Wednesday, 1 February 2023 - Monthly Climate Summary for South Australia - Product code IDCKGC13R0
South Australia in January 2023: wet in the west, drier and warmer in the east
Rainfall totals in January were generally higher than average in the state's west, but close to average or drier than average in the east. Both daytime and night-time temperatures were generally warmer than average in the state's east, but days were cooler than average in the west and night-time temperatures were close to average in southern areas of the state.
Wetter than average in the west, drier in the east
- Rainfall totals in January were generally higher than average in the state's west, but close to average or drier than average in the east.
- For South Australia as a whole, January rainfall was 1% above the 1961–1990 average, which was much less than in January 2022 but higher than in January 2021.
- The wettest day for South Australia as a whole was on the 29th as a low pressure trough and cold front crossed the state, with daily rainfall totals on the Eyre Peninsula and areas of the Pastoral districts in the 99th percentile (top 1% of historical January daily rainfall totals for those areas since 1900).
- The highest daily totals for the month were recorded in the Adelaide Hills on the 24th, with Lobethal (Maidment Road) recording 46.8 mm, its highest January daily rainfall on record.
- During January, moderate to major flood levels continued along the River Murray in South Australia.
- There were strong winds at times during the month, including gusts up to 100 km/h at Roxby Downs (Olympic Dam Aerodrome) during the evening of the 14th.
Cooler than average in the west, warmer in the east
- Both daytime and night-time temperatures were generally warmer than average in the state's east.
- Mean maximum temperatures were below average in the west, and very much below average in the far north-west.
- The mean maximum temperature averaged across South Australia was 0.56 °C above the 1961–1990 average, the highest since 2020.
- On the 14th, a fire burnt through steep terrain in Black Hill Conservation Park in the Adelaide Hills, threatening the town of Montacute, with a total fire ban in place.
- Mean minimum temperatures were generally close to average or below average in agricultural districts.
- The mean minimum temperature averaged across South Australia was 0.83 °C above the 1961–1990 average.
- Robe had its lowest January mean daily minimum temperature since 1992.
- Overall, the January mean temperature for South Australia as a whole was 0.70 °C above average, which was cooler than January 2022 but warmer than January 2021.
Further information
- Media
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
Extremes in January 2023 | |
---|---|
Hottest day |
44.9 °C at Marree Aero on the 1st |
Warmest days on average |
39.0 °C at Marree Aero |
Coolest days on average |
22.0 °C at Cape Willoughby |
Coldest day |
14.8 °C at Mount Lofty on the 18th |
Coldest night |
3.3 °C at Keith (Munkora) on the 20th |
Coolest nights on average |
10.9 °C at Naracoorte Aerodrome |
Warmest nights on average |
24.9 °C at Moomba Airport |
Warmest night |
31.8 °C at Oodnadatta Airport on the 2nd |
Warmest on average overall |
31.6 °C at Moomba Airport |
Coolest on average overall |
18.5 °C at Parawa (Second Valley Forest AWS)
and Robe Airfield |
Wettest overall |
69.8 mm at Lobethal (Maidment Road) |
Wettest day |
46.8 mm at Lobethal (Maidment Road) on the 24th |
Strongest wind gust |
100 km/h at Roxby Downs (Olympic Dam Aerodrome) on the 14th |
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
Maps | |||
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Observed | Anomaly | Decile rank | |
Total rainfall |
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Mean daily maximum temperatures |
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Mean daily minimum temperatures |
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Record highest January daily rainfall | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New record (mm) |
Old record |
Years of record |
||||
Lobethal (Maidment Road) | 46.8 | on the 24th | 32.0 | on the 20th in 2017 | 22 |
Lowest January mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Observed (°C) |
Most recent lower |
Average for January |
|||
Robe | 12.9 | 12.6 | in 1992 | 13.7 |
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
Summary statistics for January 2023 | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Rainfall (millimetres) |
||||||||||
Mean for January 2023 |
Diff from average |
Highest for January 2023 |
Mean for January 2023 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for January 2023 |
Total for January 2023 |
Average for January |
Rank of January 2023 |
Fraction of January average |
|||
Northwest (district 16) | ||||||||||||
Andamooka | 36.9 | +0.3 | 43.8 | 2nd | 22.4 | +0.9 | 16.6 | 5th | 28.5 | 19.4 | high | 147% |
Coober Pedy Airport | 36.2 | -0.5 | 42.9 | 2nd | 21.8 | -0.4 | 16.4 | 19th | 25.2 | 14.6 | high | 173% |
Ernabella (Pukatja) | 33.4 | -2.0 | 39.3 | 1st | 20.8 | -0.4 | 14.5 | 21st | 46.0 | 32.4 | high | 142% |
Mount Ive | 43.0 | 13th | 17.1 | 12.0 | 4th | 23.4 | 18.1 | high | 129% | |||
Roxby Downs (Olympic Dam Aerodrome) | 36.2 | -0.8 | 43.5 | 2nd | 21.4 | +0.2 | 14.9 | 20th | 35.2 | 16.1 | high | 219% |
Tarcoola Aero | 35.6 | -1.0 | 43.4 | 13th | 18.9 | -0.8 | 12.3 | 19th | 24.6 | 15.0 | high | 164% |
Woomera Aerodrome | 35.2 | +0.6 | 43.4 | 17th | 20.4 | +0.8 | 14.1 | 19th | 34.2 | 18.1 | high | 189% |
Far North (district 17) | ||||||||||||
Arkaroola | 34.2 | -0.3 | 40.7 | 1st | 20.3 | 0.0 | 14.3 | 19th | 6.4 | 35.1 | average | 18% |
Leigh Creek Airport | 36.4 | +0.6 | 42.8 | 2nd | 21.6 | +0.6 | 15.9 | 6th | 7.4 | 25.4 | average | 29% |
Marree Aero | 39.0 | +0.2 | 44.9 | 1st | 22.9 | -0.2 | 15.0 | 20th | 1.0 | 19.5 | low | 5% |
Moomba Airport | 38.3 | -0.6 | 43.9 | 28th | 24.9 | 0.0 | 19.6 | 22nd | 16.6 | 17.6 | average | 94% |
Oodnadatta Airport | 37.3 | -0.7 | 43.8 | 1st | 24.1 | +1.0 | 18.0 | 21st | 42.4 | 24.2 | high | 175% |
Western Agricultural (district 18) | ||||||||||||
Ceduna AMO | 27.3 | -1.3 | 44.6 | 27th | 15.2 | -0.1 | 9.7 | 7th | 16.0 | 13.1 | high | 122% |
Cleve | 27.3 | -1.0 | 40.9 | 27th | 16.5 | +0.7 | 13.0 | 21st | 28.4 | 16.9 | high | 168% |
Cleve Aerodrome | 28.1 | -1.0 | 40.7 | 14th | 15.4 | -0.7 | 11.4 | 20th | 1.8 | 17.1 | low | 11% |
Coffin Bay (Point Avoid) | 23.8 | 39.1 | 27th | 15.2 | 12.3 | 31st | 20.2 | |||||
Cultana (Defence) | 33.3 | 43.0 | 14th | 17.7 | 12.5 | 20th | 25.2 | |||||
Cummins Aero | 29.3 | -0.9 | 42.0 | 27th | 14.3 | -0.9 | 7.8 | 25th | 16.2 | 20.2 | average | 80% |
Elliston | 25.9 | -0.1 | 41.0 | 27th | 15.8 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 31st | 11.2 | 10.9 | average | 103% |
Kimba | 31.7 | +0.1 | 40.6 | 13th | 16.1 | +0.3 | 9.0 | 19th | 14.4 | 19.3 | average | 75% |
Minnipa PIRSA | 32.4 | -0.5 | 43.5 | 27th | 15.2 | -0.8 | 9.9 | 5th | 21.6 | 13.3 | high | 162% |
Neptune Island | 22.2 | +0.1 | 28.4 | 14th | 16.6 | +0.3 | 15.1 | 19th | 13.2 | 12.9 | average | 102% |
North Shields (Port Lincoln AWS) | 25.2 | -1.0 | 36.4 | 14th | 15.6 | -0.2 | 11.4 | 13th | 21.0 | 18.2 | high | 115% |
Nullarbor | 27.0 | -0.9 | 42.2 | 27th | 15.3 | -0.7 | 10.6 | 25th | 37.4 | 12.8 | high | 292% |
Port Augusta Aero | 33.5 | -0.7 | 44.3 | 14th | 19.5 | 0.0 | 13.2 | 20th | 16.6 | 14.2 | high | 117% |
Streaky Bay | 28.8 | -0.5 | 43.2 | 27th | 15.4 | -0.7 | 11.8 | 19th | 10.2 | 12.0 | average | 85% |
Whyalla Aero | 30.1 | -0.1 | 43.9 | 14th | 18.2 | +0.4 | 14.9 | 19th | 19.0 | 20.4 | high | 93% |
Wudinna Aero | 33.0 | -0.4 | 44.2 | 27th | 14.9 | -0.7 | 9.3 | 20th | 26.2 | 14.9 | high | 176% |
Upper North (district 19) | ||||||||||||
Hawker | 33.2 | -1.1 | 40.1 | 17th | 18.6 | +0.5 | 11.3 | 19th | 36.9 | 20.3 | high | 182% |
Yongala | 31.2 | +0.3 | 39.1 | 1st | 15.0 | +1.4 | 7.5 | 19th | 12.9 | 22.9 | average | 56% |
Northeast (district 20) | ||||||||||||
Gluepot Reserve (Gluepot) | 34.3 | +0.3 | 42.5 | 17th | 15.3 | -0.7 | 9.5 | 20th | 14.6 | 17.7 | average | 82% |
Yunta Airstrip | 33.4 | -0.5 | 41.8 | 2nd | 16.1 | -0.6 | 8.5 | 20th | 35.6 | 21.3 | high | 167% |
Lower North (district 21) | ||||||||||||
Clare High School | 30.4 | +0.1 | 39.0 | 14th | 15.0 | +0.1 | 8.4 | 19th | 11.2 | 22.5 | low | 50% |
Port Pirie Aerodrome AWS | 33.3 | 44.1 | 14th | 17.3 | 10.3 | 5th | 7.6 | |||||
Snowtown (Rayville Park) | 32.9 | +0.1 | 42.5 | 14th | 14.3 | -0.3 | 7.7 | 20th | 12.0 | 17.5 | average | 69% |
Yorke Peninsula (district 22A) | ||||||||||||
Edithburgh | 25.0 | -0.5 | 39.8 | 14th | 16.8 | 0.0 | 13.7 | 2nd | 7.2 | 14.6 | average | 49% |
Kadina AWS | 31.3 | -0.6 | 41.6 | 14th | 15.1 | -0.6 | 10.2 | 5th | 18.4 | 19.6 | average | 94% |
Minlaton Aero | 29.8 | +0.2 | 40.1 | 14th | 15.2 | -0.2 | 9.1 | 31st | 0.6 | 15.0 | low | 4% |
Stenhouse Bay | 24.5 | -0.7 | 36.4 | 14th | 16.6 | -0.2 | 14.6 | 19th | 29.6 | 16.3 | high | 182% |
Warooka | 26.7 | -0.6 | 37.0 | 27th | 16.3 | +0.7 | 13.2 | 20th | 10.6 | 14.6 | average | 73% |
Kangaroo Island (district 22B) | ||||||||||||
Cape Borda | 24.3 | -0.3 | 33.3 | 13th | 14.0 | -0.6 | 10.5 | 25th | 12.8 | 20.1 | average | 64% |
Cape Willoughby | 22.0 | +0.2 | 37.8 | 14th | 16.3 | +0.3 | 14.7 | 5th | 16.4 | 18.6 | average | 88% |
Kingscote Aero | 25.9 | -0.9 | 37.2 | 14th | 13.2 | -0.2 | 8.0 | 27th | 22.0 | 15.8 | high | 139% |
Parndana CFS AWS | 25.7 | -1.1 | 37.7 | 14th | 13.1 | -0.5 | 8.5 | 25th | 17.6 | 19.7 | average | 89% |
Adelaide Plains (district 23A) | ||||||||||||
Adelaide (West Terrace / ngayirdapira) | 30.0 | +1.4 | 40.6 | 14th | 16.9 | +0.3 | 12.3 | 31st | 17.4 | 20.1 | average | 87% |
Adelaide Airport | 29.1 | +0.9 | 40.4 | 14th | 16.9 | +0.7 | 13.4 | 27th | 17.0 | 18.2 | average | 93% |
Edinburgh RAAF | 31.0 | +0.9 | 41.5 | 14th | 16.2 | -0.4 | 11.3 | 21st | 17.0 | 21.4 | average | 79% |
Parafield Airport | 31.4 | +1.6 | 41.3 | 14th | 16.4 | 0.0 | 12.3 | 4th | 16.4 | 21.3 | average | 77% |
Roseworthy AWS | 32.5 | +0.6 | 40.9 | 17th | 14.6 | -0.4 | 9.4 | 31st | 4.2 | 18.3 | low | 23% |
County Light (district 23B) | ||||||||||||
Nuriootpa PIRSA | 30.1 | -0.1 | 38.6 | 14th | 14.4 | -0.2 | 7.0 | 3rd | 10.2 | 16.1 | average | 63% |
Mount Lofty Ranges (district 23C) | ||||||||||||
Hindmarsh Island AWS | 24.5 | -1.2 | 40.9 | 14th | 15.9 | -0.4 | 10.4 | 20th | 11.8 | 17.0 | average | 69% |
Kuitpo Forest Reserve | 25.4 | -0.9 | 37.5 | 14th | 13.6 | -0.7 | 9.4 | 20th | 29.6 | 28.4 | average | 104% |
Mount Barker | 28.6 | +1.3 | 37.8 | 14th | 12.8 | +0.8 | 8.1 | 20th | 19.4 | 26.1 | average | 74% |
Mount Crawford AWS | 27.5 | -0.2 | 36.6 | 14th | 13.6 | -0.5 | 7.3 | 20th | 41.4 | 24.7 | high | 168% |
Mount Lofty | 25.2 | +2.5 | 34.5 | 14th | 12.8 | +0.3 | 6.6 | 20th | 24.4 | 38.5 | average | 63% |
Noarlunga | 29.5 | +0.7 | 40.7 | 14th | 16.7 | -0.5 | 12.6 | 20th | 16.0 | 16.8 | average | 95% |
Parawa (Second Valley Forest AWS) | 23.2 | -0.6 | 37.2 | 14th | 13.7 | -0.2 | 10.9 | 27th | 17.2 | 29.3 | average | 59% |
Victor Harbor (Encounter Bay) | 24.6 | -0.7 | 40.4 | 14th | 14.7 | -0.1 | 7.6 | 27th | 11.2 | 21.8 | low | 51% |
Upper Murray Valley (district 24A) | ||||||||||||
Loxton Research Centre | 32.8 | +0.6 | 41.7 | 17th | 15.1 | +0.2 | 9.0 | 19th | 18.2 | 18.2 | average | 100% |
Renmark Aero | 33.3 | -0.5 | 43.0 | 14th | 16.2 | -0.3 | 10.0 | 27th | 11.8 | 18.1 | average | 65% |
Lower Murray Valley (district 24B) | ||||||||||||
Eudunda | 29.3 | -0.2 | 38.0 | 17th | 15.1 | +1.0 | 8.2 | 19th | 16.8 | 21.9 | average | 77% |
Murray Bridge | 29.2 | -0.2 | 41.6 | 14th | 14.8 | 0.0 | 9.7 | 19th | 27.5 | 16.4 | high | 168% |
Murray Bridge (Pallamana Aerodrome) | 29.4 | -1.2 | 41.5 | 14th | 14.0 | -0.6 | 8.6 | 19th | 25.2 | 14.4 | high | 175% |
Strathalbyn Racecourse | 27.0 | -1.1 | 40.4 | 14th | 14.2 | -0.6 | 7.6 | 20th | 20.0 | 18.0 | average | 111% |
Murray Mallee (district 25A) | ||||||||||||
Karoonda | 31.5 | -0.3 | 41.6 | 14th | 13.5 | -1.1 | 8.0 | 19th | 11.8 | 17.6 | average | 67% |
Upper Southeast (district 25B) | ||||||||||||
Keith | 31.7 | +1.5 | 41.4 | 14th | 12.8 | -0.5 | 6.5 | 20th | 7.4 | 19.1 | average | 39% |
Keith (Munkora) | 31.9 | +0.9 | 42.3 | 14th | 11.3 | -1.1 | 3.3 | 20th | 0 | 19.1 | lowest | 0% |
Lameroo (Austin Plains) | 32.5 | +0.1 | 42.2 | 14th | 13.3 | -1.0 | 6.5 | 19th | 8.2 | 24.5 | low | 33% |
Lower Southeast (district 26) | ||||||||||||
Cape Jaffa (The Limestone) | 24.9 | +0.1 | 39.0 | 14th | 13.1 | -0.7 | 7.8 | 16th | 21.4 | 18.3 | average | 117% |
Coonawarra | 28.5 | +0.9 | 39.4 | 14th | 11.8 | 0.0 | 6.1 | 31st | 15.4 | 26.4 | average | 58% |
Mount Gambier Aero | 27.0 | +1.5 | 38.6 | 14th | 12.1 | +0.8 | 6.9 | 16th | 17.8 | 26.8 | average | 66% |
Naracoorte Aerodrome | 30.5 | +0.6 | 41.3 | 14th | 10.9 | -0.9 | 5.9 | 27th | 2.4 | 20.8 | low | 12% |
Padthaway South | 30.2 | +0.8 | 40.3 | 14th | 11.0 | -1.6 | 5.3 | 19th | 6.2 | 22.1 | low | 28% |
Robe | 33.5 | 14th | 12.9 | -0.8 | 7.2 | 16th | 19.1 | 20.4 | average | 94% | ||
Robe Airfield | 24.6 | 0.0 | 37.5 | 17th | 12.5 | -0.5 | 6.7 | 25th | 8.2 | 20.6 | average | 40% |
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
Notes
The Monthly climate summary, usually published in the first week of the following month, lists the main features of the weather in South Australia using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated. More extensive discussion of significant weather events, along with later information and data that has had greater opportunity for quality control, will be presented in the Monthly Weather Review.
This statement has been prepared based on information available at 1 pm on Wednesday 1 February 2023. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.
In some situations, some or all of the rainfall is in the form of hail or snow. In these cases the totals given are for the water equivalent: the depth of liquid water that results from melting any frozen precipitation. There can be significant 'undercatch' of snow in strong winds, meaning the true precipitation can be higher than that reported.
Averages for individual sites 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.
Where temperature area averages are mentioned, they are derived from the ACORN-SAT dataset.
Information about Australian Indigenous seasonal calendars is available at the Indigenous Weather Knowledge website.
Further information
- Media
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
Unless otherwise noted, all maps, graphs and diagrams in this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence