Monday, 4 January 2021 - Monthly Climate Summary for Remote Islands and Antarctica - Product code IDCKGC1RR0
Remote Islands and Antarctica in December 2020
Jump to a map of the areas covered in this summary
Australia's Indian Ocean islands: some wet days
- Both Christmas Island Aero and Cocos Island Airport recorded close to average rainfall for the month.
- Christmas Island Aero recorded 74.4 mm on the 8th, its wettest day since March and wettest December day since 2017.
- Mean daytime and night-time temperatures were close to average at both Christmas Island Aero and Cocos Island Airport.
Australia's Pacific Ocean islands: warm days and nights
- December rainfall was slightly below average at Lord Howe Island Aero and Norfolk Island Aero.
- Lord Howe Island Aero recorded 42.8 mm on the 8th during the passage of a low pressure trough, its highest daily total in December since 2017.
- Both daytime and night-time temperatures were warmer than average at Lord Howe Island Aero and Norfolk Island Aero.
- Temperatures were cooler than average near the middle of the month at both sites, but most days and nights had temperatures close to or warmer than average.
Australia's Antarctic and sub-Antarctic territories: cooler than average
- Total wind run for December was above average at Mawson and Macquarie Island, but close to average at Davis and below average at Casey.
- The total monthly wind run was the highest in December at Mawson since 2017, and highest in December at Macquarie Island since 1999.
- The strongest wind gust recorded for the month was 150 km/h at Mawson on the 16th.
- The mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures at Australia's Antarctic stations were cooler than average during December.
- Davis had its lowest December mean daily maximum temperature since 1999.
- Casey had its lowest December mean daily minimum temperature since 1999.
- The cooler than average maxima and minima meant that both Davis and Casey had their lowest December mean temperature since 1999.
- Rainfall at Macquarie Island was close to average, with regular falls during the month.
- After a cool start to the month, Macquarie Island finished December with warmer than average days and nights.
- The mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures at Macquarie Island were both warmer than average.
Further information
- Media
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top
| Lowest December mean daily maximum temperature for at least 20 years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Observed (°C) |
Most recent lower |
Average for December |
|||
| Davis | 1.3 | 0.3 | in 1999 | 2.5 | |
| Lowest December mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Observed (°C) |
Most recent lower |
Average for December |
|||
| Casey | -4.9 | -5.4 | in 1999 | -3.7 | |
| Lowest December mean temperature for at least 20 years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Observed (°C) |
Most recent lower |
Average for December |
|||
| Casey | -2.3 | -2.8 | in 1999 | -1.1 | |
| Davis | -1.0 | -2.1 | in 1999 | 0.2 | |
Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top
| Summary statistics for December 2020 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Precipitation (millimetres) |
||||||||||
| Mean for December 2020 |
Diff from average |
Highest for December 2020 |
Mean for December 2020 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for December 2020 |
Total for December 2020 |
Average for December |
Rank of December 2020 |
Fraction of December average |
|||
| Offshore Islands (district 200) | ||||||||||||
| Christmas Island Aero | 27.6 | -0.2 | 29.4 | 10th | 22.5 | -0.1 | 19.8 | 21st | 244.2 | 223.5 | average | 109% |
| Cocos Island Airport | 29.2 | -0.2 | 30.2 | 9th | 24.8 | +0.2 | 22.7 | 12th | 102.8 | 117.3 | average | 88% |
| Lord Howe Island Aero | 24.6 | +0.5 | 27.0 | 22nd | 20.1 | +0.8 | 14.2 | 11th | 76.8 | 100.0 | average | 77% |
| Norfolk Island Aero | 23.9 | +0.5 | 25.9 | 8th | 18.6 | +0.7 | 16.0 | 3rd | 50.8 | 85.0 | average | 60% |
| Antarctica and Macquarie Island (district 300) | ||||||||||||
| Casey | 0.4 | -1.1 | 2.9 | 26th | -4.9 | -1.2 | -9.4 | 15th | 5.2 | 13.0 | low | 40% |
| Davis | 1.3 | -1.2 | 5.7 | 26th | -3.2 | -1.1 | -7.8 | 12th | 2.4 | 1.9 | high | 126% |
| Macquarie Island | 8.6 | +0.6 | 10.9 | 27th | 4.8 | +0.5 | 1.5 | 4th | 87.8 | 80.9 | average | 109% |
| Mawson | 1.8 | -0.3 | 5.7 | 29th | -4.2 | -0.9 | -7.3 | 15th | ||||
| Note: Precipitation values from Casey and Davis should be used with caution. | ||||||||||||
Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top
| Daily maximum temperatures for December 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 | 29.0 | 27.5 | 28.0 | 27.7 | 26.7 | 26.7 | 26.2 | 25.0 | 27.5 | 29.4 | 28.3 | 27.0 | 26.6 | 27.6 | 27.3 | 26.5 | 27.4 | 27.1 | 27.7 | 28.0 | 27.0 | 27.6 | 27.7 | 28.0 | 28.5 | 28.7 | 27.8 | 27.7 | 28.0 | 28.4 | 27.5 |
| Cocos Island Airport | 29.3 | 29.5 | 29.4 | 29.5 | 29.4 | 29.7 | 30.0 | 29.9 | 30.2 | 29.7 | 29.2 | 29.3 | 28.7 | 29.3 | 29.9 | 27.4 | 28.3 | 29.0 | 29.1 | 29.3 | 29.3 | 29.0 | 28.2 | 28.5 | 29.6 | 28.5 | 29.3 | 29.9 | 29.7 | 28.8 | 28.3 |
| Lord Howe Island Aero | 24.1 | 26.2 | 22.8 | 24.7 | 25.3 | 25.0 | 25.5 | 25.0 | 22.1 | 23.3 | 23.3 | 20.9 | 22.3 | 22.8 | 24.5 | 25.2 | 24.7 | 25.6 | 26.6 | 26.5 | 25.5 | 27.0 | 24.4 | 23.2 | 24.4 | 23.6 | 24.5 | 25.8 | 26.4 | 25.5 | 24.9 |
| Norfolk Island Aero | 22.5 | 22.3 | 23.2 | 23.5 | 25.3 | 25.9 | 25.5 | 25.9 | 23.9 | 24.0 | 23.4 | 23.7 | 21.0 | 22.7 | 25.0 | 25.0 | 23.9 | 24.0 | 24.8 | 24.0 | 24.7 | 24.9 | 25.8 | 23.7 | 23.3 | 23.0 | 23.1 | 23.9 | 23.5 | 22.2 | |
| 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 | -1.5 | -0.8 | -0.2 | -1.0 | -0.2 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 1.4 | -0.8 | 0.1 | -0.3 | -0.9 | 0.7 | -0.3 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.0 | -0.7 | -0.1 | 0.2 | -0.3 | 1.3 | 2.9 | -0.1 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 2.7 |
| Davis | -0.4 | -0.6 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 3.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -0.5 | -2.5 | -0.5 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 5.7 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 4.0 | 2.1 | 3.3 |
| Macquarie Island | 8.4 | 8.7 | 6.1 | 4.2 | 6.8 | 8.4 | 9.7 | 7.2 | 8.2 | 6.1 | 5.7 | 7.2 | 9.0 | 8.4 | 9.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 | 8.3 | 9.0 | 10.6 | 10.5 | 10.6 | 10.4 | 9.8 | 8.2 | 9.4 | 10.9 | 9.1 | 10.0 | 10.5 | 10.4 |
| Mawson | -2.8 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 0.7 | -0.2 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 5.2 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 4.1 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 5.7 | 3.8 | 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 December 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 | 24.0 | 23.1 | 23.2 | 23.1 | 23.5 | 24.0 | 23.1 | 22.4 | 20.3 | 23.0 | 23.0 | 22.6 | 21.5 | 23.5 | 23.6 | 22.3 | 22.4 | 22.2 | 21.6 | 21.3 | 19.8 | 20.7 | 21.2 | 21.3 | 22.7 | 23.2 | 23.6 | 23.0 | 23.2 | 22.7 | 22.4 |
| Cocos Island Airport | 26.0 | 23.8 | 23.9 | 26.1 | 26.2 | 26.0 | 25.2 | 24.9 | 25.0 | 25.6 | 23.8 | 22.7 | 22.9 | 23.6 | 25.4 | 23.5 | 24.1 | 24.9 | 24.9 | 25.4 | 25.2 | 26.0 | 24.5 | 24.5 | 25.4 | 24.6 | 24.6 | 25.2 | 26.3 | 24.8 | 24.4 |
| Lord Howe Island Aero | 18.4 | 20.5 | 19.5 | 20.2 | 22.1 | 21.8 | 22.8 | 19.6 | 18.6 | 15.0 | 14.2 | 19.0 | 19.4 | 20.1 | 20.6 | 21.4 | 21.4 | 21.5 | 21.7 | 21.6 | 22.8 | 21.9 | 20.2 | 18.4 | 18.4 | 18.5 | 19.7 | 20.9 | 20.2 | 22.7 | 21.2 |
| Norfolk Island Aero | 18.0 | 16.5 | 16.0 | 16.4 | 17.9 | 20.4 | 20.9 | 21.4 | 22.6 | 18.5 | 17.0 | 17.1 | 19.0 | 19.5 | 19.6 | 19.5 | 19.2 | 19.0 | 18.3 | 18.6 | 18.9 | 17.4 | 17.7 | 20.3 | 18.2 | 17.9 | 16.4 | 16.9 | 18.3 | 19.5 | |
| 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 | -6.5 | -5.1 | -7.1 | -4.6 | -4.4 | -3.9 | -3.7 | -5.6 | -5.7 | -6.3 | -2.8 | -3.3 | -3.7 | -4.6 | -9.4 | -6.8 | -7.4 | -6.7 | -5.5 | -4.0 | -7.8 | -7.7 | -6.8 | -6.5 | -3.7 | -2.3 | -2.0 | -2.8 | -2.4 | -2.0 | -1.4 |
| Davis | -4.7 | -3.3 | -3.9 | -6.1 | -5.4 | -4.3 | -2.2 | -2.8 | -4.6 | -4.6 | -4.9 | -7.8 | -5.5 | -3.5 | -3.7 | -2.5 | -1.5 | -2.2 | -2.2 | -2.4 | -1.8 | -2.4 | -2.9 | -0.9 | -4.5 | -2.1 | -0.2 | 0.4 | -2.0 | -2.2 | -3.4 |
| Macquarie Island | 3.5 | 6.9 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 5.8 | 4.8 | 3.5 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 4.4 | 6.2 | 7.3 | 2.5 | 5.3 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 5.2 | 6.8 | 6.3 | 7.2 | 5.3 | 2.0 | 3.2 | 7.6 | 8.4 | 5.6 | 7.0 | 5.7 |
| Mawson | -5.9 | -5.0 | -4.0 | -2.3 | -5.4 | -5.2 | -5.5 | -6.1 | -6.3 | -6.5 | -5.6 | -3.4 | -5.4 | -4.1 | -7.3 | -5.5 | -4.7 | -4.4 | -5.2 | -4.3 | -2.7 | -3.4 | -3.1 | -2.6 | -4.8 | -3.0 | -2.8 | -1.5 | 0.3 | -1.4 | -2.9 |
|
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 December 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 | - | 11.4 | 32.0 | 16.6 | 19.8 | 1.8 | 12.4 | 74.4 | 54.2 | 0.2 | 2.2 | - | - | - | 0.6 | 2.8 | 0.2 | 4.8 | 0.2 | - | - | 0.2 | - | - | - | - | 1.6 | - | - | 8.8 | ||
| Cocos Island Airport | - | 0.4 | 2.4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.6 | 2.0 | 1.6 | - | - | 22.8 | 0.4 | - | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 25.2 | 0.4 | 19.4 | 10.2 | - | - | 4.4 | 12.8 | |
| Lord Howe Island (Milky Way) | 5.0 | - | 0.6 | 0.4 | - | - | 1.6 | 46.4 | 6.4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.6 | 1.2 | - | - | 0.6 | 6.8 | 0.6 | - | 6.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 6.4 | - | 0.2 | |
| Lord Howe Island Aero | 3.0 | - | 2.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | - | 1.8 | 42.8 | 6.2 | - | - | 0.4 | - | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | - | - | - | 0.6 | 7.6 | 1.2 | - | 1.6 | 0.2 | - | 8.6 | - | - | |
| Norfolk Island Aero | 1.0 | 0.2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.6 | 16.4 | - | 27.6 | 0.4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 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 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.6 | 0.2 | 3.8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 0.2 | - | 0.2 | - | - | - | ||
| Davis | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.2 | - | - | - | 0.2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| Macquarie Island | 5.8 | 14.4 | 5.0 | 1.4 | - | - | 11.0 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 7.6 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 3.4 | 1.6 | 0.6 | - | - | - | 1.8 | 6.4 | 0.6 | - | - | 8.6 | 1.6 | 0.8 | |
|
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 lists the main features of the weather in Australia's 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 4 January 2021. 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
