Tuesday, 1 May 2007 - Monthly Climate Summary for Queensland - Product code IDCKGC14R0

Queensland Monthly Climate Summary April 2007

Summary

April brought no relief to the prolonged dry period affecting the Southeast and parts of Central Queensland, with record low April rainfall reported in some places. Brisbane received just 3.2 mm during the month, compared to the long-term average of 92.5 mm. Rainfall totals varied considerably elsewhere in the state.    

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Rainfall

Rainfall was mixed across the state during April. Many places reported below average totals, particularly in a band from the northwest to the southeast and much of the east coast. Parts of the Northern Goldfields, northern Cape York Peninsula and the southwest of the state received above average totals, while rainfall closer to average was reported elsewhere. Refer to the maps of total rainfall and rainfall deciles.

A number of places in the southeast recorded their lowest April rainfall total on record. These include Archerfield with 5.2 mm (average 79.6 mm, 76 years of record), Mt Glorious with 4 mm (average 123 mm, 74 years of record), and Somerset Dam with 2.6 mm (average 70 mm, 71 years of record). A full list of new rainfall records appears below.

This follows a very poor start to the year for the southeast of the state. Areas extending from the Capricornia to the Southeast Coast and inland to parts of the Darling Downs and Central Highlands have received well below average rainfall in the first four months of the year.  

The end of April marks the official closure of the tropical cyclone season. This past cyclone season was very quiet, with no cyclones crossing the east coast of Queensland. In fact only one cyclone affected any part of the state, when Tropical Cyclone Nelson made landfall in the southeast Gulf area in early February.  Occasional bursts of monsoon activity were largely confined to the northern tropics for much of the season.

Temperature

Mean maximum temperatures for April were above average over most of the interior of the state, with temperatures reaching over 3 degrees above average in the southwest. Taroom and Monto both recorded their highest average maximum temperatures for April on record. See the list of new temperature records for details.

Parts of Cape York Pensinsula and a few pockets along the coast were cooler than average.  Elsewhere temperatures did not vary significantly from average. 

Refer to the maps of mean maximum temperatures and maximum temperature anomalies.

Average minimum temperatures were typically within a degree of average in most places.  Exceptions included the southwest of the state and parts of the Central Highlands which recorded warmer than average minimum temperatures for the month, while parts of the Northern Goldfields and Warrego were cooler.

Refer to the maps of mean minimum temperatures and minimum temperature anomalies.

Further information

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

Extremes

Hottest day
Highest temperature		 38.1°C at Toorak Research Station on the 4th
Warmest days on average
Highest mean daily maximum temperature		 35.7°C at Julia Creek Airport
Coolest days on average
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature		 22.7°C at Applethorpe
Coldest day
Lowest daily maximum temperature		 14.2°C at Applethorpe on the 28th
Coldest night
Lowest temperature		 5.6°C at Tambo Post Office on the 30th
Coolest nights on average
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature		 9.8°C at Applethorpe
Warmest nights on average
Highest mean daily minimum temperature		 25.5°C at Coconut Island
Warmest night
Highest daily minimum temperature		 26.9°C at Sweers Island on the 3rd
Wettest overall
Highest total rainfall		 690.0 mm at Bellenden Ker Top 
Wettest day
Highest daily rainfall		 153.0 mm at Bamaga on the 12th

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Records


Record lowest total April rainfall
Total rainfall
for April 2007 (mm) 		Previous lowest
for April 		Normal for
April		 Years of
record
Archerfield Airport 5.2 5.3 in 1936 79.6 76
Mt Glorious Fahey Rd 4.0 12.6 in 1991 123.2 74
Somerset Dam 2.6 3.9 in 1986 70.1 71
Beerburrum Forest Station 9.6 11.7 in 1922 114.9 61
Tuan Creek Forest Stn 1.4 11.0 in 1991 94.2 59
Highvale 7.0 8.1 in 1980 67.4 40
Long Pocket CSIRO Lab 4.6 6.8 in 1986 89.5 39
Caloundra Wtp 4.8 26.0 in 1978 161.0 30
Greenslopes Private Hospital 4.5 4.6 in 1991 95.2 30
Town of 1770 13.2 22.8 in 1993 112.1 20



Record highest April mean daily maximum temperature
Mean daily maximum
temperature
for April 2007 (°C) 		Previous highest
for April 		Normal for
April		 Years of
record
Taroom Post Office 31.2 31.0 in 1957 28.7 53
Monto Township 29.8 29.3 in 2006 27.7 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 April 2007
Maximum temperatures
for April
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for April
(°C)		 Rainfall
for April
(millimetres)
Mean for
April
2007		 Diff
from
normal		 Highest for
April
2007		 Mean for
April
2007		 Diff
from
normal		 Lowest for
April
2007		 Total for
April
2007		 Normal
for
April		 Rank of
April
2007		 Fraction of
April
normal
North Peninsula (district 27)
Coconut Island 31.7 +0.7 33.7 3rd 25.5 −0.2 23.5 1st 257.4 129.0 normal 200%
Coen Airport 30.4 33.8 30th 21.2 17.5 28th 2.4
Horn Island 30.2 −0.1 32.2 3rd 25.2 0 23.9 13th 233.4 258.1 normal 90%
Scherger RAAF 32.0 35.0 30th 21.9 18.2 22nd 19.8
Weipa Aero 32.1 −0.2 34.0 29th 22.1 −0.7 18.2 22nd 6.8 93.3 low 7%
South Peninsula (district 28)
Lockhart River Airport 29.7 −0.1 30.9 5th 23.0 +0.2 17.7 22nd 87.8 301.2 low 29%
Musgrave 31.2 −0.6 33.5 30th 18.7 −1.3 15.0 23rd 24.2 74.4 low 33%
Palmerville 31.9 −0.3 35.3 30th 17.5 −2.2 13.6 22nd 0.8 49.1 very low 2%
Lower Carpentaria (district 29)
Burketown Airport 34.2 36.2 29th 20.6 17.8 20th 0.0
Burketown Post Office 33.1 0 35.2 30th 21.5 +0.7 18.9 21st 0.0 23.6 lowest 0%
Cloncurry Airport 34.9 +1.3 37.6 27th 19.8 −0.4 16.5 22nd 0.0 23.5 lowest 0%
Croydon Township 33.5 −0.5 36.2 30th 20.7 −0.4 17.2 23rd 20.2 23.3 normal 87%
Julia Creek Airport 35.7 37.4 27th 16.8 13.0 22nd 0.0
Kowanyama Airport 31.9 −1.1 35.1 30th 20.8 −1.2 17.5 23rd 30.2 54.4 normal 56%
Mornington Island 32.0 +0.5 33.7 26th 22.4 −0.9 19.9 20th 10.0 51.7 normal 19%
Mount Isa Aero 33.7 +1.9 36.4 27th 17.5 −1.1 12.5 22nd 0.0 16.5 lowest 0%
Normanton Airport 33.9 36.6 30th 21.7 19.1 21st 0.0
Sweers Island 31.4 32.6 23rd 23.7 20.8 24th 11.0 42.7 normal 26%
Toorak Research Station 35.5 +2.2 38.1 4th 13.3 23rd 0.0 18.3 lowest 0%
Upper Carpentaria (district 30)
Georgetown Post Office 34.3 +1.9 37.0 30th 18.7 −0.7 12.6 20th 0.0 29.1 lowest 0%
Hughenden Airport 32.9 35.8 28th 18.1 13.6 19th 0.0
Richmond Airport 34.8 +1.6 36.4 27th 17.1 −1.7 13.7 17th 0.0 42.0 lowest 0%
Richmond Post Office 34.1 +1.4 36.8 27th 17.2 +0.1 14.5 18th 0.0 22.5 lowest 0%
Barron North Coast (district 31)
Atherton Shire Council 24.2 −0.8 29.8 29th 15.4 −1.6 10.0 30th 84.3 127.9 low 66%
Cairns Aero 29.4 +0.2 31.1 1st 21.1 −0.5 17.8 27th 70.0 202.1 low 35%
Cape Flattery 29.6 30.6 5th 23.8 22.1 7th 41.2
Cooktown Airport 28.5 30.3 29th 22.5 17.2 28th 52.2
Green Island 27.2 −0.8 29.6 1st 23.9 +0.1 22.5 29th
Low Isles Lighthouse 28.7 −0.7 31.3 30th 23.7 −0.5 22.1 15th 129.0 233.1 low 55%
Mareeba Airport 28.4 33.1 30th 17.9 14.0 27th 2.6
Walkamin DPI 26.5 +0.1 31.7 30th 17.1 −1.1 14.2 21st 10.8 54.7 very low 20%
Herbert North Coast (district 32)
Cardwell Marine Pde 28.3 −0.9 30.4 30th 19.9 −0.2 16.8 27th 138.5 211.1 normal 66%
Ingham Composite 29.1 0 33.0 30th 19.4 −0.9 16.9 27th 69.8 205.9 very low 34%
Innisfail 28.5 +0.3 31.0 30th 20.8 +0.4 18.4 27th 120.6 463.4 very low 26%
Lucinda Point 26.9 −1.2 28.8 30th 22.4 −1.0 20.6 27th 37.8 92.4 low 41%
South Johnstone Exp Stn 28.5 +0.4 32.0 30th 19.9 −0.5 17.0 21st 149.8 393.9 low 38%
Townsville Aero 30.3 +0.7 32.4 30th 19.8 −0.8 16.9 18th 4.8 68.0 low 7%
East Central Coast (district 33)
Alva Beach 28.4 −0.8 31.6 30th 20.0 −1.2 16.9 18th 9.0 80.3 low 11%
Ayr DPI Research Stn 29.9 +0.4 33.8 30th 18.4 −0.7 16.0 18th 2.4 50.2 low 5%
Bowen Airport 32.2 30th 20.2 −0.9 16.2 18th 12.4 65.9 normal 19%
Collinsville Post Office 31.2 +0.9 33.6 29th 16.4 −0.6 13.5 18th 1.6 42.6 low 4%
Mackay Aero 27.7 +0.2 30.1 29th 18.7 −0.8 15.5 18th 80.6 186.4 low 43%
Mackay M.O 26.7 +0.1 30.3 29th 20.0 −0.1 17.5 18th 90.2 149.3 low 60%
Proserpine Airport 28.3 −0.3 31.9 30th 18.1 −1.3 15.2 18th 51.6 128.4 low 40%
Samuel Hill Aero 27.0 30.6 29th 17.0 12.9 17th 77.6
St Lawrence 29.8 32.7 30th 17.6 15.2 17th 3.4
St Lawrence Post Office 30.1 +0.8 33.0 30th 18.4 0 15.5 17th 4.1 60.5 low 7%
Williamson 29.9 32.1 29th 17.3 13.0 17th 9.8
Woolshed 26.7 29.6 30th 17.1 13.2 19th 6.0
Yeppoon The Esplanade 26.7 +0.1 28.6 30th 19.5 −0.2 15.8 17th 9.8 67.6 lowest 14%
West Central Coast (district 34)
Charters Towers Airport 30.1 −0.2 33.9 30th 17.0 −1.6 14.8 18th 0.0 27.7 lowest 0%
Moranbah Water Treatment Plant 31.0 +1.5 33.4 28th 17.0 −0.7 15.2 17th 0.3 38.5 very low 1%
Central Highlands (district 35)
Blackwater Water Treatment Plant 31.2 +1.4 33.1 21st 18.7 +0.5 14.3 30th 3.4 29.9 low 11%
Brigalow Research Stn 30.8 +1.8 33.0 21st 15.1 0 11.8 30th 8.8 44.8 low 20%
Clermont Sirius St 31.7 +2.2 34.0 27th 15.7 −0.1 13.0 30th 0.0 39.0 lowest 0%
Emerald Airport 31.5 +1.5 34.1 20th 16.3 −1.0 14.4 17th 3.6 31.4 normal 11%
Rolleston Meteor St 31.0 +1.3 33.4 20th 15.3 +0.4 11.1 30th 12.2 41.6 normal 29%
Springsure Dame St 30.2 +1.3 33.1 20th 16.1 +1.3 10.6 30th 15.2 40.4 normal 38%
Tambo Post Office 31.3 +2.2 34.4 27th 12.7 0 5.6 30th 12.0 37.5 normal 32%
Taroom Post Office 31.2 +2.5 35.0 19th 15.3 +1.2 11.0 30th 8.4 35.2 low 24%
Central Lowlands (district 36)
Barcaldine Post Office 31.7 +1.7 34.5 27th 17.4 +0.6 10.8 30th 3.8 37.5 low 10%
Blackall Airport 31.9 35.3 27th 15.8 7.9 30th 0.2
Isisford Post Office 33.3 +2.6 36.5 27th 16.3 +0.4 12.6 21st 0.4 37.3 low 1%
Longreach Aero 33.1 +1.7 36.9 27th 16.4 −0.1 10.3 30th 0.4 40.0 low 1%
Upper Western (district 37)
Camooweal Township 35.4 +2.5 37.3 27th 18.7 +0.7 15.4 2nd 0.0 14.4 lowest 0%
The Monument Airport 33.9 36.5 27th 17.7 13.8 22nd 0.0
Trepell Airport 34.1 36.9 27th 18.2 15.6 30th 0.0
Urandangi 34.9 +2.6 37.2 20th 17.5 +0.7 13.7 22nd 0.0 13.3 lowest 0%
Winton Airport 33.9 36.8 27th 16.7 13.6 17th 0.0
Winton Post Office 34.0 +1.9 37.4 27th 17.7 +0.6 14.4 30th 0.0 22.1 lowest 0%
Lower Western (district 38)
Bedourie Police Station 33.3 36.5 26th 16.3 12.5 1st 7.5 10.3 normal 73%
Birdsville Airport 33.1 37.2 26th 17.6 10.9 30th 0.0
Boulia Airport 34.0 +2.6 36.7 26th 19.2 +2.2 14.5 1st 0.0 14.1 lowest 0%
Windorah Post Office 33.4 +3.2 36.0 27th 17.1 +1.1 9.4 30th 4.8 20.1 normal 24%
Port Curtis South Coast (district 39)
Baralaba Post Office 31.6 +1.4 34.0 23rd 16.2 +0.2 14.5 14th 31.9 46.0 normal 69%
Bundaberg Aero 28.5 +1.2 29.7 23rd 17.3 −0.2 14.7 17th 15.4 58.9 low 26%
Gayndah Airport 30.1 32.6 6th 15.2 11.9 8th 10.0
Gayndah Post Office 30.4 +1.8 32.6 21st 15.4 +1.1 12.1 15th 23.9 38.1 normal 63%
Gladstone Airport 28.7 +0.7 30.0 28th 19.0 −0.1 16.5 17th 7.4 37.9 low 20%
Gladstone Radar 29.7 +1.4 31.4 28th 19.9 +0.3 18.6 8th 6.4 46.3 very low 14%
Lady Elliot Island 27.1 +0.5 28.7 28th 22.0 +0.2 20.2 18th 15.2 105.2 very low 14%
Monto Township 29.8 +2.2 32.3 19th 13.6 −0.1 9.3 15th 21.6 43.7 normal 49%
Rockhampton Aero 30.3 +1.5 32.8 28th 18.4 +0.5 15.2 17th 3.8 45.0 very low 8%
Rundle Island 25.4 −0.3 28.9 27th 21.9 0 19.7 13th
Sandy Cape Lighthouse 27.6 +0.8 29.5 19th 20.2 +0.3 18.4 15th 29.1 121.5 very low 24%
Thangool Airport 31.3 +1.5 33.9 21st 13.5 −0.6 9.4 15th 12.3 35.6 low 35%
Town of 1770 27.3 +1.0 28.5 30th 19.2 −0.2 17.0 15th 13.2 112.1 lowest 12%
Moreton South Coast (district 40)
Amberley AMO 29.0 +1.8 31.9 18th 13.4 −0.7 10.1 13th 6.4 55.0 very low 12%
Archerfield Airport 28.3 +1.8 30.0 17th 15.3 +0.3 10.2 30th 5.2 79.6 lowest 7%
Beerburrum Forest Station 27.4 28.9 19th 14.7 11.5 30th 9.6 114.9 lowest 8%
Brian Pastures 30.2 +1.7 33.0 6th 15.1 −0.2 10.3 30th 21.7 34.3 normal 63%
Brisbane* 28.0 +1.9 29.0 22nd 17.3 +0.7 12.7 30th 3.2 92.5 very low 3%
Brisbane Aero 26.7 +0.7 28.2 22nd 16.2 −0.1 13.1 30th 12.4 56.6 lowest 22%
Cape Moreton Lighthouse 25.2 +1.0 26.9 22nd 19.9 +0.8 17.0 15th 59.2 147.5 low 40%
Coolangatta 26.1 +1.0 27.5 24th 16.5 −0.5 11.0 30th 38.4 163.2 very low 24%
Double Island Point Lighthouse 25.1 +0.3 27.5 19th 20.1 +0.3 17.4 8th 65.4 132.7 low 49%
Gold Coast Seaway 27.4 +1.9 30.2 17th 17.6 −0.8 11.8 30th 13.4 89.9 lowest 15%
Gympie 28.2 +0.8 30.9 18th 13.7 −0.9 9.3 15th 18.8 83.5 low 23%
Hervey Bay Airport 28.1 31.0 18th 17.2 14.0 17th 43.2
Hinze Dam 26.7 +1.0 29.7 19th 16.5 −0.3 12.7 30th 10.2 124.1 very low 8%
Jimna Forestry 25.4 28.4 19th 12.1 6.9 30th 13.4
Kingaroy Airport 27.1 30.3 19th 11.6 7.1 15th 11.0
Logan City Water Treatment 26.8 +0.5 29.9 17th 16.3 +0.5 13.0 30th 25.7 67.7 lowest 38%
Maleny Tamarind St 24.0 25.5 22nd 14.3 12.5 14th 30.8 193.2 very low 16%
Maroochydore Aero 25.9 +0.3 27.9 28th 16.2 −0.7 11.8 30th 21.6 140.0 very low 15%
Maryborough 27.9 +0.5 29.9 28th 16.5 −0.1 12.6 17th 35.1 87.7 low 40%
Nambour DPI 26.7 +0.5 28.5 30th 15.1 −0.2 10.5 30th 23.8 144.1 very low 17%
Point Lookout 25.8 −0.3 29.0 3rd 19.2 −0.5 17.0 10th 98.2 153.9 low 64%
Rainbow Beach 25.8 −0.3 28.2 28th 17.5 0 12.6 30th 73.7 130.8 low 56%
Redcliffe 26.4 28.3 30th 17.5 15.2 30th 8.2
Tewantin RSL Park 25.6 −0.1 28.5 30th 17.4 −0.7 14.3 30th 77.6 149.7 very low 52%
Toolara 28.1 +0.9 30.4 21st 17.0 −0.6 15.3 9th 46.4 82.7 normal 56%
University of Queensland Gatton 29.2 +2.1 32.5 18th 13.1 −0.6 9.7 30th 2.6 49.1 very low 5%
East Darling Downs (district 41)
Applethorpe 22.7 +1.5 27.5 19th 9.8 +0.2 5.9 11th 24.8 45.3 normal 55%
Dalby Airport 28.7 +1.3 32.5 18th 12.6 −0.1 8.9 12th 14.0 19.3 normal 73%
Goondiwindi Airport 29.1 +1.4 33.1 18th 14.3 +1.4 9.2 30th 24.0 20.4 normal 118%
Inglewood Forest 28.4 32.5 18th 13.6 9.9 30th 16.6
Oakey Aero 27.4 +1.6 31.9 18th 12.9 +1.0 9.3 14th 17.2 33.7 normal 51%
Stanthorpe Leslie Parade 23.3 +1.2 28.8 18th 9.9 +0.4 5.7 11th 31.8 42.6 normal 75%
Texas Post Office 28.6 +1.0 32.2 20th 13.4 +1.5 9.1 30th 32.6 32.6 normal 100%
Toowoomba Airport 24.8 +1.4 29.3 18th 13.6 0 10.4 8th 17.0 27.2 normal 63%
Warwick 26.0 +0.8 30.5 18th 11.8 +0.6 8.2 11th 11.8 25.4 normal 46%
West Darling Downs (district 42)
Miles Constance Street 29.4 +1.5 33.8 19th 13.6 −0.1 9.3 30th 13.6
Maranoa (district 43)
Injune Post Office 29.6 +2.0 34.3 19th 12.4 +0.4 8.9 30th 10.2 41.3 normal 25%
Mitchell Post Office 30.4 +3.0 34.4 27th 11.6 +0.1 7.6 30th 10.8 35.0 normal 31%
Roma Airport 29.4 +1.4 34.1 19th 13.3 +0.6 9.1 1st 17.0 38.5 normal 44%
St George Airport 29.8 +1.8 34.0 17th 14.0 −0.1 9.4 24th 8.2 23.3 low 35%
Surat 29.5 +1.3 33.5 19th 14.3 +1.1 8.5 30th 12.4 31.5 normal 39%
Warrego (district 44)
Bollon Mary St 30.1 +2.3 34.0 17th 14.7 +1.4 10.1 24th 11.2 31.8 normal 35%
Charleville Aero 30.5 +2.4 35.0 27th 13.9 +0.1 8.2 30th 9.6 31.6 normal 30%
Cunnamulla Post Office 30.0 +2.1 33.7 5th 13.3 −0.9 8.9 1st 19.0 27.8 normal 68%
Far Southwest (district 45)
Ballera Gas Field 31.4 35.2 4th 17.1 10.9 30th 3.2
Quilpie Airport 31.9 +2.7 36.0 29th 15.7 0 9.5 30th 3.0 25.4 normal 12%
Thargomindah Airport 30.5 34.0 19th 16.7 13.5 29th 11.0

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Notes

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 1 pm on Tuesday 1 May 2007. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

Normals are long-term means based on observations from all available years of record, which vary widely from site to site. They are not shown for sites with less than 10 years of record, as they cannot then be calculated reliably. *In this case, normals from a nearby suitable site may be included to calculate statistics  (these are marked with an *).

The median is sometimes more representative than the mean of "normal" rain.

The Rank indicates how rainfall this time compares with the climate record for the site, based on the decile ranking (very low rainfall is in decile 1, low in decile 2 or 3, normal in decile 4 to 7, high in decile 8 or 9 and very high is in decile 10).
The Fraction of normal shows how much rain has fallen this time as a percentage of the long-term mean.

Further information

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