3819
Email climate.NT@bom.gov.au