Friday, 30 September 2011 - Monthly Climate Summary for Adelaide Metro & Hills - Product code IDCKGC13R0

Adelaide Metro & Hills in September 2011: Warm with a wet finish.

  • Rainfall totals very low for most of September, and remaining below average on the Adelaide plains even after a wet finish to the month.
  • Warmest September maximum temperatures since 2006.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

September rainfall across the metropolitan area was generally below average on the plains, and near or below average in the Adelaide Hills. The total rainfall recorded at Adelaide (Kent Town) for September 2011 was 46.8 mm, which is below the long-term average of 60.6 mm. Most of the rainfall in September was recorded at the end of the month, with 25.4 mm over the last three days. The highest September rainfall for Adelaide occurred in 1992, with 151.4 mm being recorded. The average number of rain days at Adelaide(Kent Town) for September is 14; in September 2011 there were 12 rain days, compared with 13 rain days in September 2010, when the total rainfall was 72.2 mm.

For the first 9 months of the year 451.8 mm has been recorded at Adelaide(Kent Town), which is slightly above the long-term average of 441.1 mm for the same period. The rainfall for the year to date is 451.8mm as against the average to the end of September of 441.1mm. With drier than average conditions for most months from April onwards, a significant part of this total was from the well above average rainfall in the first three months of the year.

Note that the rainfall readings used here for climate records are from the manual Kent Town 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 30 to 50 mm, typically below or near average at individual locations. In the Adelaide Hills rainfall totals were generally between 50 and 100 mm, but tended to be near or below average for September. The highest rainfall total recorded was 119.4 mm at Bridgewater.

Temperature

Maximum temperatures were warmer than average across the Adelaide Metropolitan area and Hills during September. At Adelaide (Kent Town) the mean maximum temperature for September was 20.8 °C, which is 1.9 °C above the long-term mean of 18.9 °C, and the warmest September since 2007 when it was also 20.8°C . Last year, in contrast, was 2°C below the long-term September mean maximum temperature.

A run of days with maximum temperatures well above average occurred mid-September, but maximum temperatures were quite variable for the rest of the month. Parafield Airport was the warmest location this September with a mean maximum temperature of 21.5 °C. The coolest location was Mount Lofty, where maximum temperatures averaged 14.9 °C, and the coldest maximum temperature of 7.9 °C was recorded on the 10th. The hottest maximum temperature recorded in the Adelaide Metropolitan and Hills area was 32.8 °C at Edinburgh on the 17th. The hottest day this month at Adelaide (Kent Town) was 31.5 °C on the 27th. 2 days above 30°C were recorded this month. There are only four other Septembers in the complete Adelaide temperature record back to 1878 that have two or more days above 30°C.

Minimum temperatures were slightly above average across the Hills and Metropolitan area during September. The mean minimum temperature at Adelaide (Kent Town) was 10.2 °C, which is 0.5 °C above the long-term mean minimum temperature of 9.7 °C. This is the highest September mean minimum temperature since 2009, where 10.5 °C was recorded.

The coldest minimum temperature recorded in the Adelaide Metropolitan and Hills area was 1.2 °C at Edinburgh on the 25th, and the warmest night was 19.2 °C at Noarlunga on the 3rd.

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 in September 2011
Hottest day 32.8 °C at Edinburgh RAAF on the 17th
Warmest days on average 21.5 °C at Parafield Airport
Coolest days on average 14.9 °C at Mount Lofty
Coldest day 7.9 °C at Mount Lofty on the 10th
Coldest night 1.2 °C at Edinburgh RAAF on the 25th
Coolest nights on average 6.5 °C at Mount Lofty
Warmest nights on average 10.3 °C at Noarlunga
Warmest night 19.2 °C at Noarlunga on the 3rd
Warmest on average overall 15.6 °C at Adelaide (Kent Town)
Coolest on average overall 10.7 °C at Mount Lofty
Wettest overall 119.4 mm at Bridgewater
Highest wind gust 81 km/h at Edinburgh RAAF on the 28th
81 km/h at Parafield Airport on the 28th


Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for September 2011
Maximum temperatures
for September
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for September
(°C)		 Rainfall
for September
(millimetres)
Mean for
September
2011		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
September
2011		 Mean for
September
2011		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
September
2011		 Total for
September
2011		 Average
for
September		 Rank of
September
2011		 Fraction of
September
average
Adelaide (Kent Town) 20.8 +1.9 31.5 27th 10.2 +0.5 5.0 12th 46.8 60.2 low 78%
Adelaide Airport 20.7 +2.6 31.1 27th 9.3 +0.4 4.3 13th 40.0 46.1 average 87%
Edinburgh RAAF 21.2 +2.4 32.8 17th 8.2 +0.2 1.2 25th 33.2 48.4 average 69%
Mount Barker 18.3 +1.9 28.3 27th 6.7 +0.9 2.0 12th 93.8 85.6 average 110%
Mount Lofty 14.9   25.4 27th 6.5   2.5 25th 87.2
Noarlunga 20.3   30.4 27th 10.3   5.5 12th 41.6
Parafield Airport 21.5 +2.7 32.7 27th 8.5 +0.3 2.6 12th 48.6 44.4 average 109%

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Notes

A Monthly Climate Summary is prepared to list the main features of the weather in Adelaide Metro & Hills using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated. Later information, including data that has had greater opportunity for quality control, will be presented in the Monthly Weather Review, usually published in the fourth week of the month.

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 11 am on Friday 30 September 2011. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

Averages 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 long-term average 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, 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 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