Monday, 3 February 2014 - Monthly Climate Summary for Adelaide Metro and Hills - Product code IDCKGC23R0

Adelaide Metro and Hills in January 2014: A very hot start to 2014

  • Hottest January for Adelaide in 13 years ( since 2001), and 4th hottest on record.
  • Two heatwaves; mid-January and end of the month produce the equal second highest number of days of 40°C or above for Adelaide for any month with 6 days of 40°C or higher
  • A record run for Adelaide of 5 days greater or equal to 42°C
  • Adelaide rainfall is only 53% of the January average

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

The wettest days of the month were from a strong cold frontal system moving across southern South Australia in the first week. A strong high pressure system in the Tasman Sea directed hot northerly winds across the state through the second and third weeks producing heatwave conditions and near record temperatures in the Adelaide region but little rainfall from a lack of significant tropical activity from the north. This pattern of high pressure in the Tasman Sea weakened temporarily before returning towards the end of the month to contribute to another run of heatwave conditions for Adelaide.

Rainfall

The January 2014 rainfall total at Adelaide (Kent Town) was 10.2 mm received on 6 days. This is below the long-term average of 19.2 mm but on more than the average number of rain-days of 4 to 5 days of rain; the long-term median January rainfall at Adelaide (Kent Town) is 19.6 mm. By comparison, during January 2013 30.4 mm was recorded at Adelaide (Kent Town). 2014 has been the driest January for Adelaide since 2010 when 9.2 mm was recorded.

Monthly rainfall totals across the region typically ranged from 5 to 10 mm on the Adelaide plains, with higher totals generally in the 20 to 25 mm range through the Adelaide Hills, with rainfall typically only 50 to 60% of the January average across the region. The wettest location for the month was at Williamstown where 29.2 mm was observed

(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).

The wettest overall was Williamstown with 29.2 mm, followed by Ironstone Road with 24.0 mm, followed by Adelaide (Brighton) with 23.0 mm, followed by Uraidla with 23.0 mm.

The driest overall was McLaren Vale (Pirramimma Winery) with 0.4 mm, followed by Leawood Gardens (Eagle on The Hill) with 0.6 mm, followed by Owen with 1.6 mm.

Some sites had their lowest total January rainfall on record.

The wettest single day was at Williamstown with 18.0 mm on the 15th, followed by Belair with 10.2 mm on the 2nd, followed by Ironstone Road with 10.2 mm on the 18th, followed by Kuitpo Forest Reserve with 10.0 mm on the 18th.

Temperature

Maximum temperatures were well above average across the Adelaide region through January 2014 with the warmest period occurring between the 12th and 18th of the month due to a high pressure system centred in the Tasman Sea directing a northerly airstream across South Australia. This contributed to a sequence of very hot days which produced near record heat, with Adelaide reaching 45.1°C on the 14th, the 4th hottest day ever recorded for Adelaide. This occurred in a sequence of 5 days in a row over 42°C, a record run of such days for Adelaide.

With the long sequence of very hot days mid-month, the equal second highest number of days of 40°C or more for Adelaide were recorded in January 2014 with 6 days reaching 40°C or more. The record for Adelaide is 10 such days in January 1908.

Adelaide( Kent Town ) recorded an average for January maximum temperatures of 32.4°C, 2.9°C hotter than average, this then being the 4th hottest January on record, and the hottest since 2001 when the maximum temperature averaged 33.7°C. The hottest January on record for Adelaide was in 1908 with an average maximum temperature for the month of 34.2°C.

Edinburgh Aerodrome recorded the hottest day for the month in the Adelaide region reaching 45.4°C on the 16th, also the 4th hottest ever temperature recorded at that site. Parafield Airport had the hottest days for the month with average maximum temperatures of 33.1°C, 3.6°C above average.

Mount Lofty was the coolest location for the month averaging 26.6°C, but this was 4.5°C hotter than the January average maximum temperature for that site, a new record for the hottest month for that site, with the record hottest day at the site also being recorded on the 14th with a maximum temperature of 38.7°C.

Mean minimum temperatures were also generally 1 to 2 °C warmer than average with Adelaide ( Kent Town ) recording the hottest nights in the area, averaging 18.6°C for minimum temperatures for the month, this being 1.4°C above average for January. This is the hottest January night-time temperatures since 2012 when nights averaged 19.1°C.

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Extremes in January 2014
Hottest day 45.4 °C at Edinburgh RAAF on the 16th
Warmest days on average 33.3 °C at Parafield Airport
Coolest days on average 26.8 °C at Mount Lofty
Coldest day 14.1 °C at Mount Lofty on the 5th
Coldest night 6.3 °C at Mount Lofty on the 7th
Coolest nights on average 13.8 °C at Mount Barker
Warmest nights on average 18.6 °C at Adelaide (Kent Town)
Warmest night 31.5 °C at Noarlunga on the 17th
Warmest on average overall 25.5 °C at Adelaide (Kent Town)
Coolest on average overall 20.6 °C at Mount Lofty
Wettest overall 29.2 mm at Williamstown
Driest overall 0.4 mm at McLaren Vale (Pirramimma Winery)
Wettest day 18.0 mm at Williamstown on the 15th
Highest wind gust 89 km/h at Mount Crawford (Mt Crawford AWS) on the 14th

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Record lowest total January rainfall
Total rainfall
for January 2014 (mm) 		Previous driest
for January		 Years of
record		 Average for
January
McLaren Vale (Pirramimma Winery) 0.4 = 0.4 in 2009 21 18.4


Record highest January daily minimum temperature
Highest daily minimum
temperature
in January 2014 (°C) 		Previous warmest
for January		 Years of
record		 Average for
January
Mount Crawford (Mt Crawford AWS) 30.2 on the 17th 29.9 on the 29th in 2009 20 13.9


Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for January 2014
Maximum temperatures
for January
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for January
(°C)		 Rainfall
for January
(millimetres)
Mean for
January
2014		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
January
2014		 Mean for
January
2014		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
January
2014		 Total for
January
2014		 Average
for
January		 Rank of
January
2014		 Fraction of
January
average
Adelaide Plains (district 23A)
Adelaide (Kent Town) 32.5 +3.2 45.1 14th 18.6 +1.5 12.1 7th 10.2 19.2 average 53%
Adelaide Airport 30.7 +2.6 43.3 14th 17.8 +1.9 12.6 9th 12.6 17.3 average 73%
Edinburgh RAAF 32.7 +2.7 45.4 16th 17.8 +1.4 11.2 7th 9.0 20.3 average 44%
Parafield Airport 33.3 +3.7 45.3 16th 17.5 +1.2 10.4 7th 7.4 20.6 low 36%
Mount Lofty Ranges (district 23C)
Kuitpo Forest Reserve 27.4 +1.3 41.4 14th 15.4 +1.3 9.5 8th 21.6 22.5 average 96%
Mount Barker 29.5 +2.3 42.8 14th 13.8 +2.0 8.7 8th 16.6 25.7 average 65%
Mount Crawford (Mt Crawford AWS) 29.9 +2.4 41.1 14th 15.1 +1.2 7.1 7th 16.8 21.0 average 80%
Mount Lofty 26.8 +5.1 38.7 14th 14.2 +2.1 6.3 7th 21.6
Noarlunga 30.0 +1.3 43.0 14th 18.1 +1.2 12.4 8th 11.8 15.0 average 79%

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 and 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 1 pm on Monday 3 February 2014. 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 10 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.

The ACORN-SAT dataset is being used for temperature area averages from December 2012 onwards. The major change from earlier datasets is that the ACORN-SAT dataset commences in 1910, rather than 1950, and hence rankings are calculated using a larger set of years.

Further information

Media
(03) 9669 4057
Enquiries

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