Tuesday, 2 April 2013 - Monthly Climate Summary for Northern Territory - Product code IDCKGC12R0

Northern Territory in March 2013: Wet weather finally arrives to the Top End

The wet season up to the end of February was hot and dry with many locations having the lowest wet season rainfall on record to that point in the season. In March, especially the last half of March, wet, monsoonal weather finally arrived in the Northern Territory and increased rainfall totals. The driver for the wet weather was the passage of a westward moving equatorial Rossby wave during the last week of March which revived the monsoon trough. A slow-moving, weak tropical low formed within the monsoon trough and moved along the north coast.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

A tale of two atmospheric waves

There were two main drivers of the rainfall this month. The first was the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), an eastward moving pulse of tropical weather which contributed to rainfall over the Top End in the beginning of the month. By the second week of March the MJO had moved east and all climate indicators suggested that drier conditions would replace the wet weather. However, in the second half of the month a westward moving equatorial Rossby wave moved over the Top End and produced conditions favorable for the formation of a monsoon trough off Australia's north coast. In the last week of March, a weak, slow-moving low pressure system formed within the monsoon trough and drenched the Top End as it moved along the north coast.

Gove Airport doubles wet season total

From 1 October through 28 February, Gove Airport had received only 290.8 mm of rainfall. In March 411.4 mm fell at Gove and of that, 347.0 mm fell in the last 8 days of the month. The long term average March rainfall at Gove Airport is 278.7 mm and the highest recorded March total rainfall is 514.6 mm measured in 1988.

Tennant Creek Airport sees hottest March day

The southern portion of the Territory experienced a series of very hot days in the early part of the month, with Tennant Creek Airport measuring three consecutive days above 40 °C from the 6th through 8th. On the 7th Tennant Creek Airport reached 41.4 °C, their hottest March day on record, passing the previous record of 40.7 °C set on 3 March 1988. The long term average daily maximum temperature for March at Tennant Creek is 34.2 °C.

Rainfall

Rainfall this month across the NT, was average to above average for most locations. The area-averaged rainfall for the NT this month was 107 mm; this is 9 mm above the long-term average. This includes rainfall at places like Jervois that did not receive any rain in March and Bing Bong Port, which was the wettest overall with 634.9 mm. There was some monsoon activity in the first part of the month, followed by a week of monsoon break conditions. Beginning around the 23rd a slow-moving weak tropical low moved from east to west along the north coast bringing heavy rain and monsoon-like conditions to the Top End. Most of the rain fell across the Arnhem District within the last eight days of the month.

In addition to Bing Bong Port, mentioned above, the next highest rainfall totals across the Territory were at Milingimbi AWS with 633.0 mm and then McCluer Island with 561.1 mm, a new March rainfall record for both of these sites. Bing Bong Port also saw their highest March daily rainfall on record with 233.0 mm on the 28th. The driest overall was Jervois with 0 mm (mentioned above), Ormiston Gorge with 0.3 mm, and then Upper Bond Springs with 1.0 mm.

Temperature

When combining maximum and minimum temperatures, the mean temperature in the NT this month was 29.46 °C, which is 1.65 °C above average. Generally, both maximum and minimum temperatures were above average for most of the Territory this month. There were a few mean temperature record set this month including at Borroloola where the mean monthly temperature was 29.2 °C. The warmest on average was Walungurru with 31.3 °C, followed by Brunette Downs with 31.2 °C, and then Rabbit Flat, Tennant Creek Airport and Victoria River Downs each with 30.9 °C. The coolest on average was Kulgera with 26.3 °C, followed by Arltunga with 26.7 °C, and then Alice Springs Airport with 27.1 °C.

Maximum temperature

The mean maximum temperature across the NT in March was 35.87 °C, over two degrees above the long-term average. Territory Grape Farm recorded their highest March mean daily maximum temperature on record. While Tennant Creek, Borroloola, and Groote Eylandt Airport, among others, measured their highest March temperature on record. In the north, the main driver behind above average maximum temperatures was a lack of cloud cover for the middle part of the month.

The two hottest days in the NT were at Brunette Downs with 42.9 °C (a new record) on the 7th and 42.3 °C on the 6th. When averaged over the whole month Brunette Downs was the warmest on average in the NT with a mean daily maximum temperature of 38.4 °C. This is the warmest March in 21 years at Brunette Downs.

In addition to the 38.4 °C mean daily maximum temperature at Brunette Downs, there were a few other notably warm locations across the NT this month: Rabbit Flat had 38.2 °C, Victoria River Downs had 37.6 °C, and Walungurru also had a mean daily maximum temperature of 37.6 °C this month. The coolest days on average were at McCluer Island with 31.0 °C, followed by Croker Island Airport with 31.2 °C, and then Darwin Harbour with 31.4 °C.

The coldest day in the NT in March was recorded at Kulgera with 18.2 °C on the 28th, followed by Curtin Springs with 19.0 °C on the 30th, and then Yulara Aero with 20.0 °C on the 28th.

Minimum temperature

High humidity across the NT kept minimum temperatures up, this month. With a Territory-wide average of 23.1 °C, 1.3 °C above the norm. March 2013 was the warmest since 2007. Gove Airport had a mean daily minimum temperature of 24.6 °C which is their warmest March in 23 years. Channel Point, Ngayawili, and Bradshaw each had their highest March mean daily minimum temperature on record. Several sites saw their warmest March night (highest daily minimum temperature) on record including Borroloola with 28.4 °C on the 1st, McCluer Island with 28.7 °C on the 19th and Groote Eylandt with 29.7 °C on the 1st.

The coldest night was at Kulgera with 12.4 °C on the 31st, followed by Alice Springs Airport and Arltunga with 12.5 °C on the 21st, followed by Alice Springs Airport with 13.1 °C on the 19th. Milingimbi recorded their lowest March temperature on record with 21.9 °C on the 13th. The coolest nights on average were at Alice Springs Airport with 19.0 °C, followed by Arltunga with 19.7 °C, and then Kulgera with 19.8 °C.

The warmest nights on average were at North East Island with 26.5 °C, followed by Cape Don with 26.4 °C, and then McCluer Island with 26.2 °C. The warmest night was at Centre Island with 30.3 °C on the 1st, followed by Centre Island with 30.1 °C on the 6th, and then Walungurru with 30.0 °C on the 6th.

Wind

The strongest wind gust was at Territory Grape Farm with 93 km/h on the 13th, followed by Centre Island with 91 km/h on the 2nd, Bradshaw with 91 km/h on the 10th, and then Central Arnhem Plateau with 89 km/h on the 14th.

Further information

NT Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (08) 8920 3813
Email climate.nt@bom.gov.au

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Extremes in March 2013
Hottest day	42.9 °C at Brunette Downs on the 7th
Warmest days on average	38.4 °C at Brunette Downs
Coolest days on average	31.0 °C at McCluer Island
Coldest day	18.2 °C at Kulgera on the 28th
Coldest night	12.4 °C at Kulgera on the 31st
Coolest nights on average	19.0 °C at Alice Springs Airport
Warmest nights on average	26.5 °C at North East Island
Warmest night	30.3 °C at Centre Island on the 1st
Warmest on average overall	31.3 °C at Walungurru
Coolest on average overall	26.3 °C at Kulgera
Wettest overall	634.9 mm at Bing Bong Port
Driest overall	0 mm at Jervois
Highest wind gust	93 km/h at Territory Grape Farm on the 13th

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 March daily rainfall
	Highest daily rainfall in March 2013 (mm)		Previous wettest for March		Years of record
Mataranka Homestead Resort	213.2	on the 29th	180.3	on the 27th in 1918	70
Dorisvale	226.0	on the 30th	201.0	on the 2nd in 2000	29
Walker Creek	197.4	on the 4th	164.4	on the 15th in 2012	20
Bing Bong Port	233.0	on the 28th	220.0	on the 18th in 2006	18
Lakefield	124.2	on the 29th	116.0	on the 8th in 2003	14
Bradshaw	87.6	on the 29th	84.4	on the 9th in 2012	13
Upper Waterhouse River	182.4	on the 31st	113.8	on the 24th in 2001	13
Nitmiluk Ridge	113.4	on the 28th	103.8	on the 3rd in 2004	11
Cave Creek Station	202.0	on the 29th	91.4	on the 12th in 2006	10
Edith Farms Road	129.2	on the 30th	120.4	on the 9th in 2008	10
Milingimbi AWS	179.6	on the 30th	120.0	on the 13th in 2005	10
Snowdrop Creek	158.0	on the 31st	101.0	on the 13th in 2007	10

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Record highest total March rainfall
	Total rainfall for March 2013 (mm)	Previous wettest for March		Years of record	Average for March
McCluer Island	561.2	483.4	in 2005	18	236.7
Upper Fergusson River	474.6	331.0	in 1999	15	195.5
Edith Farms Road	498.4	487.2	in 2007	10	269.6
Foelsche Headland	379.4	325.6	in 2012	10	204.8
Milingimbi AWS	633.0	518.0	in 2011	10	285.9

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Record lowest total March rainfall
	Total rainfall for March 2013 (mm)	Previous driest for March		Years of record	Average for March
Jervois	0.0	= 0.0	in 2009	48	32.8
Berry Springs Rangers	58.8	= 58.8	in 1992	28	290.6

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Record highest March temperature
	Highest temperature in March 2013 (°C)		Previous warmest for March		Years of record	Average for March
Brunette Downs	42.9	on the 7th	42.5	on the 1st in 1983	50	35.0
Tennant Creek Airport	41.4	on the 7th	40.7	on the 3rd in 1988	44	34.2
Borroloola	38.8	on the 5th	38.0	on the 9th in 2005	19	33.3
Territory Grape Farm	41.3	on the 22nd	40.8	on the 3rd in 2009	17	33.9
Groote Eylandt Airport AWS	36.7	on the 6th	36.0	on the 27th in 2002	14	32.3

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Record lowest March daily maximum temperature
	Lowest daily maximum temperature in March 2013 (°C)		Previous coolest for March		Years of record	Average for March
Delamere Weapons Range	24.3	on the 29th	26.0	on the 19th in 2006	16	34.1

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Record highest March mean daily maximum temperature
	Mean daily maximum temperature for March 2013 (°C)	Previous warmest for March		Years of record	Average for March
Territory Grape Farm	37.5	36.8	in 1999	16	33.9

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Record highest March daily minimum temperature
	Highest daily minimum temperature in March 2013 (°C)		Previous warmest for March		Years of record	Average for March
Borroloola	28.4	on the 1st	28.0	on the 1st in 1997	19	23.3
McCluer Island	28.7	on the 19th	28.6	on the 8th in 2006	15	25.8
Groote Eylandt Airport AWS	29.7	on the 1st	27.3	on the 19th in 2012	14	23.6
Ngayawili	29.2	on the 8th	29.1	on the 22nd in 2009	14	24.7
Bradshaw	27.0	on the 9th	26.9	on the 2nd in 2007	13	24.0
Milingimbi AWS	27.9	on the 8th	27.2	on the 14th in 2011	11	24.8

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Record lowest March temperature
	Lowest temperature in March 2013 (°C)		Previous coolest for March		Years of record	Average for March
Milingimbi AWS	21.9	on the 13th	22.0	on the 13th in 2004	11	24.8

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Record highest March mean daily minimum temperature
	Mean daily minimum temperature for March 2013 (°C)	Previous warmest for March		Years of record	Average for March
Channel Point	25.3	25.2	in 2005	18	24.5
Ngayawili	25.6	25.2	in 2007	13	24.7
Bradshaw	25.1	24.7	in 2011	12	24.0

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Summary statistics for March 2013
	Maximum temperatures for March (°C)				Minimum temperatures for March (°C)				Rainfall for March (millimetres)
	Mean for March 2013	Diff from average	Highest for March 2013		Mean for March 2013	Diff from average	Lowest for March 2013		Total for March 2013	Average for March	Rank of March 2013	Fraction of March average
Darwin-Daly (district 14GA)
Batchelor Aero	33.1	+0.3	35.8	17th	23.7	+0.3	20.8	14th	364.0	258.9	average	141%
Bradshaw	36.6	+1.6	39.5	21st	25.1	+1.1	23.5	5th	231.8	131.8	high	176%
Cape Don	32.7		34.7	18th	26.4		23.4	5th	353.6	247.2	high	143%
Central Arnhem Plateau	31.8		35.8	22nd	23.1		19.5	15th	430.6	297.3	high	145%
Channel Point	31.9	+0.1	33.5	17th	25.3	+0.8	23.4	26th	190.9	363.8	low	52%
Croker Island Airport	31.2		33.1	17th	25.3		20.5	14th	455.2
Darwin Airport	32.0	+0.1	34.7	17th	25.1	+0.6	22.9	14th	373.2	322.0	high	116%
Darwin NTC AWS	31.4		34.0	16th	25.6		21.7	18th
Delamere Weapons Range	35.4	+1.3	38.9	14th	23.8	+0.7	21.5	21st	228.8	165.0	average	139%
Douglas River	34.5	+0.9	36.7	21st	23.6	+0.5	21.6	17th	362.4	236.7	high	153%
Dum In Mirrie AWS	31.8	+0.2	33.0	21st	25.6	+0.5	22.0	14th	344.2	336.4	average	102%
Jabiru Airport	33.7	+0.2	36.6	17th	24.9	+0.6	22.8	15th	445.6	323.8	high	138%
Katherine Country Club	35.0		38.1	21st	23.8		21.6	4th	389.0
Mango Farm	33.9	0.0	36.8	17th	24.1	+0.5	22.1	17th	253.4	222.2	average	114%
McCluer Island	31.0	+0.1	32.9	16th	26.2	+0.4	22.4	14th	561.2	236.7	highest	237%
Middle Point AWS	34.1	+0.8	36.7	15th	23.7	-0.2	21.6	14th	250.6	271.3	average	92%
Murganella Airstrip	31.9		34.3	17th	23.8		19.8	14th	15.0
Noonamah AWS	33.8		36.8	17th	24.0		19.4	14th	345.4
Oenpelli Airport	32.8		35.4	22nd	24.7		22.6	14th	331.0
Pirlangimpi	32.2	+0.3	34.1	18th	24.4	+0.4	22.1	14th	516.4	361.7	high	143%
Point Fawcett	31.9	+0.3	33.5	16th	25.3	+0.4	22.0	14th	241.4	220.5	average	109%
Point Stuart AWS	31.9		34.1	11th	25.1		22.8	14th	293.2	232.9	average	126%
Tindal RAAF	34.1	+0.1	37.3	21st	24.0	+1.0	21.8	9th	301.6	172.8	high	175%
Arnhem (district 14BC)
Cape Wessel	31.5		33.4	22nd	25.7		21.3	14th
Gove Airport	32.1	+0.9	35.4	7th	24.6	+0.7	21.3	19th	411.4	278.0	high	148%
Groote Eylandt Airport AWS	32.3	0.0	36.7	6th	24.8	+1.2	22.3	21st	503.2	345.4	high	146%
Maningrida Aero	31.9		35.0	13th	24.5		22.8	19th	577.0
Ngayawili	31.7	+0.2	33.6	23rd	25.6	+0.9	22.9	19th	326.8	293.4	average	111%
North East Island	32.4		34.6	22nd	26.5		23.6	28th	465.0	209.0	high	222%
Warruwi	31.7	+0.3	34.9	1st	25.5	+0.3	22.4	14th	368.6	239.1	high	154%
Roper-Mcarthur (district 14DE)
Borroloola	34.3	+1.0	38.8	5th	24.1	+0.8	22.1	29th	401.8	180.1	high	223%
Centre Island	33.4	+0.6	37.3	6th	26.0	-0.3	22.6	9th	132.4	268.3	average	49%
Daly Waters AWS	36.1	+1.6	40.5	21st	23.1	+0.6	19.3	21st	184.2	115.6	high	159%
McArthur River Mine	35.8	+0.9	40.0	5th	25.2	+1.9	23.1	9th	240.6	148.3	high	162%
Ngukurr AWS	34.6		39.6	21st	24.9		22.2	9th	333.6
Wollogorang			40.6	1st	23.5	+0.8	19.5	3rd	69.8	161.0	average	43%
Victoria (district 14F)
Timber Creek	36.3	+0.9	39.5	21st	24.8	+1.3	19.9	20th	116.8	162.3	average	72%
Victoria River Downs	37.6	+2.6	40.8	17th	24.0	+0.8	17.5	21st	75.8	109.8	average	69%
Barkly (district 15A)
Brunette Downs	38.4	+3.4	42.9	7th	24.0	+1.7	19.5	21st	10.3	56.2	average	18%
Elliott	37.3	+1.7	40.9	22nd	23.3	+1.1	17.4	20th	64.5	86.6	average	74%
Tennant Creek Airport	37.2	+3.0	41.4	7th	24.6	+1.4	21.4	30th	15.4	57.4	average	27%
Alice Springs (district 15B)
Alice Springs Airport	35.1	+2.5	40.3	21st	19.0	+1.5	12.5	20th	25.8	32.3	average	80%
Arltunga	33.9	+2.4	38.8	22nd	19.7	+1.2	12.5	21st	1.8	40.0	average	5%
Curtin Springs	34.9	+1.2	40.9	21st	20.6	+2.2	13.3	31st	60.5	29.2	high	207%
Jervois	36.9	+2.4	40.6	26th	21.5	+2.3	15.3	20th	0	32.8	lowest	0%
Kulgera	33.0	+0.9	39.2	12th	19.8	+1.8	12.4	31st	35.5	31.5	high	113%
Rabbit Flat	38.2	+2.4	42.0	22nd	23.7	+2.1	17.1	20th	34.0	79.5	average	43%
Territory Grape Farm	37.5	+3.6	41.3	22nd	21.5	+2.0	14.5	20th	14.8	21.9	average	68%
Walungurru	37.6	+1.8	42.3	6th	25.0	+1.1	17.2	29th	65.2	58.0	average	112%
Yulara Aero	35.7	+1.6	40.9	12th	21.6	+2.6	14.8	30th	49.0	38.4	high	128%

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Further information

NT Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (08) 8920 3813
Email climate.nt@bom.gov.au

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