Thursday, 2 March 2023 - Monthly Climate Summary for Remote Islands and Antarctica - Product code IDCKGC1RR0
Remote Islands and Antarctica in February 2023
Jump to a map of the areas covered in this summary
Australia's Indian Ocean islands
- Both Christmas Island Aero site and Cocos Island Airport site experienced equipment issues on many days during February. As a result, daily rainfall totals for those days and the monthly rainfall total are not known.
- Due to equipment issues on 10 days, mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures for the Christmas Island Aero site are also not known.
- At Cocos Island Airport, both mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were cooler than average.
- Cocos Island Airport had its lowest February mean daily minimum and lowest February mean temperatures since 2001.
Australia's Pacific Ocean islands
- Lord Howe Island Aero had monthly rainfall total of 107.2 mm, which was slightly above the February average.
- Mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were below the February average at Lord Howe Island Aero.
- Lore Howe Island Aero had its lowest February temperature on record on the 26th; it also had its lowest February mean daily minimum temperature on record and lowest February mean temperature on record.
- The month was wetter than average at Norfolk Island Aero; it had a monthly rainfall total of 138.1 mm, which was 35% above the February average.
- At Norfolk Island Aero, more than 100 mm fell on the 11th and 12th, when Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle passed over the island. The strongest wind gust recorded during this event was 102 km/h on the 11th, the 4th strongest February wind gust at this site.
- At Norfolk Island Aero, the mean maximum temperature was equal to average, while the mean minimum temperature was warmer than average.
Australia's Antarctic and sub-Antarctic territories
- Total February wind run was above average at all three Australia's Antarctic stations.
- The strongest wind gust recorded during this month was 156 km/h at Mawson station on the 22nd.
- Both mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were above average at all three Australia's Antarctic stations.
- At Macquarie Island rain was recorded on most days during the month, resulting in a monthly total of around 99 mm, which was 15% above the February average.
- Mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures at Macquarie Island were 0.8 °C and 1.0 °C above average respectively.
- The strongest wind gust recorded during this February at Macquarie Island was 137km/h on the 22nd; this was the 3rd strongest February wind gust at this site.
- At Macquarie Island, total February wind run was close to average.
Further information
- Media
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top
Record lowest February temperature | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for February |
|||
Lord Howe Island Aero | 13.7 | on the 26th | 14.7 | on the 9th in 2022 | 35 | 21.1 |
Record lowest February mean daily minimum temperature | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for February |
||
Lord Howe Island Aero | 19.4 | 20.1 | in 2014 | 34 | 21.1 |
Lowest February mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Observed (°C) |
Most recent lower |
Average for February |
|||
Cocos Island Airport | 24.7 | 24.3 | in 2001 | 25.1 |
Record lowest February mean temperature | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for February |
||
Lord Howe Island Aero | 22.4 | 22.5 | in 1989 | 34 | 23.4 |
Lowest February mean temperature for at least 20 years | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Observed (°C) |
Most recent lower |
Average for February |
|||
Cocos Island Airport | 27.3 | 26.7 | in 2001 | 27.6 |
Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top
Summary statistics for February 2023 | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Precipitation (millimetres) |
||||||||||
Mean for February 2023 |
Diff from average |
Highest for February 2023 |
Mean for February 2023 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for February 2023 |
Total for February 2023 |
Average for February |
Rank of February 2023 |
Fraction of February average |
|||
Offshore Islands (district 200) | ||||||||||||
Cocos Island Airport | 29.9 | -0.1 | 31.0 | 9th | 24.7 | -0.4 | 22.5 | 18th | 44.6 | 190.9 | ||
Lord Howe Island Aero | 25.3 | -0.5 | 26.8 | 4th | 19.4 | -1.7 | 13.7 | 26th | 107.2 | 105.0 | average | 102% |
Norfolk Island Aero | 25.0 | 0.0 | 27.6 | 5th | 20.0 | +0.2 | 17.6 | 19th | 131.8 | 97.4 | high | 135% |
Antarctica and Macquarie Island (district 300) | ||||||||||||
Casey | 0.8 | +0.9 | 4.6 | 3rd | -4.8 | +0.2 | -12.0 | 27th | 12.8 | 15.4 | average | 83% |
Davis | 0.3 | +0.5 | 5.2 | 17th | -4.3 | +0.2 | -9.5 | 11th | 2.8 | 3.8 | average | 74% |
Macquarie Island | 9.5 | +0.8 | 11.4 | 1st | 6.3 | +1.0 | 1.8 | 9th | 99.4 | 86.3 | average | 115% |
Mawson | -0.9 | +0.5 | 2.5 | 7th | -6.3 | +1.0 | -10.0 | 27th | ||||
Note: Precipitation values from Casey and Davis should be used with caution. |
Records Summaries Daily observations Important notes the top
Daily maximum temperatures for February 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
Christmas Island Aero | 25.8 | 27.0 | 24.7 | 27.3 | 24.9 | 26.9 | 27.5 | 29.3 | 28.6 | 28.8 | 28.2 | 28.0 | 26.7 | 27.5 | 28.3 | 26.9 | 26.9 | 27.7 | ||||||||||
Cocos Island Airport | 30.0 | 29.3 | 27.2 | 29.7 | 31.0 | 27.4 | 28.9 | 30.6 | 31.0 | 29.6 | 29.4 | 30.8 | 30.3 | 30.8 | 30.3 | 30.8 | 29.0 | 28.9 | 30.1 | 30.1 | 30.4 | 30.2 | 30.3 | 30.3 | 30.5 | 29.5 | 29.6 | |
Lord Howe Island Aero | 26.7 | 26.5 | 25.8 | 26.8 | 25.8 | 25.7 | 25.4 | 26.0 | 25.5 | 24.8 | 25.9 | 25.5 | 25.6 | 25.6 | 24.6 | 24.8 | 25.0 | 24.9 | 25.6 | 25.4 | 25.7 | 25.6 | 23.4 | 23.5 | 24.7 | 24.5 | 24.7 | 25.4 |
Norfolk Island Aero | 26.6 | 27.5 | 27.1 | 27.6 | 24.1 | 26.4 | 26.0 | 25.9 | 24.1 | 25.0 | 23.3 | 23.7 | 24.5 | 25.0 | 24.6 | 24.9 | 25.0 | 24.8 | 25.1 | 24.6 | 24.0 | 24.5 | 23.7 | 25.0 | 23.8 | 24.1 | 24.6 | |
Antarctica and Macquarie Is. (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 |
Casey | 1.9 | 1.7 | 4.6 | 0.2 | -2.2 | -2.5 | -4.3 | -2.6 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 2.9 | -0.1 | -2.9 | 0.8 | 4.3 | 1.2 | 1.7 | -3.1 | -5.1 | -0.6 | 0.6 |
Davis | 1.1 | -0.2 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 1.9 | -1.0 | -4.2 | -4.1 | -1.7 | -2.0 | -0.6 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 4.2 | 5.2 | 2.3 | 4.9 | 1.4 | 0.7 | -1.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -0.7 | -2.4 | -2.1 | -3.3 |
Macquarie Island | 11.4 | 9.9 | 9.4 | 10.6 | 8.3 | 8.8 | 8.9 | 7.1 | 7.9 | 10.6 | 9.7 | 9.4 | 10.3 | 10.7 | 9.5 | 10.3 | 9.7 | 10.4 | 10.2 | 8.8 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 9.2 | 9.5 | 9.0 | 9.9 | 10.8 | 10.1 |
Mawson | -2.5 | -0.3 | -3.0 | 0.0 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 0.5 | -1.4 | -1.6 | -2.2 | -4.5 | -2.8 | -2.6 | -1.9 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.4 | -1.0 | -3.0 | -1.2 | 2.2 | 0.2 | -3.0 | -3.9 | -3.7 |
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 February 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
Christmas Island Aero | 22.7 | 22.2 | 22.2 | 22.4 | 22.5 | 22.6 | 23.6 | 23.9 | 23.9 | 23.3 | 22.1 | 23.3 | 24.3 | 22.7 | 22.4 | 22.7 | 22.6 | 22.4 | ||||||||||
Cocos Island Airport | 23.1 | 24.4 | 23.8 | 23.6 | 24.3 | 23.6 | 24.2 | 24.3 | 25.9 | 23.9 | 25.5 | 26.0 | 26.2 | 24.9 | 22.9 | 24.3 | 26.0 | 22.5 | 24.0 | 25.6 | 25.7 | 26.0 | 24.3 | 25.5 | 26.3 | 24.5 | 25.1 | 25.0 |
Lord Howe Island Aero | 21.0 | 21.3 | 21.9 | 22.5 | 18.0 | 17.1 | 16.8 | 19.5 | 18.8 | 22.3 | 20.7 | 21.1 | 17.0 | 17.0 | 20.4 | 19.6 | 14.8 | 19.8 | 18.1 | 21.7 | 22.2 | 22.0 | 19.2 | 19.2 | 18.4 | 13.7 | 19.4 | 20.4 |
Norfolk Island Aero | 21.4 | 23.6 | 23.5 | 23.3 | 22.5 | 21.0 | 19.3 | 19.4 | 20.5 | 19.1 | 21.0 | 19.1 | 19.9 | 18.6 | 20.1 | 18.7 | 18.1 | 17.6 | 20.1 | 20.6 | 19.9 | 18.2 | 18.5 | 17.8 | 19.4 | 19.6 | 19.9 | |
Antarctica and Macquarie Is. (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 |
Casey | -4.3 | -3.0 | -1.6 | -3.3 | -7.5 | -9.0 | -8.0 | -9.0 | -10.0 | -6.7 | -0.7 | -0.2 | -0.6 | -1.2 | 0.0 | -0.6 | -0.6 | -1.2 | -4.7 | -9.5 | -7.9 | -3.6 | -1.1 | -1.6 | -7.9 | -10.7 | -12.0 | -7.4 |
Davis | -3.5 | -6.2 | -6.5 | -3.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -2.8 | -5.8 | -5.7 | -7.6 | -9.5 | -5.7 | -5.2 | -3.4 | -2.5 | -3.3 | 0.5 | -2.2 | -1.9 | -2.4 | -4.3 | -5.4 | -4.9 | -2.0 | -3.8 | -5.0 | -8.0 | -8.8 |
Macquarie Island | 8.5 | 7.1 | 5.8 | 5.7 | 7.0 | 5.9 | 4.8 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 7.1 | 8.1 | 7.5 | 8.2 | 7.6 | 6.3 | 6.1 | 6.7 | 7.6 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 6.0 | 6.9 | 8.7 | 6.0 | 6.4 | 5.7 |
Mawson | -8.9 | -7.9 | -6.8 | -5.9 | -4.0 | -2.8 | -1.5 | -8.2 | -7.1 | -8.1 | -9.4 | -8.5 | -9.4 | -9.4 | -7.3 | -5.4 | -3.7 | -1.7 | -2.2 | -2.3 | -6.6 | -7.0 | -7.4 | -4.9 | -5.3 | -5.8 | -10.0 | -9.3 |
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 February 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | |
Christmas Island Aero | 5.8 | 68.6 | 115 | 41.0 | 27.0 | 23.0 | 3.6 | 9.4 | 6.6 | 0.2 | 62.8 | 8.2 | 1.4 | 56.2 | 6.8 | 10.4 | 23.6 | 25.0 | |||||||||||
Cocos Island Airport | 8.6 | 3.8 | 20.4 | 3.4 | - | - | - | - | 4.4 | 0.2 | - | 3.0 | - | - | 0.8 | - | - | ||||||||||||
Lord Howe Island (Milky Way) | 78.2 | 9.4 | - | 0.8 | 9.4 | - | - | 0.4 | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | - | 17.2 | - | - | - | 0.2 | - | - | - | 6.8 | 2.4 | - | - | - | - | |
Lord Howe Island Aero | 74.2 | 8.0 | - | 1.0 | - | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 0.2 | - | - | 12.8 | - | 0.2 | - | 0.2 | - | - | - | 6.6 | 2.6 | 1.2 | - | - | - | ||
Norfolk Island Aero | - | 3.0 | 0.2 | - | 4.0 | - | 2.6 | - | 76.4 | 25.6 | 1.0 | 0.4 | - | 1.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 | - | - | - | 0.2 | 10.2 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 2.4 | |||||
Antarctica and Macquarie Is. (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 | |
Casey | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | - | - | - | - | 0.1 | 2.9 | - | 3.2 | 5.5 | - | - | - | |
Davis | 2.6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Macquarie Island | - | 6.2 | 0.2 | 13.2 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 5.6 | 3.8 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 4.8 | - | 0.4 | 2.4 | 0.4 | 4.8 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 3.6 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 34.4 | 1.4 | - | 1.4 | |
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 third 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 9 am on Thursday 2 March 2023. 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
Unless otherwise noted, all maps, graphs and diagrams in this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence