Monday, 3 February 2014 - Monthly Climate Summary for South Australia - Product code IDCKGC23R0

South Australia in January 2014: Records tumble in heatwaves

• Extended periods of very hot conditions, particularly mid-month produce records at many locations.
• Well above average temperatures result in the 8th hottest January on record for South Australia.
• Below average rainfall in the north-east, tending wetter than average in the west and south of the state.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

Averaged across South Australia as a whole, rainfall was 55% of the average for January. Much of the rain fell either on the 2nd and 3rd, or in the last week of the month, with conditions remaining dry for much of the month for most locations.

Rainfall was average tending above average across parts of the southern and western agricultural districts, while the northeast pastoral and some eastern districts saw rainfall tending below average for the month. Overall, rainfall totals were below average for over 50% of the State with several sites across the northeast pastoral districts had their lowest total January rainfall on record.

The wettest single day was at Naracoorte Aerodrome with 31.8 mm on 2nd. While the wettest overall for the month was at Nullabor with 42.6mm.

Some sites in the pastoral districts had no rainfall for the month and hence their equal lowest total January rainfall on record.

Temperature

The month started with hot conditions, before a brief mild spell. During the second week heat in the interior began building producing widespread heatwave conditions across the state from the 12th to the 18th. Many sites had record hottest days, and record runs of very hot days. A moderate cold frontal system decreased temperatures in the third week, before another run of slightly less intense heat in the last days of the month.

The mean temperature (the average of the maximum and minimum temperatures) for South Australia as a whole in January 2014 was 2.2 °C above the long-term average. By contrast, January 2013 was 1.9 °C above average.

Maximum temperature

Mean maximum temperatures were well above average across South Australia with record hottest January daytime temperatures at locations on the Yorke Peninsula and across the southeast of the State.

Daytime temperatures for the month were typically 2 to 3 °C above average, and ranged from 23.1 °C at Cape Willoughby on Kangaroo Island to 41.2 °C at Marree in the Far North. Edithburgh on Yorke Peninsula recorded its hottest January daytime temperature on record.

The warmest period occurred during 12th to 18th due to northerly winds around a high pressure system centred over the Tasman Sea. Maximum temperatures were in excess of 10 °C above average across most of the agricultural parts of the State through that period.

The warmest day for any location was recorded at Moomba Airport reaching 49.3 °C on the 2nd , the 2nd hottest day ever recorded at that site, and the 5th hottest temperature ever officially recorded in South Australia.

Coober Pedy, Tarcoola, Elliston, Neptune Island, Stenhouse Bay, Cape Willoughby, Mount Lofty, Keith, Mount Gambier and Naracoorte all had hottest days on record for any month, these new records mainly occurred under heatwave conditions between the 14th or 16th of the month. See sites with their highest January temperature on record.

Many sites also had record runs of very hot days, including Adelaide, Renmark and Roseworthy recording 5 consecutive days of 42 °C or more, Port Augusta recorded 5 days of 45 °C or more. For further information on heatwave events please see the relevant Special Climate Statements.

On the 5th Mount Lofty recorded the coldest day for any location when its maximum temperature reached 14.1 °C. Despite the widespread heat across the State at the beginning of January, Keith in the lower southeast district observed its coldest January day (lowest maximum temperature) on record on the 2nd.

Minimum temperature

As with daytime temperatures, night-time temperatures were well above average for the month, typically by 1 to 2 °C. The hottest nights occurred at Oodnadatta where minimum temperatures averaged 25.0 °C while the coldest was at Naracoorte which recorded average minimum temperatures of 12.1 °C.

Cleve had a record run of 2 nights in a row with minimum temperatures of 30 °C or more, while several sites had record runs of night where minimum temperatures were 25 °C or more, including 4 consecutive such nights at Maitland and Strathalbyn.

The hottest night was at Moomba where the minimum temperature was 31.6 °C on the 19th; Keith had the coldest night with the temperature dropping to 4.6 °C on the 7th.

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Extremes in January 2014
Hottest day	49.3 °C at Moomba Airport on the 2nd
Warmest days on average	41.2 °C at Marree Comparison
Coolest days on average	23.4 °C at Cape Willoughby
Coldest day	14.1 °C at Mount Lofty on the 5th
Coldest night	4.6 °C at Keith (Munkora) on the 7th
Coolest nights on average	12.1 °C at Naracoorte Aerodrome
Warmest nights on average	25.0 °C at Oodnadatta Airport
Warmest night	31.6 °C at Coober Pedy Airport on the 2nd
Warmest on average overall	32.6 °C at Moomba Airport
Coolest on average overall	19.5 °C at Robe Comparison
Wettest overall	42.6 mm at Nullarbor
Driest overall	0 mm at Coober Pedy Airport 0 mm at Marla Police Station 0 mm at Marree Comparison 0 mm at Moomba Airport 0 mm at Oodnadatta Airport 0 mm at Yongala
Wettest day	31.8 mm at Naracoorte Aerodrome on the 2nd
Highest wind gust	94 km/h at Neptune Island on the 5th

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Maps
	Observed	Anomaly	Decile rank
Total rainfall
Mean daily maximum temperatures
Mean daily minimum temperatures

Click on a map to show it full size in a pop-up window

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Record lowest total January rainfall
	Total rainfall for January 2014 (mm)	Previous driest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Yongala	0.0	= 0.0	in 2013	134	22.1
Marree Comparison	0.0	= 0.0	in 2009	129	17.1
Oodnadatta Airport	0.0	= 0.0	in 2013	66	22.5
Marla Police Station	0.0	= 0.0	in 2013	27	14.1
McLaren Vale (Pirramimma Winery)	0.4	= 0.4	in 2009	21	18.4
Coober Pedy Airport	0.0	= 0.0	in 2013	20	13.1

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Record highest January temperature
	Highest temperature in January 2014 (°C)		Previous warmest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Mount Gambier Aero	44.1	on the 16th	43.6	on the 4th in 2013	72	25.2
Elliston	43.2	on the 14th	43.1	on the 10th in 1987	53	25.8
Keith	46.0	on the 14th	45.5	on the 28th in 2009	53	29.9
Neptune Island	36.9	on the 16th	35.0	on the 23rd in 1982	52	22.0
Cape Willoughby	42.2	on the 14th	41.5	on the 23rd in 1982	47	21.7
Coober Pedy Airport	47.4	on the 1st	47.1	on the 25th in 2011	20	36.7

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Record lowest January daily maximum temperature
	Lowest daily maximum temperature in January 2014 (°C)		Previous coolest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Keith	17.2	on the 2nd	= 17.2	on the 25th in 1984	53	29.9

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Record highest January mean daily maximum temperature
	Mean daily maximum temperature for January 2014 (°C)	Previous warmest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Edithburgh	27.2	= 27.2	in 2001	21	25.2

Highest January mean daily maximum temperature for at least 20 years
	Mean daily maximum temperature for January 2014 (°C)	Most recent January at least this warm		Years since warmer	Average for January
Cape Willoughby	23.4	23.6	in 1982	32	21.7

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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

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Highest January mean temperature for at least 20 years
	Mean daily temperature for January 2014 (°C)	Most recent January at least this warm		Years since warmer	Average for January
Cape Willoughby	20.2	20.3	in 1982	32	18.7

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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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
Northwest (district 16)
Andamooka	38.2	+1.7	46.8	1st	23.3	+2.0	15.5	6th	12.4	17.3	average	72%
Coober Pedy Airport	38.7	+2.0	47.4	1st	23.8	+1.6	14.2	6th	0	13.1	lowest	0%
Ernabella (Pukatja)	35.9	+0.4	42.6	1st	21.7	+0.6	14.9	9th	7.6	21.5	average	35%
Marla Police Station	38.8	+1.5	46.5	1st	23.4	+1.5	14.8	6th	0	14.1	lowest	0%
Roxby Downs (Olympic Dam Aerodrome)	38.7	+1.5	47.1	1st	21.7	+0.6	14.1	26th	0.2	10.8	low	2%
Tarcoola Aero	38.1	+1.2	48.9	1st	21.4	+1.7	10.5	6th	1.8	11.6	low	16%
Woomera Aerodrome	37.2	+2.6	46.8	1st	21.3	+1.8	13.8	6th	4.8	14.7	average	33%
Far North (district 17)
Arkaroola	36.5	+2.2	44.9	2nd	21.4	+1.3	13.6	6th	5.2	32.9	average	16%
Leigh Creek Airport	38.0	+2.5	45.7	2nd	22.9	+2.2	13.9	6th	1.2	19.5	average	6%
Marree Aero	40.2	+1.2	48.1	2nd	24.1	+1.1	15.9	8th	0.6	13.0	low	5%
Marree Comparison	41.2	+3.3	48.3	2nd	23.4	+2.0	16.0	8th	0	17.1	lowest	0%
Moomba Airport	40.6	+1.9	49.3	2nd	24.6	0.0	16.7	8th	0	13.0	v low	0%
Oodnadatta Airport	40.2	+2.3	48.0	1st	25.0	+2.0	16.1	5th	0	22.5	lowest	0%
Western Agricultural (district 18)
Ceduna AMO	30.3	+1.7	46.0	14th	17.3	+2.1	9.4	10th	25.2	11.7	high	215%
Cleve	29.7	+1.4	43.0	16th	18.0	+2.4	10.8	6th	9.8	15.4	average	64%
Cleve Aerodrome	30.3	+1.2	44.6	14th	17.3	+1.3	10.3	6th	8.4	14.9	average	56%
Coulta (Coles Point)	29.6	+2.3	41.8	15th	16.3	+1.4	8.7	9th	8.2	15.7	average	52%
Cummins Aero	31.5		45.6	16th	16.0		8.2	9th	10.0
Elliston	28.1	+2.3	43.2	14th	17.6	+1.9	10.7	9th	14.0	10.2	high	137%
Kimba	33.5	+2.0	43.0	28th	17.0	+1.3	8.5	6th	15.2	16.8	average	90%
Kyancutta	35.3	+2.3	45.3	13th	16.2	+1.8	8.3	7th	25.5	13.9	high	183%
Minnipa Pirsa	34.3	+1.1	44.2	14th	17.3	+1.4	9.2	7th	27.8	9.3	v high	299%
Neptune Island	23.5	+1.5	36.9	16th	17.1	+1.0	13.2	2nd	30.0	12.8	v high	234%
North Shields (Port Lincoln AWS)	27.7	+1.7	45.1	16th	16.3	+0.6	11.2	5th	10.2	16.1	average	63%
Nullarbor	28.8	+0.9	43.9	15th	17.1	+1.4	9.2	4th	42.6	11.5	v high	370%
Port Augusta Aero	36.3	+2.0	46.2	14th	20.2	+0.8	12.8	5th	16.4	11.0	high	149%
Streaky Bay	31.4	+2.1	43.5	15th			12.4	7th	21.2	10.7	high	198%
Whyalla Aero	32.3	+2.2	45.7	14th	18.6	+1.0	11.4	5th	15.0	14.5	high	103%
Wudinna Aero	34.9	+1.4	45.3	14th	16.6	+1.1	7.7	7th	26.4	10.9	high	242%
Upper North (district 19)
Hawker	36.2	+1.9	44.0	1st	19.9	+1.9	11.2	5th	17.0	19.9	average	85%
Northeast (district 20)
Gluepot Reserve (Gluepot)	35.6	+1.8	45.4	14th	16.2	+0.4	8.8	5th	8.4	14.4	average	58%
Yunta Airstrip	35.0	+1.1	43.4	14th	16.8	+0.3	8.9	5th	10.2	18.0	average	57%
Lower North (district 21)
Clare High School	32.2	+1.9	41.9	15th	15.8	+1.1	6.4	5th	11.6	17.9	average	65%
Port Pirie Aerodrome	34.7		44.3	15th	17.8		8.4	7th	12.2
Snowtown (Rayville Park)	34.3	+1.4	45.5	16th	14.5	0.0	7.9	9th	4.6	12.2	average	38%
Yorke Peninsula (district 22A)
Edithburgh	27.2	+2.0	44.5	14th	17.2	+0.6	9.7	5th	10.0	11.7	average	85%
Kadina AWS	33.4		44.9	14th	15.8		7.2	7th	3.8
Maitland	31.5	+2.3	43.5	14th	17.7	+2.0	11.0	6th	5.6	17.0	low	33%
Minlaton Aero	31.2	+1.8	44.7	14th	16.9	+1.8	9.3	6th	4.0	11.2	low	36%
Stenhouse Bay	26.8	+1.8	44.0	16th	17.3	+0.6	14.0	5th	11.2	12.8	average	88%
Warooka	28.7	+1.5	42.8	15th	17.2	+1.8	10.8	6th	7.6	14.2	average	54%
Kangaroo Island (district 22B)
Cape Borda	26.0	+1.6	39.0	15th	15.7	+1.4	9.7	7th	35.2	14.6	high	241%
Cape Willoughby	23.4	+1.7	42.2	14th	16.9	+1.1	13.0	2nd	32.4	18.4	high	176%
Kingscote Aero	27.9	+1.4	42.9	14th	14.4	+1.3	8.9	5th	26.6	14.4	high	185%
Parndana Cfs AWS	27.3		42.6	14th	14.4		9.5	5th	35.0
Adelaide Plains (district 23A)
Adelaide (Kent Town)	32.5	+3.2	45.1	14th	18.6	+1.5	12.1	7th	10.2	18.8	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%
Roseworthy AWS	34.0	+2.2	46.4	16th	15.9	+1.2	7.7	8th	10.4	14.4	average	72%
County Light (district 23B)
Nuriootpa Viticultural	32.0	+2.0	42.5	14th	14.7	+0.2	5.5	6th	7.6	14.9	average	51%
Rosedale (Turretfield Research Centre)	33.4	+2.9	45.2	14th	16.0	+0.9	8.6	6th	16.0	18.3	average	87%
Mount Lofty Ranges (district 23C)
Hindmarsh Island AWS	27.3	+2.1	44.6	14th	16.7	+0.7	11.5	26th	0.4	14.4	v low	3%
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%
Parawa (Second Valley Forest AWS)	25.8	+2.4	40.9	14th	15.2	+1.6	10.8	7th	26.4	26.1	average	101%
Victor Harbor (Encounter Bay)	26.4	+1.6	44.3	14th	14.8	+0.2	8.9	5th	24.0	19.6	average	122%
Upper Murray Valley (district 24A)
Loxton Research Centre	34.6	+2.8	44.6	14th	15.7	+1.1	8.2	5th	5.2	18.3	average	28%
Renmark Aero	35.5	+1.9	45.7	14th	16.9	+0.7	8.8	5th	11.8	17.8	average	66%
Lower Murray Valley (district 24B)
Eudunda	32.1	+2.9	42.0	15th	15.9	+2.0	7.8	6th	1.6	21.4	low	7%
Meningie	28.9	+2.9	43.1	15th	15.3	+1.3	9.1	9th	25.4	18.3	high	139%
Murray Bridge (Pallamana Aerodrome)	31.9		46.3	14th	14.4		8.5	5th	7.0
Murray Bridge Comparison	31.8	+2.6	45.4	16th	15.5	+0.9	8.8	7th	9.0	16.3	average	55%
Strathalbyn Racecourse	29.3	+1.4	44.9	16th	15.7	+1.2	9.9	8th	11.6	14.8	average	78%
Murray Mallee (district 25A)
Karoonda	34.0	+2.6	45.4	14th	15.0	+0.8	8.0	7th	6.8	17.2	low	40%
Upper Southeast (district 25B)
Keith	32.8	+2.9	46.0	14th	14.9	+1.8	6.0	7th	10.2	18.6	average	55%
Keith (Munkora)	33.7	+3.1	47.2	14th	13.4	+1.4	4.6	7th	10.0	20.0	average	50%
Lameroo (Austin Plains)	34.2		46.2	14th	14.7		7.3	7th	12.4	26.3	low	47%
Lameroo Comparison	33.8	+2.9	45.5	15th	15.8	+2.4	8.5	7th	11.2	19.5	average	57%
Lower Southeast (district 26)
Cape Jaffa (The Limestone)	25.8	+1.2	41.0	16th	14.6	+1.0	10.3	8th	17.6	16.6	average	106%
Coonawarra	29.8	+2.6	43.4	14th	12.6	+1.1	6.0	7th	25.4	27.1	average	94%
Mount Gambier Aero	28.1	+2.9	44.1	16th	12.8	+1.7	7.5	26th	28.0	27.0	average	104%
Naracoorte Aerodrome	31.7	+2.1	45.8	14th	12.1	+0.6	5.0	7th	35.4	22.4	high	158%
Padthaway South	31.2	+2.2	44.6	14th	12.9	+0.5	4.9	7th	22.8	24.3	average	94%
Robe Airfield	25.6	+1.3	39.2	14th	13.6	+1.0	7.3	21st	21.0	18.0	average	117%
Robe Comparison	24.2	+1.7	37.2	17th	14.7	+1.1	10.6	6th	20.0	20.1	average	100%

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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