Monday, 2 July 2012 - Monthly Climate Summary for Adelaide Metro & Hills - Product code IDCKGC16L0

Adelaide Metro & Hills in June 2012: Wet start to winter

• Well above average rainfall, typically 50% greater than average on the Adelaide plains, up to 70% more than average through the Adelaide hills.
• Adelaide's wettest month since June 2005
• Cold daytime temperatures with the coldest June day in 14 years.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

The June 2012 rainfall total at Adelaide (Kent Town) was well above average with 126.4 mm received on 16 rain days, half of which was recorded on two days. This resulted in Adelaide having is wettest month since June 2005 when a total 142 mm rainfall was observed. This is compared to the long-term average of 79.3 mm on 15 rain days, with a median rainfall of 76.8 mm. By comparison, only 37.2 mm was recorded through June 2011. Adelaide Airport had its wettest June in 31 years, recording 105.6 mm of rainfall for the month.

The wettest period of the month for the Adelaide metro and Hills regions was between the 21st and 23rd of June as a cold unstable south to south-westerly airstream was directed over the State. Early in the month, a trough of low pressure moved up from the southeast of the State resulting in 18.2 mm being recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on the 4th at Adelaide Kent Town. Rainfall remained below average across the Adelaide region up until the 21st when a strong low pressure system with an associated cold front crossed the southern coastal regions of the State, producing significant totals, particularly in the Adelaide Hills. The wettest day this June was observed at Belair (State Flora Nursery) where 70.4 mm was recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on the 21st, resulting in a record highest June daily rainfall observation for this location in 125 years. Blackwood (Wittunga) also had a record highest June daily rainfall with 65.4 mm.

Rainfall totals for June 2012 typically ranged from 60 to 100mm across the Adelaide Plains while totals of 120 to 180mm were observed in the Hills. The wettest location for the month was at Aldgate Creek in the Hills where 222 mm was recorded, most of that occurring between the 4th and 5th and later between 21st and 22nd.

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.

Some sites had their highest June daily rainfall on record. Some sites had their highest total June rainfall for at least 25 years.

Temperature

Both maximum and minimum temperatures were generally below average across the Adelaide Plains during June 2012, with coolest days located in the Adelaide Hills. With respect to minimum (over night) temperatures, the coldest periods occurred between the 9th and 11th as a high pressure system maintained mostly fine and clear conditions across the State. The coldest period, with respect to daytime maximum temperatures, occurred later in the month when day time maximum temperatures were up to 5 °C below average in the wake of the passage of a cold unstable airmass.

The average maximum temperature recorded at Adelaide (Kent Town) for June 2012 was 15.3°C, 0.8°C below the long-term mean maximum temperature of 16.1°C. In comparison, June 2011 saw average maximum temperatures of 16.5°C at Adelaide (Kent Town). The record coldest June mean maximum in Adelaide is 13.8°C recorded in June 1908 at the West Terrace site.

The coldest day for June 2012 was reported at Mount Lofty on the 22nd when the maximum reached 5.9 °C; Adelaide (Kent Town) also recorded a maximum of only 10.8 °C on this day, its coldest June day in 14 years.

The hottest day across the Adelaide and Hills region was reported at Parafield Airport with a maximum of 19.5 °C on the 2nd and the warmest days on average were at Parafield Airport with a monthly average of 15.6 °C.

Mean minimum temperatures were slightly below average this June. While some locations on the Adelaide Plains were slightly cooler than average, hills locations tended to be slightly warmer than average by up to 0.4 °C due to above average cloud cover.

The mean minimum temperature for June 2012 at Adelaide (Kent Town) was 7.9°C, 0.2 °C below the long term June average of 8.1 °C. By comparison, June 2011 saw minimum temperature for the month average 8.5 °C.

The coldest minimum temperature during June 2012 in the Adelaide and Hills area was -0.9 °C observed on the 9th at Parafield Airport, whilst the coolest nights on average were recorded at Mount Lofty with 4.9 °C. The warmest night was 11.9°C at Noarlunga on the 19th. Noarlunga also recorded the warmest nights on average with a monthly average 11.7 °C

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top