Thursday, 10 January 2019 - Monthly Climate Summary for Northern Territory - Product code IDCKGC12R0

Northern Territory in December 2018: Record-breaking heat; driest December since 2002

Averaged across the Northern Territory, December 2018 had the highest daytime and overnight temperature ever recorded during the month of December. It was also a very dry month, with the Territory recording only half of its December average rainfall.

Hottest December on record

• Territory-wide, the mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were the highest observed in December
• The mean maximum temperature across the NT was 3.28 °C above the long-term average, 1.40 °C higher than the previous warmest December in 1972: virtually the entire NT had a mean maximum temperature within the highest 10% of years (decile 10)
• Multiple sites had either their highest December temperature on record, their highest December mean daily maximum temperature on record, or highest December mean daily maximum temperature for at least 25 years
• All sites in the Territory had above average mean minimum temperatures, with well above half of the NT very much above average. Overall, the mean minimum temperature across the NT was 2.47 °C above the long-term average and highest for any December
• Multiple sites had either their warmest December night (highest daily minimum temperature) on record, their highest December mean daily minimum temperature on record, or highest December mean daily minimum temperature for at least 25 years
• The Territory-wide mean tempearture (maximum and minimum combined) was 2.88 °C above the long-term average, 1.46 °C higher than the previous highest mean temperature of December 1990
• Several sites had an exceptionally hot month, smashing previous record counts for consecutive hot days and numbers of hot days within a month
• For days above 40 °C, Rabbit Flat in the central west exceeded its previous consecutive run of 11 days in December 2006, with 30 in December 2018 (and continuing in early 2019); Tennant Creek had a total of 28 days above 40 °C, its highest in any month; Victoria River Downs also set a new all-months record with 25 days above 40 °C in December 2018. Elliott (18), Lajamanu (17), Walungurru (16) and Territory Grape Farm (8) all beat their previous December record for consecutive days above 40 °C
• Rabbit Flat also had 17 days above 44 °C, including six in a row, easily exceeding the previous record for any month of three total days. Rabbit Flat even had eight days in excess of 45 °C, only ever having recorded two such days in any previous month

A dry end to the year

• Averaged across the Territory, December rainfall was less than half (48%) of average; monsoon onset failed to occur across the Top End during December (the average onset date at Darwin is the last week of December)
• Only parts of the northeast Top End and the far southwest of the NT had above average rainfall
• The eastern half of the NT was particularly dry, generally receiving only about 10% of average rainfall during December
• Many sites throughout the Northern Territory had either their lowest total December rainfall on record or lowest total December rainfall for at least 20 years

Darwin Airport

• Total rainfall for Darwin Airport was 69.2 mm, which is 28% of the long-term average of 251.1 mm
• The mean daily maximum temperature for Darwin Airport was 34.0 °C, which is 1.3 °C above the long-term average of 32.7 °C. The warmest day was 35.5 °C on the 25th, and the coolest day was on the 26th when the temperature reached 29.0 °C
• The mean daily minimum temperature for Darwin Airport was 27.1 °C, which is 1.8 °C above the long-term average of 25.3 °C. The coldest morning was 22.5 °C on the 13th, and the warmest morning was on the 12th when the minimum temperature was 30.0 °C

Alice Springs Airport

• Total rainfall for Alice Springs Airport was 2.4 mm, which is 6% of the long-term average of 38.2 mm
• The mean daily maximum temperature for Alice Springs Airport was 39.0 °C, which is 3.6 °C above the long-term average of 35.4 °C and the highest on record. The warmest day was 45.6 °C on the 29th, and the coolest day was on the 3rd when the temperature reached 29.0 °C
• The mean daily minimum temperature for Alice Springs Airport was 21.5 °C, which is 1.2 °C above the long-term average of 20.3 °C. The coldest morning was 12.4 °C on the 15th, and the warmest morning was on the 28th when the minimum temperature was 28.9 °C

Severe thunderstorms across the Northern Territory

• Severe squall-line thunderstorms moved over the southern NT on the 1st, with a severe gust of 106 km/h recorded at Ernabella, just south of the NT border
• Severe storms hit the Top End on the 5th and 6th with a peak wind gust of 131 km/h recorded at Tindal, near Katherine, on the 5th and 91 km/h at the same site on the 6th
• Severe thunderstorms affected southern parts of the Top End on the 18th, generating heavy rainfall with a 2% annual exceedance probability (i.e. 1 in 50 year event) at Old Delamere, south of Katherine, and a gust of 89 km/h at Bradshaw
• On 25 December, a severe storm produced a gust of 94 km/h at Victoria River Downs, south of the western Top End

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Extremes in December 2018
Hottest day	47.1 °C at Rabbit Flat on the 12th 47.1 °C at Rabbit Flat on the 19th
Warmest days on average	43.7 °C at Rabbit Flat
Coolest days on average	32.7 °C at Charles Point 32.7 °C at McCluer Island
Coldest day	27.8 °C at Centre Island on the 13th
Coldest night	9.5 °C at Arltunga on the 15th
Coolest nights on average	20.6 °C at Arltunga
Warmest nights on average	28.5 °C at Centre Island
Warmest night	33.8 °C at Walungurru Airport on the 30th
Warmest on average overall	35.0 °C at Rabbit Flat
Coolest on average overall	29.3 °C at Central Arnhem Plateau
Wettest overall	279.6 mm at Mount Bundey South (Defence)
Wettest day	166.0 mm at Bing Bong Port on the 14th
Strongest wind gust	131 km/h at Tindal RAAF on the 5th

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 December daily rainfall
	New record (mm)		Old record		Years of record
Bing Bong Port	166.0	on the 14th	142.0	on the 4th in 2000	23

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Record lowest December total rainfall
	New record (mm)	Old record		Years of record	Average for December
Adelaide River Post Office	90.5	94.0	in 2012	55	262.8
Tennant Creek Airport	0.2	1.8	in 1981	50	74.5
Scott Creek	59.5	59.6	in 1991	30	170.2
Birrindudu	13.0	13.2	in 1992	25	103.9
Thorak Cemetery	51.2	73.4	in 2017	25	325.5
Darwin Hospital	78.9	94.8	in 2012	23	304.0
Shoal Bay	26.0	34.3	in 1991	23	307.6
Walker Creek	84.9	97.0	in 2013	22	318.4

Lowest December total rainfall for at least 20 years
	Observed (mm)	Most recent lower		Average for December
Epenarra	2.0	0.0	in 1982*	59.5
Arltunga	0.6	0.0	in 1955*	41.3
Darwin Airport	69.2	18.8	in 1991	251.1
Howard Springs Nature Park	95.0	46.9	in 1991	295.4
Leanyer	85.0	13.6	in 1991	300.2
Victoria River Downs	52.6	26.7	in 1991	119.1
Elizabeth Valley	106.4	74.6	in 1991*	298.4
Gilnockie	43.4	32.6	in 1991*	172.7
Lajamanu Airport	5.8	1.8	in 1991*	77.6
Watarrka	5.7	2.5	in 1991*	38.5
Batchelor Airport	87.2	26.0	in 1997*	267.5
Territory Grape Farm	1.8	0.0	in 1998	56.0

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

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Record highest December temperature
	New record (°C)		Old record		Years of record	Average for December
Alice Springs Airport	45.6	on the 29th	44.2	on the 23rd in 1972	78	35.4
Curtin Springs	46.9	on the 30th	45.9	on the 6th in 1981	53	36.4
Victoria River Downs	44.7	on the 11th	44.2	on the 19th in 1985	53	37.7
Yuendumu	44.8	on the 29th	44.6	on the 2nd in 2007	47	36.2
Gove Airport	38.7	on the 4th	38.0	on the 16th in 1967	40	33.0
Kulgera	45.5	on the 29th	45.2	on the 23rd in 2005	39	34.8
Yulara Airport	46.1	on the 30th	45.6	on the 27th in 1986	33	36.5
Watarrka	46.0	on the 30th	45.3	on the 21st in 1990	28	36.2
Lajamanu Airport	46.2	on the 12th	45.4	on the 8th in 2009	27	38.1
Territory Grape Farm	45.5	on the 19th	43.7	on the 30th in 2002	27	36.2
Borroloola Airport	44.6	on the 5th	43.3	on the 6th in 2012	25	36.4
Rabbit Flat	47.1	on the 19th	46.3	on the 6th in 2004	23	38.5
Bradshaw	44.4	on the 6th	44.0	on the 5th in 2009	21	36.5
Groote Eylandt Airport	40.7	on the 6th	39.1	on the 1st in 2007	20	34.3

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Record highest December mean daily maximum temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for December
Alice Springs Airport	39.0	38.4	in 1972	77	35.4
Curtin Springs	39.2	38.9	in 2014	52	36.4
Jervois	40.5	40.1	in 1972	50	37.7
Tennant Creek Airport	41.3	39.8	in 1972	49	37.1
Yuendumu	39.6	38.9	in 1985	46	36.2
Kulgera	38.2	37.7	in 2005	38	34.8
Elliott	42.2	41.4	in 2002	37	38.4
Yulara Airport	39.5	39.1	in 2014	32	36.5
Lajamanu Airport	43.3	41.0	in 1972	26	38.1
Territory Grape Farm	40.6	38.1	in 1998	26	36.2
Borroloola Airport	39.0	38.7	in 2002	24	36.4
Rabbit Flat	43.7	41.7	in 2004	22	38.5
Bradshaw	39.6	38.7	in 2002	20	36.5
Dum In Mirrie Airstrip	33.7	= 33.7	in 2012	20	32.5

Highest December mean daily maximum temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent higher		Average for December
Victoria River Downs	41.4	42.2	in 1972	37.7
Tindal RAAF	37.8	38.0	in 1986*	35.6
McArthur River Mine Airport	40.4	40.6	in 1990*	37.7

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

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Record highest December daily minimum temperature
	New record (°C)		Old record		Years of record	Average for December
Darwin Airport	30.0	on the 12th	29.7	on the 17th in 2014	78	25.3
Jervois	32.7	on the 20th	32.5	on the 29th in 2017	51	21.5
Pirlangimpi Airport	29.3	on the 12th	29.0	on the 3rd in 2007	36	24.7
Douglas River Research Farm	27.4	on the 12th	27.3	on the 11th in 2004	30	23.8
Batchelor Airport	27.4	on the 12th	27.2	on the 7th in 2012	23	24.1
Rabbit Flat	33.5	on the 13th	32.2	on the 9th in 2009	23	23.7
Point Fawcett	29.9	on the 12th	= 29.9	on the 7th in 2012	22	25.6
Bradshaw	29.2	on the 12th	= 29.2	on the 10th in 2009	21	25.5
Dum In Mirrie Airstrip	30.0	on the 12th	= 30.0	on the 10th in 2009	21	26.1
McCluer Island	30.0	on the 7th	= 30.0	on the 28th in 2002	20	27.1
Ngayawili	30.5	on the 7th	30.3	on the 2nd in 2007	20	25.7

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Record highest December mean daily minimum temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for December
Tennant Creek Airport	28.0	26.9	in 1979	49	24.8
Gove Airport	26.2	25.9	in 1990	39	24.6
Elliott	26.4	25.8	in 2001	37	24.4
Pirlangimpi Airport	26.4	25.9	in 2000	35	24.7
Tindal RAAF	25.6	= 25.6	in 2009	30	24.8
Douglas River Research Farm	24.9	24.8	in 2014	29	23.8
Lajamanu Airport	26.6	25.2	in 2016	26	24.2
Territory Grape Farm	23.2	22.7	in 2012	26	21.2
Channel Point	26.6	26.3	in 2014	24	25.0
Batchelor Airport	25.0	= 25.0	in 2014	22	24.1
Rabbit Flat	26.3	25.1	in 2005	22	23.7
Point Fawcett	27.2	26.8	in 2014	21	25.6
Bradshaw	26.8	26.4	in 2009	20	25.5
Dum In Mirrie Airstrip	27.2	26.9	in 2014	20	26.1

Highest December mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent higher		Average for December
Darwin Airport	27.1	27.3	in 1985	25.3
Victoria River Downs	26.8	26.9	in 1985	25.1
Yuendumu	24.2	24.6	in 1985*	21.5
Centre Island	28.5	28.8	in 1990	27.3
Borroloola Airport	26.2	26.7	in 1995	25.2
McArthur River Mine Airport	26.8	27.4	in 1990*	25.0

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

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Record highest December mean temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for December
Alice Springs Airport	30.3	29.7	in 1985	77	27.8
Darwin Airport	30.5	= 30.5	in 1985	77	29.0
Tennant Creek Airport	34.7	33.3	in 1979	49	31.0
Daly Waters Airstrip	32.9	32.8	in 2002	48	30.7
Jabiru Airport	31.4	31.3	in 2012	41	30.0
Gove Airport	30.3	30.2	in 1990	39	28.8
Elliott	34.3	33.4	in 1986	37	31.4
Lajamanu Airport	34.9	33.1	in 1972	26	31.2
Territory Grape Farm	31.9	30.1	in 2012	26	28.7
Borroloola Airport	32.6	31.9	in 2005	24	30.8
Channel Point	29.8	29.7	in 2014	24	28.7
Batchelor Airport	30.3	30.1	in 2002	22	29.0
Rabbit Flat	35.0	32.6	in 2004	22	31.1
Bradshaw	33.2	32.5	in 2002	20	31.0
Dum In Mirrie Airstrip	30.4	30.2	in 2014	20	29.3

Highest December mean temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent higher		Average for December
Victoria River Downs	34.1	34.2	in 1972*	31.4
Tindal RAAF	31.7	31.8	in 1986*	30.2
Centre Island	32.2	32.8	in 1990	31.0
McArthur River Mine Airport	33.6	34.0	in 1990*	31.3

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

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Summary statistics for December 2018
	Maximum temperatures (°C)				Minimum temperatures (°C)				Rainfall (millimetres)
	Mean for December 2018	Diff from average	Highest for December 2018		Mean for December 2018	Diff from average	Lowest for December 2018		Total for December 2018	Average for December	Rank of December 2018	Fraction of December average
Darwin-Daly (district 14GA)
Batchelor Airport	35.5	+1.7	37.7	23rd	25.0	+0.9	21.6	13th	87.2	267.5	v low	33%
Central Arnhem Plateau	34.6	+1.5	37.7	6th	24.0	+0.5	19.9	8th	142.4	243.5	low	58%
Channel Point	33.1	+0.8	34.5	7th	26.6	+1.6	22.2	13th	144.1	323.8	low	45%
Charles Point	32.7		33.6	27th	27.4		22.4	13th	70.2
Croker Island Airport	32.8		34.8	25th	26.9		22.2	8th	168.8
Darwin Airport	34.0	+1.3	35.5	25th	27.1	+1.8	22.5	13th	69.2	251.1	v low	28%
Delamere Weapons Range	39.0	+3.2	42.4	11th	25.7	+1.1	21.2	17th	147.4	172.9	average	85%
Douglas River Research Farm	36.5	+1.5	38.4	2nd	24.9	+1.1	21.1	13th	113.2	213.1	low	53%
Dum In Mirrie Airstrip	33.7	+1.2	35.5	27th	27.2	+1.1	22.6	31st	119.4	294.8	low	41%
Jabiru Airport	36.9	+1.8	38.8	6th	25.9	+0.9	22.2	13th	169.6	225.6	average	75%
Kangaroo Flats (Defence)			37.2	2nd	25.9		22.0	13th	51.0
McCluer Island	32.7	+0.6	34.9	10th	27.5	+0.4	22.4	12th	120.4	192.9	low	62%
Middle Point	36.3	+1.4	38.2	6th	24.7	+0.5	22.5	31st	123.2	235.3	low	52%
Mount Bundey North (Defence)	35.8		37.7	6th	24.9		21.3	7th	199.6
Mount Bundey South (Defence)	36.3		38.7	6th	25.0		21.8	10th	279.6
Murganella Airstrip	35.2		38.8	6th	24.7		22.1	1st	182.6
Noonamah Airstrip	35.3		37.0	25th	26.0		22.9	13th	81.2
Pirlangimpi Airport	33.6	+0.8	35.3	5th	26.4	+1.7	22.6	24th	117.4	345.9	v low	34%
Point Fawcett	33.1	+0.6	34.1	23rd	27.2	+1.6	22.7	13th	169.2	297.6	low	57%
Point Stuart	35.3		36.9	10th	25.8		23.1	28th	143.6	217.6	average	66%
Port Keats Airport	34.9	+1.4	37.5	6th	26.6	+1.2	21.3	14th	115.6	206.1	average	56%
Tindal RAAF	37.8	+2.2	40.1	5th	25.6	+0.8	21.4	30th	81.6	211.2	low	39%
Arnhem (district 14BC)
Cape Wessel	34.8		37.5	5th	27.0		22.2	31st	232.4	132.0	high	176%
Gove Airport	34.5	+1.5	38.7	4th	26.2	+1.6	22.3	31st	132.4	177.9	average	74%
Groote Eylandt Airport	35.8	+1.5	40.7	6th	26.3	+1.3	22.6	30th	166.0	184.8	average	90%
Maningrida Airport	34.0	+0.6	37.8	19th	25.4	+0.1	21.2	25th	104.2	156.3	low	67%
Milingimbi Airport	35.2	+1.4	39.2	10th	26.7	+0.7	24.1	29th	146.2	148.6	average	98%
Ngayawili	33.1	+0.3	34.5	7th	27.7	+2.0	22.1	29th	148.2	226.4	average	65%
Warruwi Airport	34.2	+1.0	36.6	11th	26.8	+0.5	22.4	12th	144.2	193.2	average	75%
Roper-Mcarthur (district 14DE)
Borroloola Airport	39.0	+2.6	44.6	5th	26.2	+1.0	23.4	19th	57.2	133.8	low	43%
Bulman	38.1	+1.0	41.8	7th	25.2	+0.4	23.5	31st	276.0	202.2	high	136%
Centre Island	36.0	+1.3	40.2	6th	28.5	+1.2	24.4	14th	153.4	133.4	average	115%
Daly Waters Airstrip	40.7	+3.4	43.4	11th	25.1	+0.9	20.6	6th	34.2	116.1	v low	29%
McArthur River Mine Airport	40.4	+2.7	44.3	5th	26.8	+1.8	23.4	6th	38.0	123.4	low	31%
Ngukurr Airport	39.7		43.1	10th	27.2		24.5	19th	43.6
Victoria (district 14F)
Bradshaw	39.6	+3.1	44.4	6th	26.8	+1.3	23.5	19th	101.6	199.1	low	51%
Bradshaw - Angallari Valley (Defence)	40.1		44.4	6th	26.4		22.5	14th	76.4
Lajamanu Airport	43.3	+5.2	46.2	12th	26.6	+2.4	19.7	25th	5.8	77.6	v low	7%
Victoria River Downs	41.4	+3.7	44.7	11th	26.8	+1.7	19.2	25th	52.6	119.1	low	44%
Barkly (district 15A)
Elliott	42.2	+3.8	45.0	28th	26.4	+2.0	23.2	22nd	20.8	104.0	low	20%
Tennant Creek Airport	41.3	+4.2	44.5	18th	28.0	+3.2	24.4	15th	0.2	74.5	lowest	0%
Alice Springs (district 15B)
Alice Springs Airport	39.0	+3.6	45.6	29th	21.5	+1.2	12.4	15th	2.4	38.2	v low	6%
Arltunga	38.0	+3.5	43.6	19th	20.6	+0.2	9.5	15th	0.6	41.3	low	1%
Curtin Springs	39.2	+2.8	46.9	30th			15.6	24th	35.5	32.4	high	110%
Jervois	40.5	+2.8	46.5	19th	22.7	+1.2	14.5	15th	1.2	39.5	v low	3%
Kulgera	38.2	+3.4	45.5	29th	22.2	+2.0	11.0	14th	9.0	33.4	low	27%
Rabbit Flat	43.7	+5.2	47.1	19th	26.3	+2.6	17.7	25th	8.0	71.6	v low	11%
Territory Grape Farm	40.6	+4.4	45.5	19th	23.2	+2.0	15.4	15th	1.8	56.0	v low	3%
Walungurru Airport	41.4	+3.1	46.3	29th	27.2	+2.5	20.4	3rd	8.8	62.3	low	14%
Yuendumu	39.6	+3.4	44.8	29th	24.2	+2.7	19.5	4th	2.4	47.9	v low	5%
Yulara Airport	39.5	+3.0	46.1	30th	21.9	+1.1	12.5	15th	43.0	45.4	average	95%

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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