Tasmanian Monthly Climate Summary: July 2006
A mixed bag of weather

Tuesday 1 August, 2006

In Brief

July 2006 brought some rain across Tasmania, and especially to the northeast corner, but many parts of the state had another relatively dry month. There were fewer frosty nights than in recent months, a few quite mild days and only a few especially cold days.

Details

Plenty of rain in the northeast corner: There were several periods of moderate to heavy rain in the northeast highlands, notably around the 2nd, the 16th and the end of the month. Totals over 100 mm were common, with Mount Victoria registering 354 mm (only slightly less than the west coast's Mount Read). Gladstone, with 125 mm, had its wettest July since it received 137 mm in 1989, whilst Eddystone Point's 91 mm was its wettest July since 1993.

Another relatively dry month in the north, Midlands and Derwent Valley: Several parts of the state again had less rain than is usual for the time of year. Particularly affected were the Midlands and the Derwent Valley and the north (with the exception of the northeast). Bushy Park, with 20.8 mm, had its driest July since recording 17.0 mm in 1973. Although there were several rainy days through the month, and some rain fell in all areas, it was certainly not enough to remove the rainfall deficit that has been building in these areas over recent months. Several locations have had their driest-ever January to July. Hobart has had its driest January-to-July since 1984.

Some mild days, some cold days: There were a few relatively mild days during July, notably the 10th in the southeast and the 16th in the north (when both Marrawah and Wynyard set new records for highest July temperature). The main cold spells were the 11th and 12th (which saw snow below 500 metres in some areas), and on the 18th and 19th. Averaged across the month, maximum (Daytime) temperatures were above normal by about half a degree in most areas, but a little below normal in the far south and parts of the east coast. Grove had its lowest mean daily maximum temperature since 1995, and Dover its lowest since 1996.

Fewer frosty nights than recent months: Unlike May and June, most places had only a few spells of cold and frosty nights, mainly around the 3rd, the 12th, and the 19th to 23rd. These were mixed in with some relatively mild nights, especially the 8th to 11th, the 16th and the 27th. Averaged across the month, minimum (overnight) temperatures were above normal in the northeast half and below normal in southwest, typically by about half a degree.

Hobart's cold nights against a warming trend: Minimum (overnight) temperatures have been generally increasing in Hobart over the last few decades. Hobart's mean daily minimum temperature this July of 4.6°C was about 0.1°C above the average over the whole period of Hobart's record from 1882. But it was about 0.6°C below the average over the last 20 years, and the lowest for any July since 1995. In contrast, the mean daily minimum temperature in Hobart for July last year was 6.2°C, the highest since 1946. The relatively cold July 2006 and relatively warm July 2005 demonstrate the year-to-year variability is often much greater than any long-term change.
Bicheno, Bull Bay, and Dover also had their lowest mean daily minimum temperature for July since 1995.

Included in this summary are a table of extremes, some new records, and summaries for sites in Tasmania

Further information

Ian Barnes-Keoghan
Meteorologist
Tasmania and Antarctica Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (03) 6221 2043
Email climate.tas@bom.gov.au

January-to-July records

Note

This statement has been prepared based on information available at noon on Tuesday 1 August 2006 . Although every effort has been made to check them, it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

"Normals" are based on all available years of record, which vary widely from site to site . Sites without normals shown do no have sufficient record for them to be calculated reliably.

The "Ranking" indicates about where rainfall this time ranks in the climate record for the site.

Further information