Thursday, 1 May 2008 - Monthly Climate Summary for South Australia - Product code IDCKGC13R0

South Australia in April 2008
A fairly average month.

Summary

  • Temperatures, maximum and minimum, were generally within 1°C of normal for the month of April.
  • Rainfall was mainly near average across much of South Australia, tending to below average throughout northern areas of the state.
  • Strong to gale force winds on the 2nd caused widespread duststorms in the Agricultural areas.

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Rainfall

Pastoral Districts

Rainfall over most of the Pastoral districts was generally below average, but some locations in the southern parts of the districts received near normal rainfall for April.

Rainfall totals were generally less than 8mm, with several stations including Coober Pedy, Mount Eba, Moomba and Oodnadatta receiving no rainfall for the month.

The highest rainfall total was 15.0 mm at the Gluepot Reserve in the Northeast district.

Agricultural Districts

Rainfall totals over the Agricultural districts were generally near average.

Totals were typically 20 to 35 mm, tending 35 to 55 mm on the Adelaide plains and the Mount Lofty ranges. Some northern and eastern Agricultural districts only received rainfall totals in the 10 to 20 mm range.

The highest rainfall reported in the Agricultural districts was 88.4 mm at Bridgewater in the Mount Lofty ranges.

See a map of total rainfall.
See a map of rainfall deciles.

Temperature

Maximum

The majority of the state had mean monthly maximum temperatures between 0.5°C and 1.5°C above normal with the higher departure from average in the western regions, up to 2.0°C above average. The regions with mean maximum temperatures below average were confined to the northeastern parts of the state, up to 1.0°C below the average.

Oodnadatta Airport and Marla Police Station recorded the highest daily maximum for the month in the Pastoral areas, with 34.0°C on the 9th and 10th respectively. The Gluepot Reserve recorded the coolest with 12.8°C on the 27th.

Mean maximum temperatures across the Pastoral districts ranged from 28.4°C at Oodnadatta Airport in the Far North district down to 23.4°C at Yunta in the Northeast district.

Mean maximum temperatures across the Agricultural districts ranged from 26.1°C at Port Augusta in the Western Agricultural district down to 15.6°C at Mount Lofty in the Mount Lofty ranges.

The highest daily maximum temperature of 36.7°C was recorded at Nullarbor on the 7th. The coolest daily maximum was 7.3°C at Mount Lofty on the 27th.

Minimum

The western areas of the state, the mean minimum temperatures was up to 1°C above the monthly average whilst the eastern districts recorded mean minimum temperatures up to 1.5°C below the average.

Mean minimum temperatures in the Pastoral districts ranged from 6.5°C at the Gluepot Reserve in the Northeast district, to 13.9°C at Oodnadatta in the Far North district.

The lowest recorded daily minimum temperature in the Pastoral districts was -0.8°C at Yunta, on the 29th. The warmest was 22.5°C at Marla on the 11th.

Across the Agricultural areas mean minimum temperatures ranged from 6.1°C at Coonawarra in the Lower Southeast district to 15.0°C at Neptune Island.

The lowest recorded daily minimum temperature in the Agricultural districts was 0.5°C at Coonawarra in the Lower Southeast district on the 27th. The warmest daily minimum temperature was at Cleve on the 9th when a daily minimum of 21.9°C was recorded.

Some sites had their coldest April day (lowest maximum temperature) on record.

See a map of mean maximum temperatures.
See a map of maximum temperature anomalies.

Some sites had their lowest April temperature on record.

See a map of mean minimum temperatures.
See a map of minimum temperature anomalies.

Wind

Strong to gale force northwest to southwest winds with local severe squalls occurred in most districts on the 2nd in association with the passage of a vigorous cold front. Widespread raised dust was reported inland. Cape Willoughby recorded the strongest northwest wind gust of 137 km/h with several other locations recording wind gusts in excess of 100 km/h mainly in coastal areas.

Further information

South Australian Regional Office
South Australian Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (08) 8366 2600
Email climate.sa@bom.gov.au

Extremes

Hottest day
Highest temperature		 36.7 °C at Nullarbor on the 7th
Warmest days on average
Highest mean daily maximum temperature		 28.3 °C at Oodnadatta Airport
Coolest days on average
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature		 18.3 °C at Parawa (Second Valley Forest AWS)
Coldest day
Lowest daily maximum temperature		 9.5 °C at Mount Crawford Fire Tower on the 27th
Coldest night
Lowest temperature		 -0.8 °C at Yunta Airstrip on the 29th
Coolest nights on average
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature		 6.1 °C at Coonawarra
Warmest nights on average
Highest mean daily minimum temperature		 15.0 °C at Neptune Island
Warmest night
Highest daily minimum temperature		 22.5 °C at Marla Police Station on the 11th
Wettest overall
Highest total rainfall		 95.6 mm at Cudlee Creek
Highest wind gust
 137 km/h at Cape Willoughby on the 2nd

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Records

Record lowest April daily maximum temperature
Lowest daily maximum
temperature
in April 2008 (°C) 		Previous lowest
for April		 Years of
record		 Normal for
April
Strathalbyn 12.4 on the 27th 13.8 on the 23rd in 1965 123 21.8
Yongala 10.0 on the 27th 11.1 on the 23rd in 1972 52 21.9
Renmark 13.4 on the 27th 14.0 on the 8th in 1964 58 24.2
Warooka 14.4 on the 26th 14.5 on the 26th in 1982 49 22.0
Loxton Research Centre 13.1 on the 27th 14.4 on the 27th in 1982 45 23.8
Eudunda 11.0 on the 27th 11.7 on the 26th in 1982 44 21.4
Nonning 15.6 on the 27th 15.8 on the 25th in 1971 37 24.9
Hawker 14.8 on the 27th 15.6 on the 27th in 1992 35 25.5
Kadina 15.4 on the 27th 15.5 on the 27th in 1992 32 23.8


Record lowest April temperature
Lowest temperature
in April 2008 (°C) 		Previous lowest
for April		 Years of
record		 Normal for
April
Cape Borda 6.0 on the 27th 6.7 on the 15th in 1963 66 12.4
Woomera Aerodrome 4.8 on the 28th 4.9 on the 29th in 1952 60 13.0


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Summaries

Summary statistics for April 2008
Maximum temperatures
for April
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for April
(°C)		 Rainfall
for April
(millimetres)
Mean for
April
2008		 Diff
from
normal		 Highest for
April
2008		 Mean for
April
2008		 Diff
from
normal		 Lowest for
April
2008		 Total for
April
2008		 Normal
for
April		 Rank of
April
2008		 Fraction of
April
normal
Northwest (district 16)
Andamooka 26.4 -0.9 33.2 9th 12.9 -1.0 5.2 28th 1.4 12.6 normal 11%
Coober Pedy Airport 26.5   32.3 10th 13.6   6.9 28th 0
Ernabella 27.0   32.2 8th 13.0   7.4 20th 8.2
Marla Police Station 28.0 -0.6 34.0 10th 13.0 -0.6 5.0 28th 0.6 10.8 low 6%
Nonning 24.5 -0.4 30.8 9th 10.2 -0.5 2.8 29th 6.7 14.9 normal 45%
Roxby Downs 26.0   31.9 9th 11.7   2.6 28th 2.4
Tarcoola Aero 26.5   32.2 10th 11.4   3.9 28th 0.6
Woomera Aerodrome 25.4 -0.1 31.8 9th 12.5 -0.6 4.8 28th 3.4 11.1 normal 31%
Far North (district 17)
Leigh Creek Airport 25.6 -0.6 30.7 8th 11.5 -1.4 2.2 28th 1.2 10.1 low 12%
Marree Aero 27.4   32.4 9th 12.6   5.5 29th 1.8
Marree Comparison 27.9 -0.5 33.5 9th 13.2 0.0 6.0 29th 1.8 10.7 normal 17%
Moomba Airport 27.5   32.3 8th 13.7   6.4 30th 0
Oodnadatta Airport 28.3 -0.1 34.0 9th 13.9 -0.4 7.4 28th 0 11.1 lowest 0%
Western Agricultural (district 18)
Ceduna AMO 25.4 +1.2 33.3 8th 11.7 +1.0 4.4 14th 13.8 19.5 normal 71%
Cleve 23.2 +0.5 30.0 8th 12.7 +0.5 6.8 27th 20.2 28.8 normal 70%
Cleve Aerodrome 23.2   30.3 8th 12.1   6.9 27th 18.2 25.7 normal 71%
Coulta 22.7   30.2 8th 12.0   7.0 29th 23.2
Cummins Aero 23.8   31.7 8th 10.7   4.9 18th 18.6
Elliston 24.2 +2.0 32.0 8th 12.5 +0.3 7.1 29th 26.6 27.4 normal 97%
Kimba 23.4 -0.5 29.5 8th 10.9 -0.3 5.6 3rd 23.0 22.3 normal 103%
Kyancutta 25.4 +0.1 32.9 8th 8.8 -0.6 3.4 4th 24.0 19.5 normal 123%
Minnipa DPI 24.0   30.6 8th 11.9   6.9 3rd 19.4
Neptune Island 19.5 0.0 22.8 24th 15.0 +0.1 8.2 27th 30.8 31.4 normal 98%
North Shields 22.0   28.2 24th 11.2   7.2 19th 21.8
Nullarbor 25.9 +1.2 36.7 7th 12.0 +0.5 6.0 14th 11.8 22.2 normal 53%
Port Augusta Aero 25.9   34.0 9th 12.3   4.2 29th 8.0
Streaky Bay 24.2 +0.5 30.9 21st 13.4 +0.7 9.4 4th 20.4 24.0 normal 85%
Whyalla Aero 24.0 +0.2 32.7 9th 10.4 -1.3 4.0 29th 4.8 20.6 low 23%
Wudinna Aero 24.8   31.8 8th 11.0   4.4 4th 22.8
Upper North (district 19)
Hawker 24.1 -1.4 29.4 9th 9.7 -1.3 3.4 29th 10.8 19.6 normal 55%
Yongala 21.9 -0.1 27.9 10th 6.8 -0.3 2.1 14th 32.0 24.8 normal 129%
Northeast (district 20)
Gluepot Reserve 24.1   31.4 10th 6.5   1.2 29th 14.9
Yunta Airstrip 23.2   29.7 10th 6.7   -0.8 29th 4.2
Lower North (district 21)
Clare High School 21.1   27.9 8th 8.3   2.3 29th 35.0
Port Pirie Aerodrome 24.3   31.0 9th 11.5   6.1 29th 35.5
Port Pirie Nyrstar Comparison 24.7 -0.1 31.0 9th 13.7 +0.5 8.0 28th 33.1 27.7 high 119%
Snowtown 23.8   31.2 8th 8.3   2.8 17th 20.0
Yorke Peninsula (district 22A)
Edithburgh 21.0   28.1 9th 12.2   6.3 24th 23.6
Kadina AWS 23.6   29.6 8th 9.1   3.8 29th 36.2
Maitland 22.3 -0.1 28.8 8th 12.2 -0.3 5.6 27th 65.4 43.4 high 151%
Minlaton Aero 22.6   27.9 9th 11.0   6.3 29th 23.0
Stenhouse Bay 21.5   29.2 8th 13.3   6.8 27th 24.8
Warooka 22.0 0.0 27.8 7th 11.8 -0.7 6.2 27th 25.0 33.1 normal 76%
Kangaroo Island (district 22B)
Cape Willoughby 18.8 -0.3 24.9 24th 13.9 -0.2 7.0 27th 27.4 39.6 normal 69%
Kingscote Aero 22.1   27.2 8th 7.1   2.6 23rd 21.6
Adelaide Plains (district 23A)
Adelaide 22.7 +0.1 30.6 9th 12.2 -0.2 6.4 27th 45.0 39.4 normal 114%
Adelaide Airport 22.3 +0.1 30.3 9th 11.5 -0.2 6.7 17th 28.2 34.8 normal 81%
Edinburgh RAAF 22.9 -0.1 30.8 9th 11.3 -0.3 5.6 27th 41.0 30.8 high 133%
Parafield Airport 23.5 +1.0 30.6 9th 11.1 -0.8 4.4 27th 31.4 39.4 normal 80%
Roseworthy AWS 23.1   31.7 9th 9.5   4.3 18th 29.6
County Light (district 23B)
Nuriootpa Viticultural 20.9   28.2 9th 8.1   2.7 23rd 44.6
Rosedale 22.8 -0.3 30.4 9th 10.1 -0.6 5.0 18th 33.9 36.6 normal 93%
Mount Lofty Ranges (district 23C)
Hindmarsh Island AWS 21.2   30.2 8th 10.8   7.5 27th 24.8
Kuitpo Forest Reserve 19.6   27.6 8th 10.7   4.3 27th 49.4
Mount Barker 21.2 +0.8 27.5 8th 7.4 -0.9 2.6 29th 72.0 58.7 high 123%
Mount Crawford Fire Tower 18.6   26.5 9th 9.9   2.1 27th 62.2
Noarlunga 21.7   29.2 9th 13.1   6.9 27th 32.0
Parawa 18.3   26.3 9th 10.7   4.5 27th 46.2
Victor Harbor 20.8   29.9 9th 8.7   3.2 23rd 44.0
Upper Murray Valley (district 24A)
Loxton Research Centre 23.4 -0.4 31.3 10th 7.1 -1.3 1.6 29th 8.6 16.2 normal 53%
Renmark Aero 23.7   31.9 10th 7.3   0.6 29th 7.8
Lower Murray Valley (district 24B)
Eudunda 21.1 -0.3 28.5 10th 9.2 -0.6 3.9 29th 33.0 32.9 normal 100%
Meningie 21.7 +0.1 27.9 8th 10.1 -0.6 5.8 23rd 36.2 37.2 normal 97%
Murray Bridge 23.2   30.1 10th 7.6   2.7 23rd 10.2
Murray Bridge Comparison 24.0 +0.6 30.7 10th 8.6 -1.6 3.9 23rd 12.8 28.7 low 45%
Strathalbyn Racecourse 22.0   30.0 9th 9.3   4.9 23rd 27.2
Murray Mallee (district 25A)
Karoonda 22.9   31.0 10th 8.0   4.5 22nd 14.4 24.7 normal 58%
Upper Southeast (district 25B)
Keith 22.1 -0.4 29.8 10th 8.9 -0.3 3.0 17th 24.2 32.8 normal 74%
Keith 21.9   29.4 10th 6.7   0.7 17th 23.6
Lameroo 22.4   31.0 10th 8.2   3.3 27th 14.6
Lameroo Comparison 22.5 -0.3 30.5 10th 9.0 +0.1 4.0 29th 13.6 27.1 normal 50%
Lower Southeast (district 26)
Cape Jaffa 20.2   27.1 8th 9.9   4.7 27th 42.6
Coonawarra 21.0 0.0 28.1 10th 6.1 -1.5 0.5 27th 26.4 33.9 normal 78%
Mount Gambier Aero 19.7 +0.3 27.6 10th 8.0 -0.6 3.6 28th 40.4 54.6 normal 74%
Naracoorte Aerodrome 21.9   29.0 10th 7.0   2.0 16th 20.2
Padthaway South 21.4   28.4 8th 7.3   0.9 17th 25.2
Robe Airfield 20.4   27.2 8th 8.1   2.6 15th 54.6
Robe Comparison 19.6 +0.8 25.9 9th 11.1 -0.4 5.7 27th 56.6 46.3 normal 122%

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Notes

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 4 pm on Thursday 1 May 2008. 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 20 years of record, as they cannot then be calculated reliably.
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

South Australian Regional Office
South Australian Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (08) 8366 2600
Email climate.sa@bom.gov.au