Thursday, 1 February 2007 - Monthly Climate Summary for Queensland - Product code IDCKGC14R0

Queensland in January 2007

Welcome rain for the Channel Country, but Southeast Queensland and Capricornia still wanting.

Summary

An active monsoon triggered the development of a tropical depression which tracked over inland Australia bringing much needed rainfall to the Channel Country, Warrego and Central West and flooding in many inland river systems.  After a slow start to the wet season, closer to normal rainfall was recorded over much of the northern tropics during the month.  The Capricornia and Southeast of the state are still waiting for significant wet season rainfall as drier than normal conditions continued during January.

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Rainfall

A monsoonal low, which tracked from Northern Territory and through southwest Queensland on the 20th and 21st of the month, brought significant rainfall to the Channel Country, Warrego and Central West with resultant flooding in many inland river systems. A number of longstanding records were broken. Bedourie's January total of  296.4 mm is the highest monthly total recorded in its 61 years of record, and dwarfs the January average of 32.1 mm. Cluny received a monthly total of 483 mm, the highest in its 68 years of record (January average 37.2 mm). Bedourie, with 169.1 mm, and Cluny, with 229 mm, also reported their highest daily rainfall totals on record.  A listing of new rainfall records appears below.

The drier than average conditions continued in Southeast Queensland, Capricornia and Central Coalfields, with totals typically only a third to half of the January average, and parts of the Wide Bay receiving less than a fifth of the norm. Nobby, on the East Darling Downs, recorded it's driest January on record with a total only 4 mm for the month (average 97.3 mm, 67 years of record).

Rainfall was mixed over the tropics with wetter than normal totals in the northwest, and in a few pockets from the central coast to southern Cape York.  Below average rainfall was recorded in parts of CapeYork,  the Carpentaria and the North Tropical Coast.

Elsewhere rainfall did not vary significantly from average.  See maps of total rainfall and rainfall deciles. 

Temperature

Daytime maximum temperatures were cooler than average over a broad area from western Queensland and the Gulf to the coast between Cardwell and Proserpine, with temperatures over 3 degrees below average in areas near the western border.  Warmer daytime temperatures were recorded over Cape York Peninsula, the Southeast, Maranoa and parts of Central Queensland. See maps of maximum temperature anomalies. 

The hottest day was 45.4°C at Ballera Gas Field on the 12th, followed by 44.7°C at Ballera Gas Field and Windorah on the 11th, and 44.4°C at Boulia on the 2nd.

The coldest day was 18.6°C at Toowoomba on the 3rd, followed by 19.2°C at Applethorpe on the 9th, and 19.6°C at Warwick on the 3rd.

Overnight minimum temperatures were generally warmer than average, though most places were within a degree of the norm. Temperatures were up to 2 degrees warmer than average over much of the southern interior, and in a few pockets on Cape York and the coast between Cairns and Townsville. See maps of and minimum temperature anomalies.

The coldest night was 7.6°C at Stanthorpe Leslie Parade on the 29th, followed by 7.7°C at Applethorpe on the 29th.

The warmest night was 33.3°C at Birdsville on the 12th, followed by 32.1°C at Birdsville on the 6th and 31.8°C at Bedourie on the 13th. 

A listing of new temperature records appears below.

Further information

Qld Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (07) 3239 8700
Email climate.qld@bom.gov.au

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Extremes

Hottest day Highest temperature	45.4°C at Ballera on the 12th 44.7°C at Ballera and Windorah on the 11th
Warmest days on average Highest mean daily maximum temperature	37.6°C at Windorah 37.5°C at Birdsville Airport
Coolest days on average Lowest mean daily maximum temperature	26.6°C at Maleny
Coldest day Lowest daily maximum temperature	18.6°C at Toowoomba Airport on the 3rd
Coldest night Lowest temperature	7.6°C at Stanthorpe on the 29th
Coolest nights on average Lowest mean daily minimum temperature	15.2°C at Applethorpe
Warmest nights on average Highest mean daily minimum temperature	26.5°C at Sweers Island
Warmest night Highest daily minimum temperature	33.3°C at Birdsville Airport on the 12th
Wettest overall Highest total rainfall	625.0 mm at Paluma Ivy Cottage
Wettest day Highest daily rainfall	229.0 mm at Cluny on the 22nd 229.0 mm at Hawkins Ck (near Ingham) on the 31st

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Records

Record highest total January rainfall
	Total rainfall for January 2007 (mm)	Previous highest for January		Normal for January	Years of record
Cluny	483.0	200.6	in 1995	37.2	68
Bedourie Police Station	296.4	254.4	in 1984	32.1	61

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Record highest January daily rainfall
	Daily Rainfall total (mm)	Previous highest for January		Years of record
Cluny	229.0 on the 22nd	154.4	on the 19th in 1995	68
Bedourie Police Station	169.1 on the 21st	150.0	on the 25th in 1984	61
Glengyle	127.0 on the 21st	107.7	on the 13th in 1964	86
Toorak Research Station	209.2 on the 12th	192.6	on the 14th in 1991	51

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Record lowest total January rainfall
	Total rainfall for January 2007 (mm)	Previous lowest for January		Normal for January	Years of record
Nobby	4.0	4.8	in 1997	97.3	67

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Record highest January mean daily minimum temperature
	Mean daily minimum temperature for January 2007 (°C)	Previous highest for January		Normal for January	Years of record
Lockhart River Airport	24.5	24.4	in 2001	23.7	34

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Record lowest January temperature
	Lowest temperature in January 2007 (°C)		Previous lowest for January		Normal for January	Years of record
Monto Township	12.9	on the 5th	13.3	on the 22nd in 1983	19.2	34

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Summaries

 In the following table, certain key sites have been highlighted to make them easier to identify.

Summary statistics for January 2007
	Maximum temperatures for January (°C)				Minimum temperatures for January (°C)				Rainfall for January (millimetres)
	Mean for January 2007	Diff from normal	Highest for January 2007		Mean for January 2007	Diff from normal	Lowest for January 2007		Total for January 2007	Normal for January	Rank of January 2007	Fraction of January normal
North Peninsula (district 27)
Coconut Island	32.1	+0.2	35.0	1st	25.6	−0.2	23.9	21st	452.0	257.6	high	175%
Coen Airport	33.8		36.5	11th	24.3		23.1	17th	217.2
Horn Island	31.2	+0.4	33.0	14th	25.6	+0.4	23.9	17th	445.0	343.4	normal	130%
Scherger RAAF	33.6		37.9	3rd	24.4		23.2	16th	438.6
Weipa Aero	33.5	+1.6	37.5	1st	24.6	+0.5	23.5	2nd	481.6	443.8	normal	109%
South Peninsula (district 28)
Lockhart River Airport	33.0	+1.5	35.5	10th	24.5	+0.8	22.9	17th	109.2	395.2	very low	28%
Musgrave	34.1	+1.0	37.3	4th	23.9	+0.8	22.0	3rd	294.4	271.5	normal	108%
Palmerville	33.4	0	38.2	4th	23.5	+0.7	20.9	5th	405.2	261.3	high	155%
Lower Carpentaria (district 29)
Burketown Airport	33.4		37.1	10th	25.5		22.1	22nd	214.8
Burketown Post Office	32.9	−1.4	36.1	26th	25.5	+0.5	22.1	22nd	272.0	216.7	high	126%
Century Mine	35.6		41.5	2nd	24.8		21.9	22nd	232.6
Cloncurry Airport	34.7	−2.0	43.0	2nd	24.3	−0.3	19.6	22nd	264.6	182.8	normal	145%
Croydon Township	34.6	−0.9	39.4	4th	25.1	+0.9	21.8	22nd	130.6	215.3	low	61%
Julia Creek Airport	35.8		42.6	2nd	23.9		19.8	29th	147.8
Kowanyama Airport	33.7	+0.6	39.5	4th	25.0	+0.8	22.3	14th	272.6	335.9	normal	81%
Mornington Island	32.0	−0.1	34.8	31st	25.8	+0.3	23.3	17th	261.0	320.8	normal	81%
Mount Isa Aero	34.1	−2.3	41.5	2nd	23.3	−0.5	18.0	22nd	140.6	110.5	high	127%
Sweers Island	32.2		34.0	26th	26.5		24.0	16th	165.8	319.9	low	52%
Toorak Research Station	35.7	−1.2	42.3	2nd	23.0	−0.1	18.0	29th	428.8	117.1	very high	366%
Upper Carpentaria (district 30)
Georgetown Airport			37.8	3rd	23.6		21.3	23rd	115.8
Georgetown Post Office	34.4	0	39.5	3rd	23.4	+0.5	21.0	24th	213.2	223.1	normal	96%
Hughenden Airport	34.7		38.9	1st	24.0		19.5	1st	111.8
Richmond Airport	36.1		41.4	3rd	23.6		17.0	1st	153.0
Richmond Post Office	35.5	−1.5	40.7	3rd	24.1	+1.1	18.1	1st	190.3	120.2	high	158%
Barron North Coast (district 31)
Atherton Shire Council	28.8	+0.4	32.8	9th	19.6	+1.0	16.0	13th	169.5	218.1	low	78%
Cairns Aero	32.0	+0.5	33.5	15th	24.2	+0.6	22.6	8th	184.6	384.8	low	48%
Cape Flattery	32.5		34.2	11th	25.0		22.1	13th	94.8
Cooktown Airport	32.4		34.9	10th	24.7		22.2	13th	83.2
Green Island	32.0	+0.8	34.6	10th	25.6	+0.4	23.7	17th
Kairi Research Station	28.7	+0.5	32.1	9th	19.7	+0.6	16.4	16th	175.5	245.0	normal	72%
Low Isles Lighthouse	32.9	+0.7	36.1	11th	25.7	+0.1	23.4	17th	328.2	392.3	normal	84%
Mareeba Airport	31.3		35.2	10th	21.8		20.1	5th	203.8
Walkamin DPI	30.7	+0.7	34.5	10th	20.2	−0.1	17.8	16th	114.2	206.9	normal	55%
Herbert North Coast (district 32)
Cardwell Marine Pde	30.8	−0.7	32.7	14th	24.2	+1.4	22.3	7th	370.7	433.6	normal	85%
Ingham Composite	31.8	−0.5	36.0	9th	22.9	−0.2	20.6	7th	381.2	369.1	normal	103%
Innisfail	31.0	+0.1	32.5	28th	24.1	+1.3	21.4	7th	360.2	505.1	normal	71%
Lucinda Point	29.5	−0.7	32.0	28th	25.3	−0.1	23.0	19th	172.6	171.7	normal	101%
South Johnstone Exp Stn	31.1	−0.1	33.0	28th	23.6	+1.1	21.0	7th	298.4	519.9	normal	57%
Townsville Aero	31.1	−0.2	34.2	14th	24.8	+0.6	21.2	1st	270.6	265.2	normal	102%
East Central Coast (district 33)
Alva Beach	30.3	−1.1	32.3	12th	25.1	+0.5	22.5	21st	358.8
Ayr DPI Research Stn	31.1	−0.8	33.8	10th	23.1	+0.5	20.6	7th	340.8	206.9	high	165%
Bowen Airport	30.9	−0.8	33.0	15th	24.0	+0.1	21.7	8th	266.6	157.9	normal	169%
Collinsville Post Office	33.0	−0.5	37.2	9th	22.6	+0.7	19.9	6th	282.2	132.4	very high	213%
Hamilton Island Airport	29.4		31.5	28th	24.3		21.8	1st	280.0
Mackay Aero	30.5	+0.5	33.0	9th	23.3	+0.5	19.3	8th	271.4	328.3	normal	83%
Mackay M.O	30.6	+0.5	33.9	10th	23.8	+0.4	20.6	8th	261.4	275.8	normal	95%
Samuel Hill Aero	30.6		34.6	9th	20.7		15.1	15th	94.8
St Lawrence	31.5		33.5	28th	23.0		19.0	7th	177.4
St Lawrence Post Office	32.0	+0.2	34.1	11th	23.2	+0.8	19.7	7th	161.9	206.5	normal	78%
Williamson	32.2		34.6	28th	22.9		17.9	7th	48.0
Woolshed	28.2		32.0	13th	20.7		18.1	1st	404.6
Yeppoon The Esplanade	29.3	−0.2	31.4	29th	23.7	+0.1	19.5	8th	17.4	118.5	very low	15%
West Central Coast (district 34)
Charters Towers Airport	33.7	−0.1	38.0	10th	22.9	+0.5	19.3	1st	114.9	141.1	normal	81%
Moranbah Water Treatment Plant	33.3	−0.9	38.3	10th	22.3	+0.3	19.2	6th	124.2	95.2	high	130%
Central Highlands (district 35)
Brigalow Research Stn	34.7	+1.0	39.0	28th	21.5	+0.6	17.5	2nd	35.6	94.9	low	38%
Clermont Sirius St	33.7	−0.6	40.2	9th	22.0	+0.5	18.5	6th	166.0	116.9	high	142%
Emerald Airport	33.4	−1.6	38.5	9th	22.2	−0.2	18.5	6th	97.4	80.4	normal	121%
Rolleston Meteor St	34.2	−1.0	39.1	4th	21.2	+0.2	16.5	8th	48.8	93.4	normal	52%
Springsure Dame St	32.7	−1.5	38.2	9th	21.5	+0.6	17.3	1st	104.6	105.4	normal	99%
Tambo Post Office	34.4	−0.6	39.0	10th	21.7	+1.4	15.5	29th	67.6	80.6	normal	84%
Taroom Post Office	35.8	+2.1	41.0	12th	21.5	+0.9	16.9	5th	52.9	98.4	normal	54%
Central Lowlands (district 36)
Barcaldine Post Office	34.9	−0.8	39.5	10th	23.5	+0.4	19.0	1st	107.2	84.5	high	127%
Blackall Airport	35.5		40.8	10th	23.3		18.2	1st	59.0
Isisford Post Office	36.7	−0.3	42.5	10th	23.8	+0.9	17.4	29th	110.2	69.2	high	159%
Longreach Aero	36.3	−0.9	42.3	10th	23.2	+0.1	18.6	1st	186.6	79.7	very high	234%
Upper Western (district 37)
Camooweal Township	35.1	−2.2	40.6	5th	24.5	+0.2	19.5	30th	190.2	96.3	high	198%
The Monument Airport	35.3		43.2	2nd	23.9		18.3	22nd	99.0
Trepell Airport	36.0		43.6	2nd	24.2		19.2	22nd	59.8
Urandangi	35.2	−3.5	43.0	2nd	24.1	+0.1	18.4	23rd	186.5	60.5	very high	308%
Winton Airport	36.6		43.4	10th	23.5		17.0	1st	199.4
Winton Post Office	37.1	−0.5	43.3	10th	24.0	+0.5	17.8	1st	212.9	81.3	very high	262%
Lower Western (district 38)
Bedourie Police Station	35.9		44.8	6th	24.2		18.5	3rd	296.4	32.1	highest	923%
Birdsville Airport*	37.5	−1.3	44.1	6th	25.1	+0.8	18.8	22nd	59.4	24.9	high	239%
Boulia Airport	36.6	−1.9	44.4	2nd	24.3	−0.1	15.5	21st	173.9	47.8	very high	364%
Windorah Post Office	37.6	−0.5	44.7	11th	25.2	+1.1	17.9	29th	136.9	42.4	very high	323%
Port Curtis South Coast (district 39)
Baralaba Post Office	34.9	+0.4	39.2	28th	22.0	+0.6	17.4	7th	47.4	92.8	low	51%
Bundaberg Aero	31.0	+1.0	34.1	29th	21.6	+0.2	18.0	2nd	21.0	171.9	very low	12%
Gayndah Airport	34.2		38.4	29th	21.1		16.8	6th	19.0
Gayndah Post Office	34.0	+1.2	38.2	29th	21.2	+1.2	16.3	6th	21.7	112.0	very low	19%
Gladstone Airport	30.7	0	35.2	28th	23.2	+0.3	19.5	7th	7.6	110.8	very low	7%
Gladstone Radar	32.8	+1.6	36.3	28th	22.9	+0.4	19.8	5th	13.4	144.3	very low	9%
Heron Island Res Stn	30.5	+0.7	32.7	29th	24.2	0	21.8	2nd	10.2	103.7	very low	10%
Lady Elliot Island	29.8	+0.6	32.2	29th	23.8	−0.1	20.1	1st	9.8	121.9	very low	8%
Monto Township	32.6	+0.6	36.8	12th	19.5	+0.3	12.9	5th	50.3	108.5	low	46%
Rockhampton Aero	33.0	+1.0	37.9	9th	22.7	+0.6	19.2	15th	41.2	128.4	low	32%
Sandy Cape Lighthouse	29.7	+0.3	32.0	30th	22.1	−0.2	19.0	4th	14.8	158.8	very low	9%
Thangool Airport	33.7	−0.1	38.0	22nd	19.6	−0.1	14.4	7th	64.0	97.1	normal	66%
Town of 1770	30.0	+0.8	33.3	24th	23.6	+0.7	19.0	7th	16.0	151.1	very low	11%
Moreton South Coast (district 40)
Amberley AMO	32.0	+0.8	38.0	29th	19.7	0	14.9	6th	48.0	110.6	low	43%
Archerfield Airport	30.6	+0.2	35.6	29th	20.2	0	15.8	6th	90.2	134.4	normal	67%
Beerburrum Forest Station	30.4		36.4	29th	19.5		15.5	7th	90.2	188.9	low	48%
Brian Pastures	33.8	+1.1	37.5	29th	20.6	+0.2	16.2	7th	50.6	101.5	low	50%
Brisbane*	29.8	+0.4	34.2	27th	21.3	+0.6	17.5	6th	99.0	159.6	low	62%
Brisbane Aero	29.0	0	32.0	29th	21.4	+0.3	16.3	6th	102.2	120.8	normal	85%
Cape Moreton Lighthouse	28.0	+1.2	30.3	31st	22.6	+0.7	19.1	5th	32.0	151.0	very low	21%
Coolangatta	28.4	+0.4	32.2	27th	20.4	−0.6	17.1	6th	131.6	138.9	normal	95%
Double Island Point Lighthouse	29.7	+2.1	32.5	31st	22.6	+0.3	19.1	4th	10.4	163.1	very low	6%
Gold Coast Seaway	30.8	+2.5	34.5	24th	21.3	−0.5	18.3	6th	59.0	102.9	low	57%
Gympie	31.7	+0.5	36.9	29th	19.5	−0.1	15.3	6th	63.2	162.1	low	39%
Hervey Bay Airport	30.8		35.2	31st	22.3		18.0	2nd	8.4
Jimna Forestry	29.5		34.7	29th	17.8		12.4	7th	34.6
Kingaroy Airport	31.4		35.6	13th	18.4		12.4	20th	28.0
Logan City Water Treatment	29.6	−0.1	34.5	8th	21.2	+0.9	16.1	7th	53.9	108.0	low	50%
Maleny Tamarind St	26.6		31.8	29th	18.6		14.6	6th	102.8	273.8	low	38%
Maroochydore Aero	28.8	+0.2	32.1	27th	21.0	−0.3	18.0	20th	25.2	108.8	low	23%
Maryborough	32.0	+1.3	36.1	29th	21.0	+0.4	17.5	2nd	11.2	162.4	very low	7%
Nambour DPI	29.3	0	33.5	27th	19.8	+0.5	15.3	6th	88.6	229.5	low	39%
Point Lookout	28.9	+0.1	32.4	26th	22.0	−0.6	19.3	1st	42.6
Rainbow Beach	28.9	+0.1	31.7	27th	22.5	+0.5	19.3	1st	16.8	136.9	lowest	12%
Redcliffe	28.8		33.9	27th	22.1		18.9	5th	47.0
Tewantin RSL Park	28.0	−0.5	31.4	27th	21.7	−0.1	18.6	6th	40.6	120.3	low	34%
Toolara	32.4	+1.0	36.7	29th	20.7	0	17.3	6th	41.0	114.6	low	36%
University of Queensland Gatton	33.2	+1.7	38.4	29th	19.4	+0.3	13.1	6th	50.6	111.8	low	45%
East Darling Downs (district 41)
Applethorpe	28.1	+1.7	32.8	27th	15.2	0	7.7	29th	40.2	93.3	low	43%
Dalby Airport	33.6	+1.0	38.5	13th	18.8	−0.1	12.9	6th	34.6	82.6	normal	42%
Goondiwindi Airport	35.4	+1.3	40.6	27th	21.1	+0.9	15.5	5th	26.8	89.2	normal	30%
Inglewood Forest	34.5		39.4	13th	19.0		13.6	5th	28.6
Oakey Aero	32.2	+1.4	37.0	28th	18.6	+0.8	14.2	29th	14.2	81.8	very low	17%
Stanthorpe Leslie Parade	28.8	+1.4	34.5	31st	15.6	0	7.6	29th	27.7	96.2	low	29%
Texas Post Office	34.8	+1.1	38.6	30th	19.7	+1.3	12.7	29th	80.2	88.9	normal	90%
Toowoomba Airport	29.1	+0.8	34.5	13th	17.8	+0.4	14.3	4th	26.2	66.3	low	40%
Warwick	31.6	+1.5	36.8	27th	16.6	−0.3	12.3	29th	28.6	85.2	low	34%
West Darling Downs (district 42)
Miles Constance Street	34.5	+0.3	39.1	27th	20.5	0	12.9	29th	36.6	65.9	normal	56%
Maranoa (district 43)
Injune Post Office	33.8	0	38.1	27th	20.5	+1.0	14.1	29th	67.6	89.2	normal	76%
Mitchell Post Office	35.1	+1.0	42.5	6th	21.4	+1.4	13.6	29th	57.6	81.8	normal	70%
Roma Airport	34.4	−0.1	39.9	27th	21.8	+0.8	14.8	29th	50.8	69.9	normal	73%
St George Airport	35.2	0	40.6	27th	22.7	+0.8	16.6	30th	76.4	68.6	high	111%
Surat	34.4	+0.2	39.6	27th	22.0	+1.5	13.9	29th	80.8	72.6	normal	111%
Warrego (district 44)
Bollon Mary St			42.5	15th	22.8	+1.4	17.5	29th	32.5	62.9	normal	52%
Charleville Aero	34.8	−0.3	39.7	14th	22.7	+0.9	15.3	29th	93.8	71.6	high	131%
Cunnamulla Post Office	35.3	−0.7	43.1	14th	22.6	+0.5	18.0	29th	71.0	45.6	high	156%
Far Southwest (district 45)
Ballera Gas Field	37.0		45.4	12th	24.8		18.7	22nd	131.4
Quilpie Airport	36.3	−0.7	42.4	11th	24.2	+0.5	19.2	29th	98.4	53.2	high	185%
Thargomindah Airport	36.4		44.3	12th	25.1		20.9	3rd	117.0

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Notes

Further information

Qld Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (07) 3239 8700
Email climate.qld@bom.gov.au

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