Tuesday, 30 September 2008 - Monthly Climate Summary for Northern Territory - Product code IDCKGC12R0
Warm throughout and wet in the South - Northern Territory in September 2008
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Summary
Darwin saw the end of it’s longest recorded dry spell and a savage thunderstorm ripped through Alice Springs. 102 km/h winds were recorded at Alice Springs Airport on the afternoon of Monday 22 September, with stronger winds probably experienced in town. Despite the storm, long-running severe rainfall deficiencies persist in the region. Maximum and mininum temperatures were above average over most parts. Rainfall was above averge in central parts and below average elsewhere.
Rainfall
Central parts of the Territory, including areas about the Tanami and northern Alice Springs district, saw above average rainfall, though this was sporadic in nature. In the far south, below average rainfall perpetuated long-running rainfall deficiencies. The Alice Springs Airport recording site has now recorded a cummulative total of just 99.4 mm from May 2007. This is it’s lowest 16-month (June-September) rainfall on record. At the other end of the Territory, Darwin recorded its longest running dry spell on record, going 167 days between 10 April and 23 September without recoding any rainfall in the gauge. The previous record was 164 days, between 7 May and 17 October, 1976.
Maximum temperature
Maximum temperatures were mostly above average. Some areas in the Alice Springs and McArthur districts recorded two to three degrees above average maximums.
Some sites had their highest September temperature on record.
Some sites had their highest September mean daily maximum temperature on record.
Minimum temperature
Minimum temperatures remained mostly with in one degree of the long term mean over the Top End and increasing two to three degrees above normal in the south.
Some sites had their lowest September temperature on record.
Some sites had their warmest September night (highest daily minimum temperature) on record.
Some sites had their highest September mean daily minimum temperature on record.
Further information
NT Climate Services CentreBureau of Meteorology
Phone (08) 8920 3813
Email climate.nt@bom.gov.au
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Extremes
| Hottest day Highest temperature |
40.8°C at Elliott on the 15th |
|---|---|
| Warmest days on average Highest mean daily maximum temperature |
37.7°C at Bradshaw AWS |
| Coolest days on average Lowest mean daily maximum temperature |
27.5°C at Kulgera |
| Coldest day Lowest daily maximum temperature |
16.7°C at Arltunga on the 23rd |
| Coldest night Lowest temperature |
−1.0°C at Kulgera on the 1st |
| Coolest nights on average Lowest mean daily minimum temperature |
11.6°C at Yulara Aero AWS |
| Warmest nights on average Highest mean daily minimum temperature |
24.2°C at Cape Don AWS |
| Warmest night Highest daily minimum temperature |
28.2°C at Kidman Springs on the 20th |
| Wettest overall Highest total rainfall |
62.4 mm at Upper Waterhouse River |
| Wettest day Highest daily rainfall |
61.8 mm at Upper Waterhouse River on the 12th |
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Records
| Record highest total September rainfall | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total rainfall (mm) | Previous highest | Years of record |
|||
| Wycliffe Well | 13.0 | 11.7 | in 1998 | 21 | |
| Rabbit Flat | 41.4 | 22.2 | in 1998 | 11 | |
| Record highest September temperature | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highest temperature (°C) | Previous highest | Years of record |
||||
| Black Point | 34.4 | on the 25th | 34.3 | on the 30th in 2002 | 16 | |
| Record highest September mean daily maximum temperature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mean daily maximum temperature (°C) |
Previous highest | Years of record |
|||
| Pirlangimpi AWS | 33.9 | 33.7 | in 1998 | 23 | |
| Record highest September daily minimum temperature | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Highest daily minimum temperature (°C) |
Previous highest | Years of record |
||||
| Kidman Springs | 28.2 | on the 20th | 28.0 | on the 27th in 2003 | 12 | |
| Delamere Weapons Range AWS | 26.0 | on the 20th | = 26.0 | on the 13th in 2005 | 11 | |
| Record lowest September temperature | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest temperature (°C) | Previous lowest | Years of record |
||||
| Kulgera | −1.0 | on the 1st | = −1.0 | on the 13th in 2004 | 26 | |
| Record highest September mean daily minimum temperature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mean daily minimum temperature (°C) |
Previous highest | Years of record |
|||
| Territory Grape Farm | 14.4 | 13.9 | in 1997 | 15 | |
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Summaries
This table is very wide and may not fit if printed.
| Summary statistics for September 2008 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Rainfall (millimetres) |
||||||||||
| Mean for September 2008 |
Diff from normal |
Highest for September 2008 |
Mean for September 2008 |
Diff from normal |
Lowest for September 2008 |
Total for September 2008 |
Rank of September 2008 |
Fraction of September normal |
||||
| Darwin-Daly (district 14GA) | ||||||||||||
| Batchelor Aero AWS | 36.7 | +0.7 | 38.4 | 17th | 21.2 | +0.8 | 17.5 | 10th | 7.8 | high | 211% | |
| Black Point | 32.3 | +0.9 | 34.4 | 25th | 22.9 | 0.0 | 20.7 | 12th | 1.0 | very high | 111% | |
| Bradshaw AWS | 37.7 | 39.5 | 29th | 23.1 | +1.5 | 16.0 | 26th | 0.4 | ||||
| Cape Don AWS | 30.8 | 33.0 | 10th | 24.2 | 23.2 | 5th | 13.0 | very high | 765% | |||
| Channel Point | 30.8 | −0.1 | 33.7 | 25th | 21.7 | +0.3 | 17.9 | 26th | 0 | lowest | 0% | |
| Darwin Airport | 33.3 | +0.8 | 37.0 | 10th | 23.2 | +0.2 | 21.0 | 10th | 5.2 | average | 34% | |
| Delamere Weapons Range AWS | 35.7 | +0.1 | 37.8 | 14th | 21.7 | +1.1 | 16.6 | 10th | 14.2 | very high | 458% | |
| Douglas River | 37.5 | +1.0 | 39.9 | 18th | 20.2 | +1.7 | 15.4 | 11th | 16.6 | very high | 395% | |
| Dum In Mirrie AWS | 31.6 | 35.9 | 10th | 23.6 | +0.7 | 20.6 | 10th | 4.2 | average | 43% | ||
| Jabiru Airport | 37.3 | +1.3 | 39.6 | 18th | 21.8 | +0.3 | 18.2 | 11th | 0 | lowest | 0% | |
| Katherine Aviation Museum | 36.2 | +0.4 | 38.4 | 16th | 20.4 | +0.4 | 13.9 | 11th | 1.0 | average | 15% | |
| Mango Farm | 36.9 | +0.7 | 39.1 | 18th | 19.7 | +0.4 | 14.4 | 26th | 20.6 | very high | 275% | |
| McCluer Island | 29.3 | 31.6 | 8th | 24.6 | 0.0 | 22.7 | 12th | 0 | lowest | 0% | ||
| Middle Point AWS | 37.0 | 39.4 | 19th | 19.4 | 15.3 | 10th | 11.0 | |||||
| Oenpelli | 36.6 | +0.7 | 38.3 | 17th | 19.8 | −0.3 | 15.7 | 11th | 0 | lowest | 0% | |
| Pine Creek Council | 36.0 | 37.8 | 17th | 21.8 | 17.8 | 11th | 21.6 | |||||
| Pirlangimpi AWS | 33.9 | +1.0 | 36.4 | 9th | 21.8 | +0.7 | 20.2 | 11th | 13.8 | average | 48% | |
| Point Fawcett AWS | 32.1 | +0.3 | 34.7 | 10th | 20.4 | −1.1 | 17.5 | 11th | 1.4 | average | 21% | |
| Port Keats Aero AWS | 33.9 | 37.3 | 10th | 21.5 | +0.7 | 15.8 | 26th | 0 | ||||
| Tindal RAAF AWS | 36.7 | +1.1 | 38.9 | 16th | 20.5 | +0.5 | 13.9 | 11th | 0 | lowest | 0% | |
| Arnhem (district 14BC) | ||||||||||||
| Alyangula Police | 30.6 | −0.5 | 32.5 | 10th | 21.2 | +1.0 | 18.5 | 3rd | 11.1 | very high | 317% | |
| Gove Airport | 30.5 | +0.3 | 31.5 | 8th | 20.1 | +0.5 | 17.8 | 29th | 1.0 | high | 27% | |
| Groote Eylandt Airport AWS | 32.9 | 35.6 | 28th | 18.4 | +1.0 | 14.9 | 11th | 0 | ||||
| Maningrida Aero AWS | 32.7 | 36.8 | 9th | 20.9 | 17.8 | 10th | 0 | |||||
| Milingimbi AWS | 32.2 | 36.3 | 10th | 21.4 | 18.0 | 11th | 0 | |||||
| Ngayawili AWS | 32.1 | 34.3 | 9th | 20.8 | 18.4 | 5th | 0.2 | |||||
| Warruwi AWS | 31.5 | +0.7 | 33.8 | 8th | 23.9 | +0.4 | 22.1 | 12th | 0.4 | high | 44% | |
| Roper-Mcarthur (district 14DE) | ||||||||||||
| Borroloola | 35.2 | +0.4 | 38.1 | 17th | 18.0 | +0.5 | 13.2 | 10th | 0 | lowest | 0% | |
| Bulman AWS | 36.6 | 39.1 | 17th | 17.6 | 11.7 | 10th | 0 | |||||
| Centre Island | 30.8 | +0.3 | 34.0 | 29th | 22.7 | +0.6 | 20.9 | 11th | 0.6 | average | 40% | |
| Daly Waters AWS | 36.5 | +2.0 | 38.9 | 18th | 17.7 | +0.7 | 11.4 | 10th | 0 | lowest | 0% | |
| Larrimah | 36.1 | +1.1 | 38.5 | 19th | 19.0 | +0.6 | 12.8 | 10th | 0.4 | average | 11% | |
| McArthur River Mine | 36.5 | +1.4 | 40.1 | 18th | 19.4 | +2.5 | 14.1 | 10th | 0 | lowest | 0% | |
| Wollogorang | 35.2 | +0.9 | 38.4 | 29th | 18.0 | +2.2 | 13.2 | 11th | 0 | lowest | 0% | |
| Victoria (district 14F) | ||||||||||||
| Kidman Springs | 36.8 | +0.1 | 39.5 | 14th | 20.6 | +1.0 | 11.0 | 26th | 1.4 | average | 37% | |
| Timber Creek | 37.1 | +0.8 | 39.7 | 15th | 21.1 | +0.5 | 14.2 | 11th | 2.5 | average | 38% | |
| Victoria River Downs | 37.0 | +1.6 | 39.3 | 17th | 12.6 | 26th | 0 | lowest | 0% | |||
| Wave Hill | 36.1 | +1.0 | 39.5 | 29th | 19.3 | +1.5 | 11.4 | 25th | 2.4 | average | 25% | |
| Barkly (district 15A) | ||||||||||||
| Elliott | 36.3 | +1.1 | 40.8 | 15th | 18.5 | +1.1 | 11.0 | 25th | 0.5 | average | 8% | |
| Tennant Creek Airport | 31.9 | +0.3 | 37.8 | 13th | 19.3 | +0.9 | 11.4 | 24th | 34.2 | very high | 462% | |
| Alice Springs (district 15B) | ||||||||||||
| Ali Curung | 31.6 | −0.7 | 37.2 | 20th | 9.7 | 24th | 33.8 | very high | 469% | |||
| Alice Springs Airport | 29.4 | +2.2 | 36.6 | 18th | 12.9 | +2.7 | 3.4 | 24th | 3.2 | average | 39% | |
| Curtin Springs | 28.7 | +1.0 | 35.7 | 27th | 11.9 | +2.0 | 7.2 | 4th | 0 | lowest | 0% | |
| Jervois | 30.1 | +0.3 | 38.0 | 20th | 14.2 | +3.1 | 7.2 | 24th | 7.6 | high | 131% | |
| Kulgera | 27.5 | +0.5 | 35.9 | 27th | 12.3 | +1.1 | −1.0 | 1st | 0 | lowest | 0% | |
| Rabbit Flat | 33.9 | −0.7 | 38.6 | 19th | 15.7 | +1.3 | 5.8 | 25th | 41.4 | highest | 1335% | |
| Territory Grape Farm | 30.5 | 0.0 | 37.0 | 20th | 14.4 | +2.4 | 7.8 | 6th | 18.0 | high | 234% | |
| Watarrka | 29.4 | −0.2 | 36.1 | 21st | 12.8 | −0.5 | 6.8 | 23rd | 0.5 | low | 7% | |
| Yuendumu | 30.4 | +0.9 | 37.2 | 20th | 13.4 | +0.4 | 5.7 | 23rd | 47.5 | very high | 601% | |
| Yulara Aero AWS | 28.6 | −0.3 | 36.0 | 21st | 11.6 | +0.8 | 6.1 | 23rd | 3.0 | average | 48% | |
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Notes
This statement has been prepared based on information available at 11 am on Tuesday 30 September 2008. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.
Normals are long-term means based on observations from
the years 1800 to 2007.
They are not shown for sites with less than 10 years of record in that time, as they cannot then be calculated reliably.
The median
is sometimes more representative than the
mean
of long-term average ("normal") rain.
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 3813
Email climate.nt@bom.gov.au