Monday, 3 February 2020 - Monthly Climate Summary for Remote Islands and Antarctica - Product code IDCKGC1RR0
Remote Islands and Antarctica in January 2020
Jump to a map of the areas covered in this summary
Australia's Indian Ocean islands
- It was a warm month on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, with the mean maximum temperature more than a degree above average and the mean minimum temperature half a degree above average
- There was only 49 mm of rain at Cocos Islands Airport, less than one-third of the January average
- Christmas Island was warmer than usual, with the mean maximum temperature more than a degree above average and the mean minimum temperature half a degree above average, giving the second-warmest January mean temperature on record (behind January 2016)
- Total rainfall of 274 mm at Christmas Island Airport was a little below the January average; most of the rain fell between the 20th and 26th
Australia's Pacific Ocean islands
- Lord Howe Island was almost one and a half degrees warmer than average; the mean temperature was the second-warmest for January (behind January 2019)
- Monthly rainfall of 56 mm at Lord Howe Island Airport was about half of the long-term average, but much more than the record dry January 2019
- Most of Lord Howe Island's rain fell in less than 6 hours on the morning of the 12th
- Norfolk Island had its driest month on record with just 0.6 mm for the whole month; the previous driest month was February 1926 with 2.8 mm, and the previous driest January was in 1946 with 3.7 mm
- Combined with low rainfall in both November and December, the most recent two- and three-month periods are the driest on record for Norfolk Island
- Daytime temperatures on Norfolk Island were almost a degree above average, but minimum temperatures were a little below average
Australia's Antarctic and sub-Antarctic territories
- The mean temperature at Mawson was half a degree above average
- At Davis, the mean temperature was more than a degree above average
- Casey equalled its highest temperature on record with 9.2 °C on the 24th, and also had its highest January daily minimum temperature on record on the 25th
- Casey had its second-warmest month on record, for any time of the year: the mean temperature was 1.5 °C above the January average, and just 0.1 °C cooler than the warmest month (January 2010)
- The mean daily maximum was also second-warmest at Casey (and 0.1 °C behind January 2010), whilst the mean daily minimum temperature was also more than a degree above average
- Macquarie Island was almost half a degree warmer than average
- Macquarie Island's precipitation for the month was very much above average
Further information
- Media
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
- Enquiries
- helpdesk.climate@bom.gov.au
Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top
| Record lowest January total precipitation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
New record (mm) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for January |
||
| Norfolk Island Aero | 0.6 | 3.7 | in 1946 | 127 | 86.6 |
| Record highest January temperature | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for January |
|||
| Casey | 9.2 | on the 24th | = 9.2 | on the 30th in 1991 | 32 | 2.3 |
Also an equal record for any month
| Record highest January daily minimum temperature | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for January |
|||
| Casey | 2.5 | on the 25th | 2.3 | on the 11th in 2014 | 32 | -2.5 |
Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top
| Summary statistics for January 2020 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Precipitation (millimetres) |
||||||||||
| Mean for January 2020 |
Diff from average |
Highest for January 2020 |
Mean for January 2020 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for January 2020 |
Total for January 2020 |
Average for January |
Rank of January 2020 |
Fraction of January average |
|||
| Offshore Islands (district 200) | ||||||||||||
| Christmas Island Aero | 29.0 | +1.0 | 30.8 | 1st | 23.4 | +0.7 | 20.9 | 10th | 273.6 | 296.7 | average | 92% |
| Cocos Island Airport | 30.9 | +1.1 | 31.6 | 30th | 25.5 | +0.6 | 22.3 | 14th | 49.0 | 164.2 | low | 30% |
| Lord Howe Island Aero | 27.0 | +1.6 | 28.5 | 9th | 21.9 | +1.2 | 17.4 | 3rd | 56.0 | 106.0 | low | 53% |
| Norfolk Island Aero | 25.5 | +0.9 | 27.0 | 28th | 19.1 | -0.1 | 16.3 | 6th | 0.6 | 86.6 | lowest | 1% |
| Antarctica and Macquarie Island (district 300) | ||||||||||||
| Casey | 4.3 | +2.0 | 9.2 | 24th | -1.4 | +1.1 | -5.4 | 13th | 3.9 | 9.4 | low | 41% |
| Davis | 4.2 | +1.0 | 6.9 | 18th | -0.3 | +0.9 | -3.0 | 5th | 1.2 | 1.9 | average | 63% |
| Macquarie Island | 9.0 | +0.2 | 10.6 | 27th | 5.6 | +0.3 | 2.5 | 19th | 159.4 | 89.2 | v high | 179% |
| Mawson | 2.9 | +0.4 | 5.5 | 24th | -2.4 | +0.3 | -5.4 | 1st | ||||
| Note: Precipitation values from Casey and Davis should be used with caution. | ||||||||||||
Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top
| Daily maximum temperatures for January 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offshore Islands (200) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
| Christmas Island Aero | 30.8 | 30.0 | 29.4 | 28.3 | 27.8 | 28.9 | 29.2 | 28.7 | 28.7 | 28.9 | 29.1 | 29.7 | 28.1 | 28.7 | 29.5 | 29.1 | 29.3 | 30.1 | 28.1 | 29.0 | 28.6 | 29.5 | 29.1 | 28.9 | 28.4 | 29.4 | 29.6 | 29.0 | 29.1 | 28.1 | 29.4 |
| Cocos Island Airport | 31.4 | 30.8 | 30.8 | 30.6 | 30.9 | 30.9 | 30.5 | 31.1 | 29.8 | 31.3 | 31.6 | 31.1 | 30.9 | 30.7 | 30.9 | 31.0 | 30.8 | 31.2 | 31.4 | 31.4 | 30.8 | 30.4 | 30.2 | 30.6 | 30.5 | 31.0 | 31.1 | 30.8 | 31.0 | 31.6 | 31.2 |
| Lord Howe Island Aero | 26.7 | 26.4 | 26.5 | 26.0 | 28.3 | 27.9 | 24.8 | 26.5 | 28.5 | 27.3 | 28.3 | 24.4 | 26.5 | 27.4 | 26.5 | 25.9 | 27.2 | 26.1 | 26.1 | 27.0 | 27.8 | 27.8 | 27.3 | 27.4 | 28.3 | 27.5 | 27.2 | 26.6 | 27.5 | 28.3 | 28.1 |
| Norfolk Island Aero | 25.8 | 24.6 | 24.8 | 25.3 | 25.4 | 24.7 | 24.2 | 23.7 | 23.4 | 24.5 | 26.1 | 26.2 | 26.4 | 25.9 | 25.8 | 25.4 | 25.7 | 25.9 | 24.7 | 25.1 | 26.0 | 26.4 | 25.2 | 25.7 | 26.4 | 26.3 | 26.3 | 27.0 | 26.1 | 26.5 | 26.2 |
| Antarctica and Macquarie Island (300) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
| Casey | 5.8 | 6.1 | 5.9 | 4.0 | 6.1 | 7.2 | 3.1 | 5.5 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 3.9 | 6.1 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3.0 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 8.3 | 9.2 | 7.6 | 4.5 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Davis | 1.3 | 3.8 | 6.1 | 3.5 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 2.9 | 4.2 | 6.8 | 6.7 | 5.4 | 3.3 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 5.5 | 5.9 | 6.9 | 6.0 | 6.7 | 6.2 | 5.8 | 5.3 | 6.8 | 2.6 | 5.3 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 3.6 | 1.8 |
| Macquarie Island | 9.9 | 8.9 | 8.7 | 9.6 | 7.7 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 9.6 | 8.2 | 9.1 | 9.3 | 7.5 | 8.7 | 9.8 | 9.3 | 8.3 | 6.3 | 7.2 | 9.3 | 10.5 | 9.3 | 10.0 | 10.4 | 10.6 | 9.5 | 10.3 | 10.6 | 9.0 | 9.8 | 8.0 | 9.1 |
| Mawson | 3.3 | 3.9 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 2.5 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 3.9 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 3.1 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 3.1 | 5.5 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 3.0 | -0.6 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 1.5 |
|
Values are the maximum temperature, usually in the 24 hours from 9 am on the day indicated, and typically occurred in the afternoon of that day. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Temperatures coloured according to their difference from the long-term average for the period |
-10.0 | -9.0 | -8.0 | -7.0 | -6.0 | -5.0 | -4.0 | -3.0 | -2.0 | -1.0 | 0.0 | +1.0 | +2.0 | +3.0 | +4.0 | +5.0 | +6.0 | +7.0 | +8.0 | +9.0 | +10.0 | °C | Grey outline marks highest and lowest for the period |
||||||||
| Daily minimum temperatures for January 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offshore Islands (200) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
| Christmas Island Aero | 24.7 | 24.8 | 24.6 | 23.5 | 23.5 | 23.4 | 23.0 | 22.5 | 23.2 | 20.9 | 21.6 | 23.0 | 23.0 | 23.4 | 23.7 | 21.9 | 21.0 | 21.7 | 22.6 | 23.4 | 23.0 | 24.2 | 23.7 | 24.0 | 24.2 | 24.7 | 24.7 | 25.2 | 24.4 | 22.5 | 24.3 |
| Cocos Island Airport | 26.5 | 26.4 | 24.0 | 26.2 | 26.4 | 26.0 | 25.4 | 25.8 | 24.4 | 24.2 | 25.9 | 25.7 | 25.3 | 22.3 | 24.4 | 22.8 | 25.1 | 23.5 | 26.1 | 26.9 | 26.0 | 24.9 | 24.4 | 24.5 | 27.1 | 26.7 | 26.9 | 26.6 | 26.6 | 26.9 | 26.1 |
| Lord Howe Island Aero | 21.8 | 19.4 | 17.4 | 22.2 | 22.6 | 21.1 | 22.3 | 22.5 | 22.9 | 21.0 | 22.4 | 21.1 | 19.1 | 22.8 | 22.6 | 21.6 | 21.9 | 21.5 | 21.7 | 22.0 | 23.2 | 24.1 | 23.7 | 23.8 | 24.1 | 23.3 | 23.1 | 22.5 | 19.3 | 19.4 | 23.0 |
| Norfolk Island Aero | 19.8 | 18.7 | 18.6 | 18.6 | 17.0 | 16.3 | 20.4 | 17.5 | 17.4 | 18.1 | 19.6 | 20.5 | 20.8 | 20.2 | 19.7 | 19.7 | 21.1 | 19.8 | 18.7 | 17.1 | 17.7 | 20.0 | 19.9 | 19.1 | 20.0 | 19.2 | 19.0 | 21.2 | 18.2 | 19.0 | 20.6 |
| Antarctica and Macquarie Island (300) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
| Casey | -4.7 | 0.3 | -1.2 | -0.8 | 1.2 | 1.1 | -2.8 | -1.6 | -0.1 | -1.5 | -1.5 | -1.8 | -5.4 | -2.3 | -0.9 | -2.1 | -3.7 | -3.4 | -0.2 | 1.2 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.7 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 1.1 | -2.5 | -3.4 | -5.0 | -2.6 | -3.3 |
| Davis | -2.3 | -2.8 | -0.1 | 0.2 | -3.0 | -2.2 | -0.2 | -0.2 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | -0.6 | -2.0 | -1.3 | 1.4 | -0.2 | -0.2 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.0 | -0.5 | -2.0 | -1.5 | -1.3 | -1.2 | -1.2 |
| Macquarie Island | 6.8 | 7.3 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 5.2 | 3.5 | 5.4 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 6.7 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 6.6 | 5.8 | 7.3 | 5.1 | 5.5 | 2.5 | 5.6 | 5.3 | 7.5 | 6.9 | 7.2 | 6.9 | 7.4 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 6.0 | 4.6 | 4.0 |
| Mawson | -5.4 | -2.9 | -3.8 | -5.0 | -1.4 | -2.6 | -3.2 | -0.3 | 1.4 | -0.4 | -0.4 | -1.6 | -1.3 | -3.5 | -3.6 | -3.9 | -4.3 | -0.7 | -4.2 | -2.8 | -2.2 | -1.9 | -0.7 | -0.4 | -3.4 | -3.6 | -2.5 | -4.1 | -2.2 | -2.3 | -2.3 |
|
Values are the minimum temperature, usually in the 24 hours to 9 am on the day indicated, and typically occurred that morning. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Temperatures coloured according to their difference from the long-term average for the period |
-10.0 | -9.0 | -8.0 | -7.0 | -6.0 | -5.0 | -4.0 | -3.0 | -2.0 | -1.0 | 0.0 | +1.0 | +2.0 | +3.0 | +4.0 | +5.0 | +6.0 | +7.0 | +8.0 | +9.0 | +10.0 | °C | Grey outline marks highest and lowest for the period |
||||||||
| Daily precipitation for January 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offshore Islands (200) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
| Christmas Island Aero | - | - | - | 41.6 | 5.0 | 5.8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.2 | 2.0 | 5.2 | - | 0.2 | - | - | 58.8 | 23.6 | 19.8 | 4.2 | 37.2 | 27.4 | 10.2 | - | - | - | 17.4 | 13.0 | |
| Cocos Island Airport | - | - | 1.6 | 0.4 | - | - | - | - | 0.4 | 1.6 | - | 1.2 | - | - | - | - | 1.4 | - | - | - | - | 8.4 | 18.0 | 15.0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | |
| Lord Howe Island (Milky Way) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.6 | 43.2 | 2.0 | - | - | 3.6 | - | 2.8 | 4.0 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 0.2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Lord Howe Island Aero | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | - | 0.2 | 0.2 | - | - | 0.2 | 34.8 | 7.8 | 0.2 | - | 0.2 | - | 1.6 | 7.6 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Norfolk Island Aero | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | - | 0.2 | - | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Antarctica and Macquarie Island (300) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
| Casey | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 1.6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.6 | - | 0.8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.7 | - | |
| Davis | 0.2 | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.6 | - | - | ||
| Macquarie Island | 1.0 | 4.8 | 12.8 | - | 19.4 | 13.2 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 0.8 | 22.0 | 3.4 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 3.4 | 16.8 | 1.4 | - | - | - | 27.0 | 0.8 | 7.6 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | - | 6.8 | 2.2 | 3.8 | |
|
Most values are the precipitation in the 24 hours to 9 am on the day indicated.
Days marked with → are part of a longer accumulation, which is shown on the final day. Values over 100 mm have been rounded to the nearest whole millimetre. Days marked with - have a precipitation report of zero; days left blank have no precipitation report (which often indicates no precipitation fell). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Precipitations coloured according to the amount |
0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 15.0 | 25.0 | 50.0 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 600 | millimetres | ||||||||||||||||||
Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top
Notes
The Monthly climate summary, generally published on the first working day of each month, lists the main features of the weather in Remote Islands and Antarctica using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated. More extensive discussion of significant weather events, along with later information and data that has had greater opportunity for quality control, will be presented in the Monthly Weather Review.
This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Monday 3 February 2020. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.
In some situations, some or all of the precipitation is in the form of hail or snow. In these cases the totals given are for the water equivalent: the depth of liquid water that results from melting any frozen precipitation. There can be significant 'undercatch' of snow in strong winds, meaning the true precipitation can be higher than that reported.
Averages for individual sites 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.
The median
is sometimes more representative than the
mean
of long-term average precipitation.
The Rank indicates how precipitation this time compares with the climate record for the site,
based on the
decile ranking
(very low precipitation is in decile 1, low in decile 2 or 3,
average in decile 4 to 7, high in decile 8 or 9
and very high is in decile 10).
The Fraction of average shows how much precipitation has fallen this time as a
percentage of the long-term mean.
Where temperature area averages are mentioned, they are derived from the ACORN-SAT dataset.
Further information
- Media
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
- Enquiries
- helpdesk.climate@bom.gov.au
