Monday, 3 August 2020 - Monthly Climate Summary for Northern Territory - Product code IDCKGC12R0

Northern Territory in July 2020: warm days with little rain

Very warm daytime temperatures were a feature across virtually all of the Northern Territory in July. Overnight temperatures were above average in the north, while the southern half of the NT was mostly cooler than average. Rain was recorded only in the northeast, and parts of the south; the highest rainfall totals for the month were along the NT/SA border.

Very warm days in the north

• Averaged across the Territory, the mean maximum temperature was 0.9 °C above the long-term average.
• Apart from a couple of small areas, all of the NT had above average daytime temperaures during the month; much of the Top End had a mean maximum temperature in the highest 10% of all records.
• Darwin Airport recorded a temperature of 35.0 °C on the 8th, its highest July temperature on record; this site recorded the same temperature last month when it set the June high temperature record.
• While much of the northern NT had warmer than average mean minimum temperatures, nearly all of the southern half was cooler than average during July.
• A couple of sites in the Top End had their warmest July night (highest daily minimum temperature) on record.
• Territory-wide, the mean minimum temperature was less than 0.1 °C above the long-term average.
• For the year to date, the Territory-wide mean maximum temperature is 1.1 °C above the long-term average and the mean minimum is 0.8 °C above the long-term average. The year-to-date mean temperature is slightly under 1.0 °C above the long-term average.

Below average rainfall apart from northeast and far south

• Apart from isolated coastal showers that brought relatively small totals to parts of the eastern Top End, rainfall was confined to the far south of the NT.
• Hermannsburg, southwest of Alice Springs, recorded the highest rainfall of any Northern Territory site, with a monthly total of 23.2 mm, the result of two separate rain episodes in the second half of July.
• Overall, July rainfall across the NT was 88% below the long-term average.

Darwin Airport

• Total rainfall for Darwin Airport was 0 mm, compared to the long-term average of 1.1 mm
• The mean daily maximum temperature for Darwin Airport was 32.0 °C, which is 1.4 °C above the long-term average of 30.6 °C
• The warmest day was 35.0 °C on the 11th (a July daily maximum temperature record), and the coolest day was on the 5th when the temperature reached 30.1 °C
• The mean daily minimum temperature for Darwin Airport was 19.2 °C, which is 0.1 °C below the long-term average of 19.3 °C
• The coldest morning was 16.2 °C on the 30th, and the warmest morning was on the 11th when the minimum temperature was 23.0 °C
• Darwin Airport had 24 nights below 20 °C, compared to the July average of 18 such nights; 2014 was the last time this many sub-20 °C nights were observed in July.

Alice Springs Airport

• Total rainfall for Alice Springs Airport was 0.8 mm, which is 5% of the the long-term average of 14.7 mm.
• The mean daily maximum temperature for Alice Springs Airport was 20.0 °C, which is 0.1 °C above the long-term average of 19.9 °C.
• The warmest day was 27.6 °C on the 1st, and the coolest day was on the 21st when the temperature reached 14.7 °C
• The mean daily minimum temperature for Alice Springs Airport was 2.4 °C, which is 1.6 °C below the long-term average of 4.0 °C.
• The coldest morning was -0.9 °C on the 14th, and the warmest morning was on the 21st when the minimum temperature was 9.0 °C
• Alice Springs had 9 daily minimum temperatures below freezing; typically it experiences about 6 days below 0 °C during July.

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

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top