Thursday, 31 May 2012 - Monthly Climate Summary for Adelaide Metro & Hills - Product code IDCKGC26L0

Adelaide Metro & Hills in May 2012: Cold nights and a wet end to autumn

• Above average rainfall, typically 20% greater than average on the Adelaide plains, closer to average through the Adelaide hills.
• Cool daytime temperatures with the coldest May day in 25 years.
• Night time temperatures below average and coolest since 2006.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

The May 2012 rainfall total at Adelaide (Kent Town) was slightly above average, with 62.8 mm received on 13 rain days. This is compared to the long-term average of 60.0 mm on 14 rain days, with a median rainfall of 59.8 mm. By comparison, during May 2011, 61.8 mm was recorded.

The wettest periods for the Adelaide and Hills region occurred during the first and last week of May. Much of the rainfall observed for the month came from cold frontal systems, followed by moist south to southwesterly airstreams being directed across South Australia. Despite the first week of May being wet, rainfall remained well below average across the Adelaide region up until the 23rd when a low pressure system with an associated cold front crossed the southern coastal regions of the State. This event produced significant totals in the Adelaide Hills in the persistent moist southerly airstream that followed.

Rainfall totals for May 2012 typically ranged from 40 to 60mm across the Adelaide Plains while totals of 80 to 110mm were observed in the Hills. The wettest location for the month was at Macclesfield in the Hills where 134.6mm was recorded for the month, most of that occurring in the last week of May.

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

Both maximum and minimum temperatures were mostly below average across the Adelaide Plains during May 2012, though tending to slightly above average at some locations in the Adelaide Hills. With respect to minimum (over night) temperatures, the coldest periods occurred between the 15th and 20th as a high pressure system maintained mostly fine and clear conditions across the State. The coldest period, with respect to daytime maximum temperatures, occurred in the latter period of the month when maximum temperatures were up to 6 °C below average in the wake of the passage of a cold frontal system.

The average maximum temperature recorded at Adelaide (Kent Town) for May 2012 was 18.2°C, 0.8°C below the long-term mean maximum temperature of 19.0°C. In comparison, May 2011 saw average maximum temperatures of 18.0°C at Adelaide (Kent Town). The record highest May mean maximum in Adelaide is 22.0°C set in 1934 at the West Terrace site.

The coldest day for May 2012 was reported at Mount Lofty on the 24th when the maximum reached 6.3°C, Adelaide (Kent Town) also recorded a maximum of 12.3 °C on this day, its coldest May day in 25 years.

The hottest day across the Adelaide and Hills region was reported at Edinburgh RAAF with a maximum of 29.3 °C on the 8th and the warmest days on average were at Parafield Airport with a monthly average of 18.7 °C.

Mean minimum temperatures were close to 1°C cooler than average this May. While some locations on the Adelaide Plains were slightly cooler than average, hills locations tended to be slightly warmer than average by up to 0.3 °C owing to above average cloud cover.

The mean minimum temperature for May 2012 at Adelaide (Kent Town) was 9.3°C, 0.9 °C below the long term May average of 10.2 °C. This resulted in the coolest May since 2006. By comparison, May 2011 saw minimum temperature for the month average 10.0 °C.

The coldest minimum temperature recorded during May 2012 in the Adelaide and Hills area was 0.0 °C on the 16th at Mt Barker, whilst the coolest nights on average were recorded at Mount Lofty with 6.8 °C. The warmest night was 16.4°C at Noarlunga on the 1st. Noarlunga also recorded the warmest nights on average with a monthly average 10.5 °C

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top