Monday, 3 February 2014 - Monthly Climate Summary for Northern Territory - Product code IDCKGC22R0

Northern Territory in January 2014: A hot start to an overall cool, wet month

After a record-setting hot start to the month across the whole Territory, a monsoon moved into place in the second week of the month and remaind for the rest of the month.

• Hottest January day on record for Darwin Airport
• Monsoon returns to the Top End
• Month begins with record high temperatures

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Monsoon brings rainfall to the Top End

An active and prolonged monsoonal period set in around the 10th of the month at Darwin and across the rest of the Top End shortly afterward. The monsoon produced continual, and at time heavy, rainfall over the Top End. By the end of the month two locations had received over 800 mm of rainfall, Litchfield with 831.0 mm, and Dum In Mirrie with 821.6 mm. Averaged across the NT there was 195.5 mm of rainfall this month which is 63% higher than the average January rainfall.

On the 10th a low pressure system formed within the monsoon trough off the northeast coast of the Top End and moved west causing monsoonal showers and squally storms along the north coast. The centre of the low moved over land near the Coburg Peninsula on the 14th and then moved across the western Top End on the 14th and 15th. Some of the highest 24 hour rainfall totals in the NT this month were recorded to 9am on the 15th including Wollogorang, with 221.4 mm, and Elizabeth Valley with 205.6 mm, a new January daily rainfall record for both these sites. The low continued inland along the NT/WA boarder producing heavy rainfall over the Victoria River District and northern Alice Springs District. Rabbit Flat measured 82.8 mm on the 17th and 72.0 mm on the 18th, ending the month with a total of 385.6 mm, a new total January rainfall record record for that site.

Month starts with record hot days

Temperatures were exceptionally warm across the NT in the first week of the month. In the southern half of the NT the 1st, 2nd and 3rd were by far the hottest days of the month. On the 2nd, the temperature at Jervois got up to 46.4 °C while Ali Curung reached 46.1 °C (a new January record for this site), and Brunette Downs had a daily maximum of 45.6 °C. Tennant Creek Airport also saw 45.6 °C but on the 3rd. Yulara Aero started the month with 44.4 °C, their hottest day this month.

High temperatures were also experienced across the Top End a few days later. Several Top End sites had their highest January temperature on record on the 7th, 8th or 9th of the month. Some of these include Port Keats Aero with 38.9 °C on the 8th (previous record was 38.0 °C on 16 Jan 2003), Jabiru Airport with 38.4 °C on the 8th (previous record was 38.0 °C on 13 January 1992), and Bradshaw with 41.5 °C on the 9th (previous record was 41.4 °C on 13 January 2012).

By the second week of the month, monsoonal conditions set in across the northern half of the NT and a cool change was experienced in the south. Lower temperatures persisted for the rest of the month and meant the mean maximum temperature for January for the NT was 35.9 °C, which is half a degree below the January average.

Near average minimum temperatures

Minimum temperatures were near average in the first week of the month, which was followed by about two weeks of below average minima across the Territory. From the 5th through the 10th Alice Springs Airport saw minimum temperatures that were at least five degrees below average for January with the 8th being the coldest night at Alice Springs Airport with 12.4 °C. However, in the last week of the month overnight temperatures began to creep up again across the Alice Springs District while temperatures across the rest of the Territory stayed close to normal. The average minimum temperature across the NT for January was 24.0 °C, this is only about 0.3 °C above normal for the month.

A few sites had record high minimum temperatures, mostly within the first week when daytime temperatures and humidity were also high across the Top End. In the following week there were some record low temperatures when rain, cloud and a refreshingly cool change set in across the northern half of the Territory

Significant wind gusts

On the 28th a gusty thunderstorm moved across Uluru and Yulara. While Yulara Aero measured only 0.4 mm of rainfall, it was walloped with a 104 km/h wind gust; the strongest in the Territory this month.

Along the north coast Cape Wessel measured a maximum wind gust of 94 km/h on the 14th as a monsoonal low moved across the region. Likewise, monsoon activity over the Gulf of Carpentaria struck up a wind gust of 93 km/h at Centre Island on the 26th.

Monsoon replaces heat at Darwin

The month started with very much above average temperatures at Darwin Airport. On the 6th Darwin set a new January daily maximum temperature record when the mercury rose to 36.0 °C only to break this record again on the next day with 36.1 °C. (The previous hottest January day was 35.6 °C on 4 January 1985). The high temperature on the 7th was measured coincident with nearly 70% relative humidity. A few days later a monsoon trough began to organise to the north of Darwin and the high temperatures were replaced by thick cloud and continual rainfall. On the 14th, the temperature at Darwin Airport stayed around 25 °C for most of the day (but rose to 28 °C briefly overnight, which was recorded as the maximum temperature for the day), a stark contrast to the record high temperatures experienced only one week earlier. The highest daily rainfall at Darwin Airport this month was to 9am on the 29th with 81.4 mm. The total rainfall for the month was 610.2 mm (long-term January mean is 423.8 mm)

A cool change comes to Alice Springs

Alice Springs Airport began the month with a string of six consecutive days above 40 °C from 28 December 2013 to 2 January 2014 which included 44.9 °C on the 2nd of this month (only 0.3 °C below the highest January temperature on record at Alice Springs). This hot spell was followed by a cool change which, although it included some warm days, bottomed out with a daily maximum temperature of 24.5 °C. In addition to the cool temperatures, Alice Springs also received some rainfall from the 16th through the 20th. The highest daily rainfall was 16.8 mm, measured in the 24 hours to 9am on the 18th. Alice Springs Airport ended the month with 31.6 mm of rain (January mean is 38.5 mm and is usually the wettest month of the year at Alice Springs).

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Extremes in January 2014
Hottest day	46.4 °C at Jervois on the 2nd
Warmest days on average	38.2 °C at Jervois
Coolest days on average	31.1 °C at Darwin Harbour
Coldest day	23.9 °C at Walungurru on the 18th
Coldest night	12.4 °C at Alice Springs Airport on the 8th
Coolest nights on average	22.2 °C at Alice Springs Airport
Warmest nights on average	26.3 °C at Centre Island
Warmest night	32.4 °C at Jervois on the 3rd
Warmest on average overall	31.5 °C at Jervois
Coolest on average overall	27.4 °C at Central Arnhem Plateau
Wettest overall	831.0 mm at Litchfield
Driest overall	3.4 mm at Gemtree Park
Wettest day	221.4 mm at Wollogorang on the 15th
Highest wind gust	104 km/h at Yulara Aero on the 28th

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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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

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Record highest January daily rainfall
	Highest daily rainfall in January 2014 (mm)		Previous wettest for January		Years of record
Wollogorang	221.4	on the 15th	167.8	on the 29th in 2010	39
Elizabeth Valley	205.6	on the 15th	161.0	on the 13th in 2003	28
Upper Adelaide River	158.8	on the 15th	117.6	on the 19th in 2003	12
Walungurru	65.4	on the 18th	54.0	on the 26th in 2002	12
Pigeon Hole	113.0	on the 22nd	81.5	on the 26th in 2006	11
Majestic Orchids	153.4	on the 15th	105.4	on the 24th in 2012	10
The Chase	125.8	on the 29th	=125.8	on the 13th in 2010	10

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Record highest total January rainfall
	Total rainfall for January 2014 (mm)	Previous wettest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Centre Island	672.6	631.2	in 1993	45	226.2
North East Island	437.8	385.4	in 2003	24	125.5
Walker Creek	794.0	756.6	in 2010	20	434.3
Dum In Mirrie	821.6	573.8	in 2010	18	374.4
Rabbit Flat	385.6	299.2	in 2006	18	120.6
Geriatric Park	791.6	727.0	in 1998	16	510.3
Port Keats Aero	513.6	494.0	in 2004	14	255.8
Upper Adelaide River	706.2	586.8	in 2010	12	335.8
Upper Victoria River	350.8	= 350.8	in 2006	12	193.4
Walungurru	179.2	71.0	in 2002	12	41.7
Adelaide River East	587.5	538.0	in 2011	11	312.8
Milingimbi	394.8	391.4	in 2010	11	202.8

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Record lowest total January rainfall
	Total rainfall for January 2014 (mm)	Previous driest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Wongalara	22.2	38.9	in 2012	13	181.6
Central Arnhem Plateau	46.0	185.6	in 2012	11	316.7

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Record highest January temperature
	Highest temperature in January 2014 (°C)		Previous warmest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Darwin Airport	36.1	on the 7th	35.6	on the 4th in 1985	73	31.8
Brunette Downs	45.6	on the 2nd	44.3	on the 20th in 1985	49	37.1
Tennant Creek Airport	45.6	on the 3rd	44.2	on the 25th in 2013	45	36.7
Jabiru Airport	38.4	on the 8th	38.0	on the 13th in 1992	37	33.6
Mango Farm	39.4	on the 8th	39.0	on the 20th in 1983	34	33.6
Douglas River	40.1	on the 9th	39.2	on the 2nd in 2003	25	33.7
Ali Curung	46.1	on the 2nd	45.0	on the 29th in 1990	23	37.9
Lajamanu	44.5	on the 3rd	44.4	on the 25th in 2013	22	37.3
Borroloola	42.3	on the 3rd	= 42.3	on the 16th in 2013	21	34.2
Batchelor Aero	38.5	on the 8th	37.0	on the 23rd in 1994	18	32.7
Bradshaw	41.5	on the 9th	41.4	on the 13th in 2012	15	35.1
Port Keats Aero	38.9	on the 8th	38.0	on the 11th in 2003	14	32.6
Middle Point	39.7	on the 8th	38.0	on the 16th in 2002	13	33.4
Central Arnhem Plateau	37.9	on the 8th	37.7	on the 13th in 2012	11	31.6

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Record lowest January daily maximum temperature
	Lowest daily maximum temperature in January 2014 (°C)		Previous coolest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Groote Eylandt Airport	26.8	on the 12th	27.0	on the 5th in 2003	15	33.3
Walungurru	23.9	on the 18th	27.7	on the 11th in 2012	12	40.2

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Record lowest January mean daily maximum temperature
	Mean daily maximum temperature for January 2014 (°C)	Previous coolest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Walungurru	37.3	38.4	in 2002	11	40.2

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Record highest January daily minimum temperature
	Highest daily minimum temperature in January 2014 (°C)		Previous warmest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Brunette Downs	31.5	on the 4th	31.0	on the 3rd in 1994	49	24.5
Warruwi	29.4	on the 8th	29.2	on the 10th in 1987	46	25.6
Yuendumu	30.4	on the 3rd	30.2	on the 14th in 1988	45	22.4
McCluer Island	29.6	on the 7th	29.3	on the 17th in 2012	14	26.6
Milingimbi	28.7	on the 4th	28.4	on the 27th in 2010	11	25.4

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Record lowest January temperature
	Lowest temperature in January 2014 (°C)		Previous coolest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Mango Farm	19.5	on the 8th	= 19.5	on the 15th in 1985	34	23.8
Douglas River	18.2	on the 8th	19.5	on the 19th in 1977	25	23.8
Rabbit Flat	15.0	on the 8th	15.7	on the 4th in 2003	18	24.1
Milingimbi	20.1	on the 10th	20.3	on the 28th in 2013	11	25.4

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Summary statistics for January 2014
	Maximum temperatures for January (°C)				Minimum temperatures for January (°C)				Rainfall for January (millimetres)
	Mean for January 2014	Diff from average	Highest for January 2014		Mean for January 2014	Diff from average	Lowest for January 2014		Total for January 2014	Average for January	Rank of January 2014	Fraction of January average
Darwin-Daly (district 14GA)
Batchelor Aero	32.7	0.0	38.5	8th	23.8	-0.1	21.9	27th	542.8	319.1	high	170%
Black Point	31.3	-0.2	34.6	6th	25.7	-0.1	21.2	16th	477.8	300.1	v high	159%
Bradshaw	35.9	+0.8	41.5	9th	24.9	0.0	20.7	8th	468.6	256.6	high	183%
Cape Don	32.4		35.4	7th	26.2		24.0	22nd	393.0	247.7	high	159%
Central Arnhem Plateau	31.8	+0.2	37.9	8th	23.0	-0.2	21.1	6th	46.0	316.7	lowest	15%
Channel Point	31.3	-0.4	34.5	6th	24.8	-0.2	21.9	14th	696.4	427.2	high	163%
Croker Island Airport	31.4		35.2	6th	25.8		23.9	19th	420.4
Darwin Airport	31.7	-0.1	36.1	7th	24.9	+0.1	22.6	11th	610.2	426.3	high	143%
Darwin Harbour	31.1		35.5	6th	25.5		22.9	11th
Delamere Weapons Range	35.0	+0.4	40.7	9th	24.3	+0.3	20.5	9th	208.2	190.9	average	109%
Douglas River	33.9	+0.2	40.1	9th	23.7	-0.1	18.2	8th	393.6	284.5	high	138%
Dum In Mirrie	31.4	-0.2	34.7	6th	25.5	-0.1	22.6	1st	821.6	374.4	highest	219%
Gunn Point	31.2		35.5	6th	24.6		23.0	11th	751.0
Jabiru Airport	33.5	-0.1	38.4	8th	24.9	+0.3	22.5	5th	580.6	356.2	v high	163%
Katherine Country Club	34.9		40.6	9th	24.1		20.0	9th	281.7
Mango Farm	33.7	+0.1	39.4	8th	23.4	-0.4	19.5	8th	586.8	353.4	high	166%
McCluer Island	31.2	-0.2	33.5	3rd	26.0	-0.6	23.3	9th	345.6	232.5	high	149%
Middle Point	33.0	-0.4	39.7	8th	24.2	-0.1	22.5	11th	337.0	286.1	average	118%
Murganella Airstrip	32.3		36.0	7th	24.2		22.7	27th	393.0
Noonamah (Mkt)	32.7		38.9	7th	24.5		22.8	11th	706.0
Oenpelli Airport	33.0		37.7	7th	24.5		21.5	10th	339.6
Pirlangimpi	31.9	+0.1	35.3	7th	24.3	-0.3	22.6	1st	736.8	415.2	v high	177%
Point Fawcett	31.7	+0.1	33.9	6th	25.5	-0.3	23.2	11th
Point Stuart	32.1		35.2	9th	25.0		22.3	1st	380.8	273.7	average	139%
Port Keats Aero	33.0	+0.4	38.9	8th	24.5	-0.4	21.4	8th	513.6	255.8	highest	201%
Tindal RAAF	34.4	+0.3	39.6	9th	24.1	-0.2	19.1	9th	230.8	263.7	average	88%
Arnhem (district 14BC)
Cape Wessel	31.8		35.5	4th	25.6		23.8	31st	414.6	233.6	high	177%
Gove Airport	31.4	-0.6	35.6	4th	24.6	-0.1	23.3	21st	515.8	278.4	v high	185%
Groote Eylandt Airport	32.4	-0.9	37.6	4th	24.9	-0.2	22.3	7th	442.8	240.9	high	184%
Maningrida Aero	32.3		36.5	6th	24.8		22.0	10th	431.0
Milingimbi	32.4	-0.4	36.8	4th	25.1	-0.3	20.1	10th	394.8	202.8	highest	195%
Ngayawili	31.4	-0.3	34.1	8th	25.5	-0.2	23.6	6th	409.8	364.5	average	112%
North East Island	32.1		35.6	4th	25.9		22.9	5th	437.8	125.5	highest	349%
Warruwi	32.1	+0.1	35.6	6th	25.6	0.0	23.4	27th	384.2	261.2	high	147%
Roper-Mcarthur (district 14DE)
Borroloola	34.1	-0.1	42.3	3rd	24.5	-0.3	19.6	7th	394.8	202.4	v high	195%
Centre Island	33.1	-0.5	38.3	6th	26.3	-0.4	23.5	16th	672.6	226.2	highest	297%
Daly Waters	35.4	-0.4	41.5	2nd	23.6	-0.4	17.9	8th	188.6	157.7	average	120%
McArthur River Mine	34.7	-1.3	43.0	2nd	25.0	+0.1	20.6	7th	282.0	210.3	high	134%
Ngukurr	35.5		42.9	2nd	25.3		22.6	8th	209.2
Wollogorang	34.6	-0.3	42.8	1st	24.4	+0.2	21.7	8th	539.1	241.2	v high	224%
Victoria (district 14F)
Lajamanu	36.4	-0.9	44.5	3rd	23.9	-0.2	17.6	9th	279.0	144.0	high	194%
Timber Creek	35.7	-0.2	40.5	9th	24.3	-0.7	18.6	9th	317.4	230.3	high	138%
Victoria River Downs	35.8	-0.8	40.2	9th	24.5	-0.4	18.6	8th	88.8	153.2	average	58%
Wave Hill	35.6	-1.5	42.1	3rd	24.1	-0.3	17.8	9th	192.2	146.5	average	131%
Barkly (district 15A)
Brunette Downs	37.4	+0.3	45.6	2nd	25.2	+0.7	21.8	8th	74.5	105.7	average	70%
Elliott	36.6	-1.0	43.9	3rd	24.6	+0.5	22.0	9th	134.2	133.2	average	101%
Tennant Creek Airport	36.0	-0.7	45.6	3rd	24.7	-0.3	21.4	21st	165.4	111.2	high	149%
Alice Springs (district 15B)
Ali Curung	37.1	-0.8	46.1	2nd	23.7	-0.1	18.6	9th	55.2	76.7	average	72%
Alice Springs Airport	36.0	-0.4	44.9	2nd	22.2	+0.7	12.4	8th	31.6	38.5	average	82%
Arltunga	35.1	-1.1	43.6	2nd	22.6	+0.4	14.9	10th	34.8	43.3	average	80%
Curtin Springs	37.3	-0.5	43.2	1st	22.8	+0.6	15.7	8th	29.4	28.3	average	104%
Jervois	38.2	-0.3	46.4	2nd	24.7	+2.0	18.4	5th	11.2	49.2	average	23%
Kulgera	36.9	0.0	44.1	30th	22.8	+0.7	13.8	8th	5.0	28.2	average	18%
Rabbit Flat	36.7	-2.1	44.9	3rd	23.2	-0.9	15.0	8th	385.6	120.6	highest	320%
Territory Grape Farm	36.3	-1.3	43.7	2nd	22.6	+0.7	16.2	8th	108.2	59.0	high	183%
Walungurru	37.3	-2.9	42.9	12th	25.5	-0.9	21.2	19th	179.2	41.7	highest	430%
Yuendumu	35.3	-1.3	42.5	2nd	23.5	+1.1	18.8	8th	203.1	66.0	v high	308%
Yulara Aero	37.1	-1.5	44.4	1st	22.8	+0.1	16.0	7th	38.0	26.8	average	142%

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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