Thursday, 28 February 2013 - Monthly Climate Summary for Adelaide Metro & Hills - Product code IDCKGC13L0

Adelaide Metro & Hills in February 2013: A warm and dry end to summer

• Slightly below average rainfall, typically 80 to 90% of average on the Adelaide plains and Hills.
• Warmer than average days and nights.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

February 2013 rainfall at Adelaide (Kent Town) was below average, with 11.8 mm received on 4 rain days. The long-term February average is 13.2 mm typically received on 4 rain days, with a median rainfall of 8.4 mm. By comparison, 61.2 mm was observed through February 2012. Rainfall totals elsewhere across the Adelaide and Hills region were mostly below average, with most locations seeing around 60% of the normal February rainfall amount.

Rainfall totals generally ranged between 10 to 15 mm across the Adelaide Plains while totals in excess of 20 mm were observed at some locations in the Hills. The wettest location for the month was at Charleston in the Hills where 33.2 mm was recorded, 23mm of which occurring on the 16th as a low pressure trough combined with high humidity produced showers and thunderstorms across the Mount Lofty Ranges.

Note that the Adelaide official climate rainfall record is taken from the manually observed 203mm rain gauge at the Kent Town site in Adelaide. These figures may differ from totals on some Bureau of Meteorology web pages as these may be from automatic tipping bucket rain gauge readings.

Temperature

Although February 2013 started and finished with cooler than usual temperatures, both monthly maximum and minimum temperatures were above average across the Adelaide Plains and Hills region. The warmest period occurred through the third week of February as a high pressure system located in the Tasman Sea directed light to moderate northerly winds over South Australia, resulting in hot to very hot conditions for most of the State. Adelaide (Kent Town) observed the highest February daily maximum temperature for any location in the region on the 18th with a maximum of 40.5°C.

The average maximum temperature recorded at Adelaide (Kent Town) for February 2013 was 31.1°C, 1.7°C above the long-term average of 29.4 °C. In comparison, February 2012 saw average maximum temperatures of 28.2°C at Adelaide (Kent Town). The record warmest February mean maximum in Adelaide is 33.0°C recorded in February 1906 at the West Terrace site. The warmest days on average through February 2013 were at Parafield Airport, with a monthly average of 31.5 °C. The coldest day during February 2013 was reported at Mount Lofty on the 27th when the maximum reached 14.7 °C.

The mean minimum temperature for February 2013 at Adelaide (Kent Town) was 18.2°C, 1.0 °C above the long term February average of 17.2 °C, and the warmest nights on average for any location in the region. By comparison, February 2012 saw minimum temperatures average 17.2C.

The coldest night during February 2013 in the Adelaide and Hills area was 7.4 °C, observed on the 1st at Mount Lofty, which also observed the coolest nights on average with 13.6 °C. The warmest night was 29.5 °C at Noarlunga on the 18th.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top