Wednesday, 1 August 2007 - Monthly Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC17R0

Tasmania in July 2007:

A cold start, a mild finish, mostly drier than normal

Summary

Cold weather was more prevalent than warm in Tasmania during July, but some mild temperatures near the end of the month prevented a repeat of the exceptionally cold June (but still nothing like the exceptionally warm May). Overall, temperatures were below average during July, except near the East Coast where nights were a little warmer than average. Rain was below average in most of the state, but close to average n the East Coast and even above average in the far southeast.

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Details

A cold start, but a mild finish: The 4th marked the start of almost three weeks of below-average maximum (day time) temperatures, with the 17th and 18th especially cold in most areas after a strong cold change. Just as it looked like the month would be a repeat of the very cold June, a week of mild weather started on the 23rd, and on the 25th Scamander reached 21°C and Tarraleah had its highest July temperature since records began there in 1981. The warm spell was not quite enough to counter the extended cold, and taken across the month daytime temperatures were below average by about half a degree, although slightly above average on the northeast coast.

Some frosts, but some mild nights: Minimum (overnight) temperatures were quite variable through the month, with some very cold nights around the 10th, 15th and 21st mixed with some  mild ones around the 8th, 17th and 26th. Although most of the state had a run of cold nights in the middle of the month, the East Coast escaped the worst of it. Overall, nights were about one degree colder than average in the west and north, but about half a degree warmer than average in the east; Bicheno had its  highest July mean daily minimum temperature in 33 years of record.

Another month of below-average rain: Rainfall in the western two-thirds of the state was below average again this month. Although it was not a repeat of the record low rain seen in June a few sites in the Derwent Valley and southern Midlands had their lowest total July rainfall since at least 1979 with monthly totals below 20 mm common in those areas. There were fewer wet days on the west coast than normal, although Strathgordon registered 52 mm and Queenstown 44 mm in the 24 hours to 9 am on the 17th.  A few wet days (around the 5th, 14th and 18th) were enough to give above-average totals for the Tasman Peninsula and southern Bruny Island.

Fewer westerlies: Tasmania's weather is often dominated by westerly winds, but during July these were less common than normal. High pressure systems controlled the weather from the 7th to 15th and again from the 18th to the 23rd, but low pressure systems close to the state were the main influence from the 3rd to the 7th. There was a major cold change on the 17th, with a series of weaker fronts near the end of the month. The lack of westerlies meant less rain than usual in the western half, and periods of easterlies helped keep minimum temperatures above average in the east.

Further information

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

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Extremes

Hottest day Highest temperature	21.2°C at Scamander on the 25th
Warmest days on average Highest mean daily maximum temperature	14.2°C at Scamander
Coolest days on average Lowest mean daily maximum temperature	2.8°C at Mount Wellington
Coldest day Lowest daily maximum temperature	−1.4 °C at Mount Wellington on the 14th
Coldest night Lowest temperature	−7.6°C at Liawenee on the 21st
Coolest nights on average Lowest mean daily minimum temperature	−2.0°C at Liawenee
Warmest nights on average Highest mean daily minimum temperature	8.9°C at Hogan Island
Warmest night Highest daily minimum temperature	12.8°C at Hogan Island on the 26th
Wettest overall Highest total rainfall	251.6 mm at Mount Read
Driest overall Lowest total rainfall	13.8 mm at Tunbridge (Austin-Vale)
Wettest day Highest daily rainfall	52.0 mm at Strathgordon Village on the 17th
Highest wind gust	137 km/h at Hogan Island on the 3rd

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Records

Lowest total July rainfall for at least 20 years
	Total rainfall for July 2007 (mm)	Most recent lower for July		Years since lower	Normal for July
Bushy Park (Bushy Park Estates)	15.6	9.9	in 1957	49	49.4
Bothwell (Cluny)	19.6	17.6	in 1973	33	46.1
Glenorchy (Glenorchy Reservoir)	30.6	25.6	in 1979	28	73.5
Rotherwood	26.0	23.1	in 1979	28	51.4

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Record highest July temperature
	Highest temperature in July 2007 (°C)		Previous highest for July		Years of record	Normal for July
Tarraleah Village	15.4	on the 25th	14.5	on the 2nd in 1985	23	8.2

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Record highest July mean daily minimum temperature
	Mean daily minimum temperature for July 2007 (°C)	Previous highest for July		Years of record	Normal for July
Bicheno (Council Depot)	7.3	7.2	in 2001	33	6.0

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Summaries

In this table, key sites have been highlighted to make them easier to find. This table is very wide and may not fit if printed.

Summary statistics for July 2007
	Maximum temperatures for July (°C)				Minimum temperatures for July (°C)				Rainfall for July (millimetres)
	Mean for July 2007	Diff from normal	Highest for July 2007		Mean for July 2007	Diff from normal	Lowest for July 2007		Total for July 2007	Normal for July	Rank of July 2007	Fraction of July normal
Northern (district 91)
Bridport	13.1	–0.2	16.0	25th	5.3	–0.1	0.9	18th	79.0	73.4	normal	108%
Burnie	12.8	+0.1	14.7	3rd	6.3	+0.4	2.4	14th	61.4	125.2	low	49%
Cape Grim BAPS	12.0	–0.5	15.4	25th	7.4	–0.9	4.2	21st	140.2	101.2	high	139%
Cressy Research Station	11.7		15.3	3rd	1.3		–4.0	16th	46.0
Devonport Airport	12.4	–0.3	15.1	3rd	3.6	–1.0	–1.1	15th	54.2	97.0	low	56%
Launceston	12.5	–0.1	16.4	25th	2.1	0	–2.2	19th	49.0	76.4	low	64%
Launceston Airport	11.5		15.9	25th	2.1		–2.6	16th	42.6
Launceston Airport Comparison	11.0	+0.1	15.2	25th	2.3	+0.1	–2.1	19th	47.0	77.0	low	61%
Low Head	12.4	–0.4	14.1	26th	6.0	–1.0	2.2	19th	37.6	67.6	very low	56%
Luncheon Hill	10.5	–0.2	15.7	25th	4.3	–0.8	0.2	15th	124.0	183.5	low	68%
Marrawah	12.1	–0.2	15.8	25th	6.2	–0.4	2.7	21st	117.8	138.1	normal	85%
Powranna	11.1	–0.4	15.4	25th	2.2	+0.1	–2.0	19th	46.4	57.2	normal	81%
Scottsdale	11.6	–0.4	15.0	25th	3.6	–0.1	–0.7	1st	77.8	120.3	low	65%
Sheffield School Farm	10.6	–0.3	13.5	25th	2.5	–1.1	–1.2	15th	65.0
Smithton Aerodrome	12.7	–0.4	15.8	24th	2.5	–2.4	–1.7	9th	106.0	112.8	normal	94%
Wynyard Airport	12.6	0	14.9	24th	1.6	–1.9	–2.2	21st	87.0	131.7	low	66%
East Coast (district 92)
Bicheno	14.0	0	18.3	25th	7.3	+1.3	2.4	16th	58.6	53.0	normal	111%
Eddystone Point	13.7	+0.6	16.7	25th	7.6	+0.5	3.6	18th	91.0	76.9	normal	118%
Fingal	11.2	–1.0	18.5	25th	1.2	+0.7	–2.9	16th	50.8	56.0	normal	91%
Friendly Beaches	13.4	–0.5	18.7	25th	5.9	+0.2	1.1	16th	52.2	45.9	normal	114%
Lake Leake	8.0	–0.5	12.9	25th	1.0	+0.8	–3.9	21st	55.0	78.8	normal	70%
Maria Island	12.3		15.4	26th	7.3		4.8	19th	44.8
Orford	12.4	–0.7	17.0	26th	3.8	+0.4	0.2	16th	44.2	59.0	normal	75%
Scamander	14.2	+0.3	21.2	25th	5.6	+1.2	1.5	16th	66.7	55.8	normal	120%
St Helens Aerodrome	13.1		17.7	25th	4.9		0.8	16th	81.6
Swan Island	12.9		14.8	25th	8.0		4.7	18th	96.2
Swansea Post Office	13.4	+0.1	18.4	25th	4.3	+0.7	–0.4	16th	29.0	47.9	normal	61%
Midlands (district 93)
Ross	11.1	–0.2	14.8	25th	1.2	–0.3	–3.2	16th	31.0	40.5	normal	77%
Southeast (district 94)
Bull Bay	11.7	–0.8	16.5	25th	4.9	–1.0	2.0	10th	56.6	55.1	normal	103%
Campania	12.3		16.9	24th	3.1		–0.2	10th	29.2
Cape Bruny	12.0	–0.1	15.9	25th	6.4	–0.3	3.3	10th	109.8	72.9	very high	151%
Cape Bruny Lighthouse	11.6	+0.4	15.9	25th	6.5	+0.3	3.5	10th	136.0	95.6	high	142%
Dover	12.2	–0.2	17.7	25th	2.9	–0.9	–1.3	10th	60.5	86.7	normal	70%
Geeveston	11.9	–0.2	17.5	25th	1.6	–0.7	–2.9	10th	51.6	91.1	low	57%
Grove Comparison	11.7	–0.1	18.5	25th	1.7	–0.3	–2.2	10th	33.6	72.2	low	47%
Grove	11.6		17.9	25th	0.9		–2.7	10th	35.0
Hobart	11.7	0	17.5	25th	4.7	+0.2	1.2	10th	36.0	52.5	normal	69%
Hobart Airport	12.4	0	17.2	24th	4.2	+0.2	1.1	10th	35.2	44.0	normal	80%
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse	10.8	–0.1	15.9	25th	7.2	+0.6	4.3	18th	101.0	129.4	normal	78%
Melton Mowbray	10.9	–0.5	16.6	26th	1.8	–0.5	–3.0	21st	23.0	29.7	low	77%
Mount Wellington	2.8	+0.5	8.4	23rd	–1.0	+0.6	–4.2	16th	109.8	75.9	high	145%
Tasman Island	10.5		15.4	25th	6.6		3.6	14th	142.4
Tunnack Fire Station	8.9	–0.7	14.6	24th	1.2	–0.9	–3.2	29th	37.8	45.3	normal	83%
Derwent Valley (district 95)
Bushy Park	11.7	+0.6	16.2	25th	0.1	–1.4	–4.0	10th	15.6	49.4	very low	32%
Maydena Post Office	10.2	–0.6	16.5	25th	1.0	–1.4	–2.2	21st	61.4	107.2	low	57%
Moogara	8.6	+0.1	14.5	25th	2.1	–0.1	–1.0	21st	25.0	74.3	very low	34%
Ouse Fire Station	11.6	–0.2	19.6	25th	0.0	–1.4	–4.0	10th	18.4	49.2	low	37%
Tarraleah Village	8.2	–0.1	15.4	25th	0.7	+0.3	–3.6	10th	75.5	117.3	low	64%
Central Plateau (district 96)
Lake St Clair National Park	7.2	–0.1	13.1	25th	–0.6	–0.6	–5.2	15th	136.1	201.5	low	68%
Liawenee	5.3		12.0	25th	–2.0		–7.6	21st	54.6
West Coast (district 97)
Hartz Mountain	6.0	–0.1	12.1	25th	1.4	–0.1	–1.3	18th	77.6
Mount Read	3.4	–0.4	9.6	25th	–0.2	–0.4	–3.4	14th	251.6	375.6	low	67%
Scotts Peak Dam	9.4		16.1	25th	3.0		–1.5	10th	150.6
Strahan Aerodrome	11.9	–0.3	18.3	25th	3.7	–1.5	–1.8	15th	166.0	168.4	normal	99%
Strathgordon Village	9.3	+0.3	17.0	25th	2.3	–0.8	–1.2	11th	173.1	269.7	low	64%
Warra	8.3		14.9	25th	2.5		–1.5	10th	88.0
King Island (district 98)
King Island Airport	13.5	+0.4	17.9	25th	6.8	–0.7	0.5	21st	78.0	111.9	low	70%
Flinders Island (district 99)
Flinders Island Airport	13.1	–0.2	18.4	25th	5.8	–0.5	–0.3	15th	65.2	84.5	normal	77%
Hogan Island	12.5		16.5	25th	8.9		5.7	18th	71.6
Macquarie Island (district 300)
Macquarie Island	3.6	–1.3	6.7	17th	0.4	–1.2	–6.4	5th	39.0	71.8	very low	54%

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Notes

Further information

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

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