Wednesday, 31 August 2011 - Monthly Climate Summary for Adelaide Metro & Hills - Product code IDCKGC13R0

Adelaide Metro & Hills in August 2011: Warm and Wet on the plains.

• Hot August nights in Adelaide, and above average maximum temperatures.
• Above average rainfall over the Adelaide plains, tending drier than average in the hills.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

The total rainfall recorded at Adelaide (Kent Town), for August 2011 was 92.4 mm, which is well above the long-term average of 68.2 mm. The highest August rainfall for Adelaide, either at West Terrace or Kent Town occurred in 1852 with 157.7 mm. Much of the rain for August 2011 occurred in the first half of the month, though 22.6 mm was recorded in a single rainfall event on the 17th. The average number of rain days at Kent Town for August is 16; in August 2011 there were 14 rain days, compared with 23 rain days in August 2010, when total rainfall was 115.2.

Note that the rainfall readings used here for Adelaide climate records are from the Kent Town regional office site manual gauge. Some Adelaide rainfall totals on some Bureau of Meteorology web pages may differ as they are from automatic rainfall recordings.

Most of the Adelaide plains received rainfall totals between 50 and 100 mm, typically very close to or above average for August at individual locations. In the Adelaide Hills rainfall totals were generally closer to 100mm, though tending to be slightly below average for August. Several locations did record in excess of 120 mm, with the highest rainfall total being 148.8 mm at Crafers (Mount Lofty).

For the first eight months of the year 405.0 mm has been recorded at Adelaide (Kent Town), slightly above the long-term average of 384.2 mm for the same period. Rainfall totals for the year so far are above average, typically by 20 to 50mm, across the wider Adelaide Plains but tend to be running 20 to 50mm below average through the Adelaide hills.

Some sites had their highest August mean daily minimum temperature for at least 25 years.

Temperature

Maximum temperatures were above average over the Adelaide metropolitan and hills area this August. At Adelaide (Kent Town) the mean maximum temperature for August was 18.0 °C, which is 1.4 °C above the long-term mean of 16.6 °C, and the warmest August since 2009 for Adelaide. Last year, in contrast, was 1.5 °C below the long-term August mean maximum temperature.

A run of days with maximum temperatures well above average occurred at the beginning of August 2011, followed by another period of warmer than average days in the last week of the month. Parafield Airport averaged 18.2°C as the warmest location this August, compared with 12.0°C at the coolest location, Mount Lofty, which also had the coldest daytime maximum temperature of 7.7°C on the 8th. The hottest maximum temperature recorded in the Adelaide metropolitan and hills area was 25.8 °C at Edinburgh Airport on the 3rd.

Minimum temperatures were above average to very much above average across the Adelaide metropolitan and hills area this August. The mean minimum temperature for August 2011 at Adelaide (Kent Town) was 9.2 °C, which is 1.0 °C above the long-term August mean minimum temperature of 8.2 °C. This is the highest August average minimum temperature since 2009 when 9.4°C was recorded. In August last year, the mean minimum temperature was 8.0 °C.

The coldest minimum temperature recorded in the Adelaide metropolitan and hills area was 1.2 °C on the 31st at Mount Barker, whilst the warmest night was 14.9 °C at Noarlunga on the 1st.

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Extremes in August 2011
Hottest day	25.8 °C at Edinburgh RAAF on the 3rd
Warmest days on average	18.2 °C at Parafield Airport
Coolest days on average	12.0 °C at Mount Lofty
Coldest day	7.7 °C at Mount Lofty on the 8th
Coldest night	1.2 °C at Mount Barker on the 31st
Coolest nights on average	6.7 °C at Mount Barker
Warmest nights on average	9.9 °C at Noarlunga
Warmest night	14.9 °C at Noarlunga on the 1st
Warmest on average overall	13.7 °C at Adelaide (Kent Town)
Coolest on average overall	9.5 °C at Mount Lofty
Wettest overall	149.6 mm at Crafers (Mt Lofty)
Highest wind gust	69 km/h at Noarlunga on the 16th 69 km/h at Mount Lofty on the 17th

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Highest August mean daily minimum temperature for at least 25 years
	Mean daily minimum temperature for August 2011 (°C)	Most recent August at least this warm		Years since warmer	Average for August
Mount Barker	6.7	6.8	in 1945	66	4.9

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Summary statistics for August 2011
	Maximum temperatures for August (°C)				Minimum temperatures for August (°C)				Rainfall for August (millimetres)
	Mean for August 2011	Diff from average	Highest for August 2011		Mean for August 2011	Diff from average	Lowest for August 2011		Total for August 2011	Average for August	Rank of August 2011	Fraction of August average
Adelaide (Kent Town)	18.0	+1.4	24.6	3rd	9.2	+1.0	5.4	28th	92.4	68.9	high	134%
Adelaide Airport	17.3	+1.4	23.7	3rd	8.2	+0.7	4.0	31st	57.4	50.2	average	114%
Edinburgh RAAF	17.7	+1.2	25.8	3rd	7.1	+0.6	2.1	30th	62.4	50.0	average	125%
Mount Barker	15.5	+1.3	23.0	3rd	6.7	+1.8	1.2	31st	79.8	102.4	average	78%
Mount Lofty	12.0		19.1	3rd	6.9		3.3	30th	124.8
Noarlunga	17.2		22.3	3rd	9.9		6.1	30th	28.8
Parafield Airport	18.2	+2.0	25.6	3rd	7.4	+0.7	1.9	30th	55.6	54.0	average	103%

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

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