Tuesday, 1 December 2020 - Monthly Climate Summary for Northern Territory - Product code IDCKGC12R0

Northern Territory in November 2020: warmest November on record; very dry

Averaged across the Northern Territory, the monthly mean maximum, mean minimum and overall mean temperatures were each the highest ever recorded in November. November rainfall was below-average across nearly all of the NT. Overall, rainfall was 55% below the long-term average.

Hottest November on record

• Daytime temperatures were above average across all of the NT in November; Territory-wide, the mean daily maximum temperature was 3.25 °C above the long-term average and the highest since national records began in 1910.
• Much of the southern NT saw their mean daytime temperatures more than 3 degrees above average during the month, while much of the northern half saw daytime temperatures between 2 and 3 degrees above average.
• The area-averaged night-time temperature was also the highest on record across the NT during the month, with a mean daily minimum temperature 2.66 °C above the long-term average.
• Apart from a small area in Arnhem Land, all of the Territory observed above average night-time temperatures, with parts of the southwest seeing temperatures between 3 and 5 degrees above average.
• The mean temperature across the Territory was the highest on record for November at 2.96 °C above the long-term average.
• While a handful of sites had their highest November temperature on record, many more sites had either their highest November mean daily maximum temperature on record or highest November mean daily maximum temperature for at least 20 years.
• Both Darwin Airport and Alice Springs Airport had their highest on record mean daily maximum temperatures for November.
• Likewise, several sites had their warmest November night (highest daily minimum temperature) on record, but many more had either their highest November mean daily minimum temperature on record or highest November mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years.
• A large number of sites had either their highest November mean temperature on record or highest November mean temperature for at least 20 years.

Low rainfall across the Northern Territory

• Rainfall across the Northern Territory in November was below average throughout, except for a couple of small regions just south of the Top End, and around Alice Springs; most of the Top End had between 25 and 100 mm less than the November average.
• Territory-wide, rainfall was 55% below the long-term average.
• Killarney, in the Gregory District, had its highest November daily rainfall on record with 107.0 mm observed on the 15th as a thunderstorm moved over the area.

Darwin Airport

• Total rainfall for Darwin Airport was 93.0 mm, which is 65% of the long-term average of 142.0 mm.
• The mean daily maximum temperature for Darwin Airport was 35.0 °C, which is 1.7 °C above the long-term average of 33.3 °C.
• The warmest day was 37.0 °C on the 17th, and the coolest day was on the 24th when the temperature reached 31.9 °C.
• The mean daily minimum temperature for Darwin Airport was 25.8 °C, which is 0.5 °C above the long-term average of 25.3 °C.
• The coldest morning was 20.6 °C on the 27th, and the warmest morning was on the 12th when the minimum temperature was 28.5 °C.

Alice Springs Airport

• Total rainfall for Alice Springs Airport was 39.8 mm, which is 141% of the long-term average of 28.3 mm.
• The mean daily maximum temperature for Alice Springs Airport was 38.0 °C, which is 4.2 °C above the long-term average of 33.8 °C and the highest on record.
• The warmest day was 43.7 °C on the 28th, and the coolest day was on the 16th when the temperature reached 28.9 °C.
• The mean daily minimum temperature for Alice Springs Airport was 21.1 °C, which is 3.2 °C above the long-term average of 17.9 °C.
• The coldest morning was 14.7 °C on the 8th, and the warmest morning was on the 11th, when the minimum temperature was 30.7 °C.

Severe weather

• 10 November: a pulse thunderstorm generated a 107 km/h wind gust at Batchelor Airport in the northwest Top End.
• 11 November: a multicell thunderstorm complex generated a wind gust of 115 km/h at Bradshaw in the southwest Top End.
• 15 November: very heavy rainfall, including 91 mm in 1 hour, fell at Wandie Creek in the central Top End. Rainfall of this intensity has an Annual Exceedance Period (AEP) of less than 1% (roughly equivalent to a 1-in-100 year event).
• 15 November: a line of thunderstorms generated a wind gust of 94 km/h at Yulara, in the southern NT.
• 16 November: a line of thunderstorms generated a wind gust of 93 km/h at Alice Springs Airport, in the southern NT.
• 26 November: a thunderstorm squall-line passed over Darwin Airport, bringing down trees and generating a wind gust of 94 km/h.
• 30 November: a pulse thunderstorm generated a 100 km/h wind gust at Alice Springs Airport, in the southern NT.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Extremes in November 2020
Hottest day	45.3 °C at Jervois on the 28th 45.3 °C at Walungurru Airport on the 28th
Warmest days on average	41.8 °C at Rabbit Flat
Coolest days on average	32.3 °C at McCluer Island
Coldest day	27.5 °C at Arltunga on the 16th
Coldest night	11.0 °C at Arltunga on the 8th
Coolest nights on average	18.9 °C at Arltunga
Warmest nights on average	28.7 °C at McCluer Island
Warmest night	32.7 °C at Walungurru Airport on the 29th
Warmest on average overall	34.0 °C at Wave Hill
Coolest on average overall	29.2 °C at Channel Point
Wettest overall	204.5 mm at Labelle Downs
Wettest day	107.4 mm at Wandie Creek on the 15th
Strongest wind gust	115 km/h at Bradshaw on the 11th

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 November daily rainfall
	New record (mm)		Old record		Years of record
Killarney	107.0	on the 15th	64.0	on the 28th in 2001	25

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Record highest November temperature
	New record (°C)		Old record		Years of record	Average for November
Curtin Springs	45.1	on the 28th	44.6	on the 30th in 1982	56	34.6
Warruwi Airport	37.7	on the 7th	37.6	on the 20th in 1967	54	33.7
Yulara Airport	45.2	on the 28th	45.0	on the 24th in 1987	34	35.1
Watarrka	44.9	on the 28th	44.2	on the 30th in 1996	30	35.1
Lajamanu Airport	44.8	on the 27th	44.1	on the 8th in 2016	29	38.5
Rabbit Flat	45.2	on the 28th	= 45.2	on the 30th in 1996	25	38.8
Arltunga	42.5	on the 28th	42.1	on the 29th in 2006	21	33.7
McCluer Island	34.7	on the 7th	34.5	on the 29th in 2016	21	32.0
Walungurru Airport	45.3	on the 28th	44.9	on the 26th in 2006	20	37.8

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Record highest November mean daily maximum temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for November
Alice Springs Airport	38.0	37.1	in 2006	79	33.8
Darwin Airport	35.0	34.7	in 2015	79	33.3
Warruwi Airport	35.0	34.5	in 2016	53	33.7
Jervois	39.9	39.4	in 1990	51	36.1
Tennant Creek Airport	40.4	39.8	in 1990	51	36.6
Jabiru Airport	39.1	38.9	in 2015	43	37.0
Gove Airport	34.6	34.3	in 2015	41	33.2
Yulara Airport	38.6	38.3	in 2015	33	35.1
Territory Grape Farm	39.4	38.3	in 2015	28	35.8
Rabbit Flat	41.8	40.9	in 1996	24	38.8
Dum In Mirrie Airstrip	34.2	33.8	in 2015	22	33.1
Ngayawili	33.8	33.7	in 2018	21	33.2
Arltunga	36.8	35.9	in 2015	20	33.7

Highest November mean daily maximum temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent higher		Average for November
Wave Hill	41.1	41.7	in 1990	38.7

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Record highest November daily minimum temperature
	New record (°C)		Old record		Years of record	Average for November
Wave Hill	31.4	on the 12th	31.0	on the 23rd in 1990	48	23.9
Yulara Airport	28.3	on the 30th	28.2	on the 3rd in 2018	34	18.4
Watarrka	30.5	on the 28th	30.2	on the 25th in 2006	30	19.7
Arltunga	28.8	on the 29th	28.6	on the 18th in 2009	21	18.0
McCluer Island	29.7	on the 25th	= 29.7	on the 27th in 2018	21	27.3
Walungurru Airport	32.7	on the 29th	29.7	on the 29th in 2006	20	23.4

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Record highest November mean daily minimum temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for November
Wave Hill	27.1	25.9	in 1990	47	23.9
Yulara Airport	22.6	21.2	in 2015	33	18.4
Tindal RAAF	26.5	26.2	in 2009	32	25.0
Lajamanu Airport	26.5	25.0	in 2002	28	23.2
Territory Grape Farm	22.3	21.7	in 1987	28	18.9
Delamere Weapons Range	26.1	26.0	in 2002	23	24.8
McCluer Island	28.7	28.3	in 2016	20	27.3

Highest November mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent higher		Average for November
Alice Springs Airport	21.1	21.7	in 1987	17.9
Tennant Creek Airport	27.0	27.1	in 1990	23.9
Elliott	25.6	26.4	in 1990*	23.4

* 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 November mean temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for November
Alice Springs Airport	29.6	29.1	in 1987	79	25.8
Warruwi Airport	31.1	= 31.1	in 2008	53	30.0
Tennant Creek Airport	33.7	33.5	in 1990	51	30.2
Daly Waters Airstrip	32.5	= 32.5	in 1953	50	30.9
Wave Hill	34.0	33.8	in 1990	47	31.3
Jabiru Airport	32.5	32.4	in 2015	43	31.0
Gove Airport	29.7	29.5	in 2018	41	28.3
Yulara Airport	30.6	29.8	in 2015	33	26.8
Tindal RAAF	33.2	33.0	in 2019	32	31.2
Lajamanu Airport	33.8	32.3	in 2019	28	30.8
Territory Grape Farm	30.8	29.7	in 2014	28	27.3
Delamere Weapons Range	32.7	= 32.7	in 2019	23	31.3

Highest November mean temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent higher		Average for November
Darwin Airport	30.4	30.5	in 1989	29.3
Elliott	33.2	34.0	in 1990*	31.2

* 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 November 2020
	Maximum temperatures (°C)				Minimum temperatures (°C)				Rainfall (millimetres)
	Mean for November 2020	Diff from average	Highest for November 2020		Mean for November 2020	Diff from average	Lowest for November 2020		Total for November 2020	Average for November	Rank of November 2020	Fraction of November average
Darwin-Daly (district 14GA)
Batchelor Airport	37.1	+1.4	39.9	2nd	23.8	-0.2	21.0	7th	96.4	134.1	average	72%
Central Arnhem Plateau	36.4	+1.2	39.1	2nd	23.9	+0.4	20.9	1st	63.6	105.6	average	60%
Channel Point	33.4	+0.6	34.5	18th	25.0	0.0	22.0	18th	89.8	128.1	average	70%
Charles Point	33.3		35.5	10th	26.7		22.2	21st	85.8
Croker Island Airport	35.2		37.3	2nd	26.8		24.1	1st	0.4
Darwin Airport	35.0	+1.7	37.0	17th	25.8	+0.5	20.6	27th	93.0	142.0	low	65%
Delamere Weapons Range	39.4	+1.7	42.1	3rd	26.1	+1.3	22.0	7th	35.6	78.4	low	45%
Douglas River Research Farm	37.3	+0.4	38.8	2nd	24.1	+0.5	21.3	7th	130.2	123.4	average	106%
Dum In Mirrie Airstrip	34.2	+1.1	35.8	16th	25.7	-0.2	22.8	27th	145.0	126.6	average	115%
Jabiru Airport	39.1	+2.1	41.9	2nd	26.0	+1.0	23.1	13th	67.2	137.0	low	49%
Kangaroo Flats (Defence)	37.2		40.3	2nd	25.0		22.6	27th	72.4
McCluer Island	32.3	+0.3	34.7	7th	28.7	+1.4	27.3	16th	0.4	25.7	low	2%
Middle Point	37.4	+1.0	40.5	2nd	23.6	+0.1	21.4	27th	81.6	119.8	low	68%
Mount Bundey North (Defence)	38.4		40.4	2nd	25.4		21.6	27th	71.0
Mount Bundey South (Defence)	38.4		40.5	2nd	25.3		22.6	23rd	106.6
Murganella Airstrip	36.1		39.4	7th	24.0		21.2	1st	29.0
Noonamah Airstrip	36.6		39.0	18th	25.0		21.4	27th	66.2
Oenpelli Airport	39.3		41.7	2nd	25.0		22.2	1st	15.4
Pirlangimpi Airport	34.6	+1.0	36.6	15th	24.5	+0.3	21.5	27th	147.8	191.3	low	77%
Point Fawcett	34.1	+0.8	36.2	8th	24.6	-0.3	21.9	27th	99.2	121.9	average	81%
Point Stuart	35.6		38.8	7th	25.0		22.4	27th	71.0	95.5	average	74%
Port Keats Airport	35.2	+0.7	37.8	8th	25.9	+0.5	22.4	29th	36.4	77.6	low	47%
Tindal RAAF	40.0	+2.5	42.4	2nd	26.5	+1.5	22.1	15th	82.8	94.7	average	87%
Arnhem (district 14BC)
Cape Wessel	34.5		35.6	26th	26.4		24.4	6th	46.2	30.0	high	154%
Gove Airport	34.6	+1.4	37.0	26th	24.8	+1.3	22.5	3rd	1.0	42.0	average	2%
Groote Eylandt Airport	36.2	+1.7	39.6	2nd	23.7	+0.1	17.5	2nd	44.4	115.5	low	38%
Maningrida Airport	35.1	+1.2	37.9	15th	25.3	+0.5	22.3	27th	15.4	36.1	average	43%
Milingimbi Airport	34.9	+1.0	37.1	15th	26.1	+0.7	21.9	2nd	19.4	57.0	average	34%
Ngayawili	33.8	+0.6	37.0	16th	24.9	+0.5	20.8	2nd	9.8	55.5	average	18%
Warruwi Airport	35.0	+1.3	37.7	7th	27.3	+0.9	25.3	27th	6.8	56.1	low	12%
Roper-Mcarthur (district 14DE)
Borroloola Airport	39.6	+2.0	44.1	25th	24.5	+0.6	19.4	2nd	0.2	68.9	lowest	0%
Bulman	40.2	+1.4	42.8	26th	25.0	+0.6	19.4	2nd	32.0	55.0	average	58%
Centre Island	35.3	+0.6	38.8	26th	27.2	+0.4	22.6	13th	74.8	41.2	high	182%
Daly Waters Airstrip	40.4	+2.2	43.3	26th	24.6	+1.0	17.5	3rd	13.2	48.1	low	27%
McArthur River Mine Airport	40.0	+1.3	43.8	26th	24.6	+0.4	18.8	8th	43.4	55.5	average	78%
Ngukurr Airport	40.6		43.9	26th	25.6		20.8	3rd	8.8
Victoria (district 14F)
Bradshaw	40.5	+2.0	42.7	2nd	26.8	+1.1	22.9	12th	31.6	97.4	low	32%
Bradshaw - Angallari Valley (Defence)	40.6		43.0	26th	26.8		22.9	18th	37.2
Bradshaw - Koolendong Valley (Defence)	38.4		42.8	16th	24.7		22.3	2nd	97.4
Lajamanu Airport	41.2	+2.7	44.8	27th	26.5	+3.3	22.8	3rd	13.8	31.6	average	44%
Wave Hill	41.1	+2.4	43.9	13th	27.1	+3.2	21.6	3rd	34.0	56.3	average	60%
Barkly (district 15A)
Elliott	40.8	+1.8	44.3	12th	25.6	+2.2	21.3	1st	13.0	46.7	low	28%
Tennant Creek Airport	40.4	+3.8	43.2	13th	27.0	+3.1	22.2	1st	9.2	40.2	low	23%
Alice Springs (district 15B)
Alice Springs Airport	38.0	+4.2	43.7	28th	21.1	+3.2	14.7	8th	39.8	28.3	high	141%
Arltunga	36.8	+3.1	42.5	28th	18.9	+0.9	11.0	8th	8.0	30.0	low	27%
Curtin Springs	38.5	+3.9	45.1	28th			12.0	2nd	0	23.0	lowest	0%
Jervois	39.9	+3.8	45.3	28th	21.2	+2.1	13.5	1st	0.4	23.0	v low	2%
Rabbit Flat	41.8	+3.0	45.2	28th			18.9	8th	7.0	40.2	low	17%
Territory Grape Farm	39.4	+3.6	43.5	28th	22.3	+3.4	16.0	8th	0.4	28.6	lowest	1%
Walungurru Airport	40.5	+2.7	45.3	28th	27.0	+3.6	19.9	7th	2.4	19.8	low	12%
Yulara Airport	38.6	+3.5	45.2	28th	22.6	+4.2	16.3	12th	2.6	30.8	low	8%

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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