Remote Islands and Antarctica in August 2023

Australia's Indian Ocean islands

  • Christmas Island Aero was wetter than average in August, with a monthly rainfall total of 61.4 mm, compared to the long-term August rainfall average of 42.2 mm.
  • At Christmas Island Aero, the mean maximum temperature equalled the long-term average, while the mean minimum temperature was 0.2 °C warmer than average.
  • Rainfall at Cocos Island Aero was 21.8 mm, which was very much below the site's August average rainfall of 119.8 mm.
  • At Cocos Island Aero, both the mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were 0.1 °C cooler than average.

Australia's Pacific Ocean islands

  • Total August rainfall for Lord Howe Island Aero was 93.0 mm, which was close to the August average rainfall of 110.2 mm.
  • The mean maximum temperature at Lord Howe Island Aero was 0.2 °C above average, while the mean minimum temperature equalled the long-term average.
  • On the 7th, Lord Howe Island had its lowest August temperature on record of 6.4 °C, this was the coldest minimum temperature since 2011 at 6.6 °C. The average minimum temperature for August is 13.5 °C.
  • Total August rainfall for Norfolk Island Aero was 63.4 mm, which was 51% of the August long-term average of 124.8 mm.

Australia's Antarctic and sub-Antarctic territories

  • The strongest wind gust recorded at Australia's Antarctic stations in August was 165 km/h at Casey on the 25th.
  • Both mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were below average at Australian Antarctic stations.
  • During the first ten days of August, Davis recorded mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures close to 10 °C lower than the long-term average for August.
  • Davis had its lowest August mean daily maximum temperature for since 1982, at -20.4 °C. The average for August is -13.9 °C.
  • Davis equalled its lowest August mean daily minimum temperature on record, -27.7 °C, the equal lowest since 1982. The average for August is -20.5 °C.
  • At Macquarie Island, both mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures were less than 1.0 °C above average.
  • The monthly rainfall total Macquarie Island was 126.4 mm, above the long-term August average of 77.2 mm.
  • The strongest wind gust at Macquarie Island was recorded on 31st at 115 km/h.

Lowest August mean daily maximum temperature for at least 20 years
Observed
(°C)
Most recent
lower
Average for
August
Davis -20.4 -22.4 in 1982 -13.9



Record lowest August temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Average for
August
Lord Howe Island Aero 6.4 on the 7th 6.6 on the 5th in 2011 35 13.5



Record lowest August mean daily minimum temperature
New record
(°C)
Old
record
Years of
record
Average for
August
Davis -27.7 = -27.7 in 1982 62 -20.5



Lowest August mean temperature for at least 20 years
Observed
(°C)
Most recent
lower
Average for
August
Davis -24.0 -25.1 in 1982 -17.2



Summary statistics for August 2023
Maximum temperatures
(°C)
Minimum temperatures
(°C)
Precipitation
(millimetres)
Mean for
August
2023
Diff
from
average
Highest for
August
2023
Mean for
August
2023
Diff
from
average
Lowest for
August
2023
Total for
August
2023
Average
for
August
Rank of
August
2023
Fraction of
August
average
Offshore Islands
Christmas Island Aero 26.1 0.0 27.1 15th 22.4 +0.2 20.3 17th 61.4 42.2 high 145%
Cocos Island Airport 28.0 -0.1 29.9 29th 23.9 -0.1 21.7 15th 21.8 119.8 v low 18%
Lord Howe Island Aero 19.3 +0.2 21.8 23rd 13.5 0.0 6.4 7th 93.0 110.2 average 84%
Norfolk Island Aero 17.8 -0.6 20.1 13th 12.5 -0.8 9.7 18th 63.4 124.8 low 51%
Antarctica and Macquarie Island
Casey -12.7 -1.9 -2.2 15th -20.4 -1.8 -30.8 3rd 9.1 18.7 low 49%
Davis -20.4 -6.5 -10.7 16th -27.7 -7.2 -39.3 8th 4.1 6.6 average 62%
Macquarie Island 5.8 +0.7 7.6 3rd 2.1 +0.5 -1.9 2nd 126.4 77.2 v high 164%
Mawson -16.9 -1.7 -7.5 23rd -24.3 -2.9 -32.3 8th
Note: Precipitation values from Casey and Davis should be used with caution.

Daily maximum temperatures for August 2023
Offshore Islands12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
Christmas Island Aero26.026.723.825.426.225.926.526.926.326.626.626.126.226.827.124.824.525.325.826.026.725.526.326.825.826.526.426.226.426.126.6
Cocos Island Airport28.128.126.527.327.927.828.528.528.428.728.628.327.128.227.327.226.826.927.428.728.328.328.327.928.728.328.429.928.128.9
Lord Howe Island Aero19.318.918.318.918.719.118.517.519.119.720.119.819.618.419.620.617.919.019.620.721.820.019.519.419.418.618.319.720.7
Norfolk Island Aero19.418.616.517.017.317.317.517.716.916.717.619.420.118.619.817.316.918.519.018.618.816.216.016.516.417.217.717.418.418.819.0
Antarctica and Macquarie Island12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
Casey-17.7-24.8-16.9-14.4-13.0-13.3-14.0-11.8-14.7-13.7-10.7-9.4-6.2-2.2-2.2-3.1-7.0-5.1-8.6-13.3-18.9-17.5-20.8-15.5-10.2-12.6-15.8-13.8-16.1-16.9-12.0
Davis-17.0-12.8-22.7-27.5-28.6-30.4-31.7-29.5-25.5-23.3-19.1-12.9-12.7-13.9-14.5-10.7-11.4-15.4-19.3-17.9-19.2-20.8-20.7-23.1-22.5-22.1-22.6-20.5-21.4-22.1-21.2
Macquarie Island3.37.47.65.86.83.55.84.16.26.36.15.35.74.94.76.64.66.06.15.77.16.47.26.85.84.85.55.66.16.06.2
Mawson-12.4-11.3-11.3-12.4-23.1-26.9-27.2-14.8-17.7-14.9-17.7-22.1-23.8-20.4-15.6-11.5-10.2-17.0-19.5-20.9-20.2-9.4-7.5-9.5-18.8-16.2-13.1-15.2-19.5-20.4-22.5
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 August 2023
Offshore Islands12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
Christmas Island Aero22.722.623.021.723.322.423.123.023.122.822.723.122.122.323.121.520.321.020.622.322.723.122.822.822.722.622.322.222.422.422.5
Cocos Island Airport23.423.122.623.223.824.425.225.124.924.824.724.523.623.321.722.522.222.522.923.723.424.625.124.324.624.324.523.824.424.624.9
Lord Howe Island Aero14.416.013.914.115.113.76.412.310.87.111.813.613.011.412.66.416.515.513.912.412.717.317.116.415.814.314.013.615.216.9
Norfolk Island Aero12.012.512.112.212.413.912.912.813.011.111.912.613.415.212.314.111.49.714.912.214.713.011.211.011.212.312.611.410.711.715.4
Antarctica and Macquarie Island12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
Casey-22.4-30.1-30.8-30.4-24.7-23.2-23.4-21.7-19.7-23.1-19.3-20.4-14.9-13.8-10.8-8.1-9.8-11.2-12.5-16.8-23.0-24.1-25.9-27.3-24.4-17.8-18.0-19.8-19.0-23.5-23.0
Davis-36.1-26.7-23.7-28.7-34.6-33.9-37.7-39.3-38.6-34.6-30.9-27.1-19.2-15.0-19.9-27.9-23.2-18.2-22.5-24.7-24.8-22.7-27.1-26.7-29.3-28.6-26.7-27.7-27.3-27.9-26.6
Macquarie Island1.6-1.92.31.84.02.31.02.80.93.92.71.22.63.60.6-0.52.11.94.00.81.21.64.62.43.10.90.13.83.62.32.3
Mawson-28.7-15.3-16.4-19.0-24.3-29.0-30.7-32.3-31.8-26.3-22.3-26.5-27.7-28.4-26.5-22.3-16.3-20.3-24.1-25.2-24.2-27.4-26.5-18.8-18.9-26.6-26.0-17.4-22.6-24.9-26.4
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 August 2023
Offshore Islands12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
Christmas Island Aero - - 1.2 23.8 - 1.8 - - - - - - - 0.6 - 3.0 18.4 0.4 10.2 - - 0.2 1.6 - 0.2 - - - - - -
Cocos Island Airport 4.4 - - 0.4 3.2 0.4 - - - - 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.4 4.0 2.2

0.2 - 0.4 3.8 - 0.6 - - - 0.6 0.2 - -
Lord Howe Island (Milky Way) 1.6 - 0.6 0.4 - - - 5.8 12.0 - - 6.4 1.8 0.2 10.8 0.4 - 4.2 40.6 1.4 - - - 1.2 0.2 0.2 4.0 2.0 1.4 1.2 -
Lord Howe Island Aero 2.4 - 0.4 - - - - 4.2 4.0 0.2 9.2 2.8 1.8 0.2 9.6
- 2.8 38.4 1.4 0.8 0.2 - 0.6 - 0.8 8.0 3.6 1.4 0.2 -
Norfolk Island Aero 0.2 2.2 0.4 0.6 2.4 0.2 0.6 - - 0.2 0.4 0.2 - 4.6 10.0 8.6 - 0.4 - 30.0 0.2 - - - - 2.0 0.2 - - - -
Antarctica and Macquarie Island12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
Casey - - - - - 0.7 0.4 1.8 - - -
- 1.5 2.3 0.6 - - - - - - 0.7 -
- 0.7 - 0.4 - -
Davis - - - - - - - - - - - - 2.1 1.8 0.2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Macquarie Island - 1.0 0.6 8.0 0.2 17.8 - 1.6 0.2 5.4 7.6 13.4 8.0 - - - 4.6 0.6 10.6 14.2 1.6 7.4 0.6 3.8 4.2 1.8 0.8 7.0 3.0 2.4 -
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

Map of the areas covered by this summary

Notes

The Monthly climate summary, usually published in the first week of the following 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.

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 12 pm on Monday 4 September 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.

Information about Australian Indigenous seasonal calendars is available at the Indigenous Weather Knowledge website.


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