Friday, 31 August 2012 - Monthly Climate Summary for Adelaide Metro & Hills - Product code IDCKGC16L0

Adelaide Metro & Hills in August 2012: A cold end to winter

This statement was prepared before all data for the period were available. This may affect some of the statistics presented.
  • Near average rainfall in August 2012.
  • Colder than average temperatures for the end of winter.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

The August 2012 rainfall total at Adelaide (Kent Town) was 68.0mm received on 16 rain days. This is just below the long-term average of 68.8 mm on 16 rain days; the long-term median rainfall for August at Adelaide (Kent Town) is 73.7 mm. By comparison, during August 2011, 92.4 mm was recorded.

The wettest days for the Adelaide and Hills regions occurred on the 17th and 24th of the month. On the 17th, squally showers and isolated thunderstorms associated with the passage of strong cold frontal system resulted in excess of 30mm of rainfall for several locations across the Adelaide and Hills region. On the 24th, a deep low pressure system to the south of the state produced heavy showers and small hail; daily rainfall totals in excess of 10mm were observed across the Adelaide Plains while higher values, greater than 20mm, were observed about the Hills.

Monthly rainfall totals for August 2012 across the Adelaide Metro and Hills region were all very near average; typically ranging from 50 to 70mm on the Adelaide Plains, with higher totals in the 70 to 120mm range typical through the Adelaide Hills. The wettest location for the month was Bridgewater where 161.3mm was recorded for the month, much of that occurring in the 24 hours to 9am on the 17th, against the August average for that site of 146.7mm.

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 generally tending below average across the Adelaide Metro and Hills regions through August 2012. With respect to minimum (over night) temperatures, the coldest period occurred on August 1st as a high pressure ridge on the eastern border maintained mostly fine and clear skies across Adelaide region. Daytime temperatures in the Adelaide regions were coolest on the 23rd as a cold pool was moving across southern parts of South Australia with showers and strong gusty winds affecting the area.

The average maximum temperature recorded at Adelaide (Kent Town) for August 2012 was 15.9°C, 0.8°C below the long-term August mean maximum temperature. In comparison, August 2011 saw average maximum temperatures of 18.1°C at Adelaide (Kent Town). The record coolest August mean maximum in Adelaide is 14.1°C recorded in 1951 at the West Terrace site.

The coldest day of the month for any location in the Adelaide and Hills region was reported at Mount Lofty on the 23rd when the maximum reached 5.0 °C; Adelaide (Kent Town) recorded its coldest day on this day, reaching a maximum of just 12.4 °C. The coolest days on average for the month were at Mount Lofty with an August average maximum temperature of 9.8 °C.

The hottest day for any location across the Adelaide and Hills region was reported at Edinburgh RAAF where the maximum reached 21.3°C on the 22nd. The warmest days on average were at Parafield Airport with a monthly average of 16.1 °C.

Mean minimum temperatures were generally below average across the Adelaide Plains and Hills this August, with the minimum temperature at Adelaide (Kent Town) being 7.7°C, 0.5 °C below the long term August average of 8.2°C. By contrast, in August 2011 minimum temperatures averaged 9.2 °C.

The coldest minimum temperature during August 2012 in the Adelaide and Hills area was -0.3 °C observed at Parafield Airport on the 1st, Adelaide (Kent Town) also had its coldest August morning in 13 years on the 1st, observing a minimum of 2.2 °C. The coolest nights on average were recorded at Mount Lofty with 4.6 °C. The warmest night was 12.6°C at Noarlunga on the 28th. Noarlunga also recorded the warmest nights on average with a monthly average of 8.6 °C

Further information

Bureau of Meteorology
South Australian Regional Office
South Australian Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone Phone (08) 8366 2600
Email climate.sa@bom.gov.au
Extremes in August 2012
Hottest day 21.3 °C at Edinburgh RAAF on the 22nd
Warmest days on average 16.1 °C at Parafield Airport
Coolest days on average 9.8 °C at Mount Lofty
Coldest day 5.0 °C at Mount Lofty on the 23rd
Coldest night -0.3 °C at Parafield Airport on the 1st
Coolest nights on average 4.6 °C at Mount Lofty
Warmest nights on average 8.6 °C at Noarlunga
Warmest night 12.6 °C at Noarlunga on the 28th
Warmest on average overall 11.9 °C at Noarlunga
Coolest on average overall 7.2 °C at Mount Lofty
Wettest overall 161.3 mm at Bridgewater
Driest overall 22.6 mm at Mallala
Wettest day 52.6 mm at Bridgewater on the 17th
Highest wind gust 102 km/h at Mount Crawford (Mt Crawford AWS) on the 16th

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for August 2012
Maximum temperatures
for August
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for August
(°C)		 Rainfall
for August
(millimetres)
Mean for
August
2012		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
August
2012		 Mean for
August
2012		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
August
2012		 Total for
August
2012		 Average
for
August		 Rank of
August
2012		 Fraction of
August
average
Adelaide (Kent Town) 15.9 -0.8 21.1 22nd 7.7 -0.5 2.2 1st 68.0 68.8 average 99%
Adelaide Airport 15.6 -0.3 20.8 22nd 7.4 -0.2 1.3 1st 52.4 50.3 average 104%
Edinburgh RAAF 15.9 -0.6 21.3 22nd 6.2 -0.3 0.1 1st 38.6 49.7 average 78%
Kuitpo Forest Reserve 12.7   17.8 22nd 6.4   2.9 1st 102.2
Mount Barker 13.2 -1.0 17.8 28th 5.5 +0.5 0.0 1st 97.2 102.4 average 95%
Mount Crawford (Mt Crawford AWS) 11.5   17.6 22nd 5.6   2.3 24th 80.6
Mount Lofty 9.8   15.1 22nd 4.6   1.3 24th 111.4
Noarlunga 15.2   19.9 22nd 8.6   4.2 1st 61.0
Parafield Airport 16.1 -0.2 21.0 22nd 5.8 -0.9 -0.3 1st 50.4 53.9 average 94%

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Notes

This statement was prepared before all data for the period were available. This may affect some of the statistics presented.

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 12 pm on Friday 31 August 2012. 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

Bureau of Meteorology
South Australian Regional Office
South Australian Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone Phone (08) 8366 2600
Email climate.sa@bom.gov.au