Monday, 1 October 2007 - Monthly Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC17R0

Tasmania in September 2007: A wet and windy end

Summary

A burst of westerly winds and several cold fronts near the end of the month meant rainfall totals for September 2007 were close to normal in many parts of the state, but in the east it was yet  another in the long series of drier-than-usual months that Tasmania has experienced since the start of 2006. Warm days were more prevalent than cool ones, but there were several quite cold nights.

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Details

Some rain, but dry in the east: There were some moderate to heavy falls of rain during the month, particularly as fronts crossed the state around the 2nd, the 24th and particularly over the final four days. Nonetheless, for most of the month most of the state was relatively dry, especially in the east. Totals for the month were below average near the East Coast and the northern Midlands, and well below average on the lower East Coast. South Bruny Island and parts of the inland northwest had totals above the long-term September average. As is often the case when westerly winds bring the rain, there was a stark contrast between the western highlands (with well over 200 mm) and the lower East Coast (with less than 20 mm).

Long-term deficits remain: Despite the recent rain and notable rainfall events during August and May, most of the last 21 months have been much drier than normal across Tasmania. The last extended period of above-average rain was at the end of 2005. To even begin to make up these deficits will require a sustained period of above-average falls. Just one example is Burnie, where the 971 mm recorded over the last 21 months is 735 mm less than the long-term average for the same period. The record wet October-to-December in 2005 provided Burnie with 424 mm, so even a repeat of that extraordinary rain would not remove the current long-term deficit. Similar stories emerge in other parts of the state.

Mild days: There were several warm days during September, notably the 19th when temperatures into the low 20s were reported in the southeast. There were very few particularly cold days, the main exception being the 3rd. The result was mean maximum temperatures above the long-term average across the state, typically by around half a degree in the north and about a degree in the southeast.

Some cold nights: There were several quite cold nights during the month: a very cold morning on the 4th, with another (in most areas) on the 9th, again on the 16th and both the 22nd and 23rd. A number of mild nights (notably the 2nd and 14th) were not enough to counter the colder ones, so mean minimum temperatures were below average in most parts of the state, typically by half a degree, although the northeast and southeast coasts were a little above average.

Less westerly winds than usual — until the end: September is often a time of strong westerly winds across Tasmania, but this month it was only the final week that saw sustained westerly winds and cold fronts. It was rain from that series of fronts that prevented the north and west from having another dry month, but it was accompanied by many gusts well over 100 km/h.

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	22.4°C at Dover on the 19th
Warmest days on average Highest mean daily maximum temperature	17.1°C at Friendly Beaches
Coolest days on average Lowest mean daily maximum temperature	5.7°C at Mount Read
Coldest day Lowest daily maximum temperature	–1.6°C at Mount Wellington on the 3rd
Coldest night Lowest temperature	–6.3°C at Liawenee on the 4th
Coolest nights on average Lowest mean daily minimum temperature	–0.9°C at Liawenee
Warmest nights on average Highest mean daily minimum temperature	9.4°C at Swan Island
Warmest night Highest daily minimum temperature	13.0°C at Bicheno (Council Depot) on the 14th
Wettest overall Highest total rainfall	293.6 mm at Lake Margaret Power Station
Driest overall Lowest total rainfall	12.8 mm at Swansea Post Office
Wettest day Highest daily rainfall	66.8 mm at Zeehan (West Coast Pioneers Museum) on the 30th
Highest wind gust	135 km/h at Hogan Island on the 28th and Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse on the 29th and Scotts Peak Dam on the 29th

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Records

No monthly records appear to have been set in September 2007.

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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 September 2007
	Maximum temperatures for September (°C)				Minimum temperatures for September (°C)				Rainfall for September (millimetres)
	Mean for September 2007	Diff from normal	Highest for September 2007		Mean for September 2007	Diff from normal	Lowest for September 2007		Total for September 2007	Normal for September	Rank of September 2007	Fraction of September normal
Northern (district 91)
Bridport	14.9	+0.2	19.5	17th	7.3	+0.4	1.8	4th	57.3	76.2	normal	75%
Burnie	14.5	+0.2	19.4	11th	7.9	+1.2	3.7	4th	76.4	87.4	normal	87%
Cape Grim BAPS	13.7	+0.4	16.4	13th	8.5	0	4.1	4th	92.4	74.3	normal	124%
Cressy Research Station	14.6		17.7	12th	3.2		–3.1	23rd	45.6
Devonport Airport	14.5	+0.5	18.1	17th	6.1	+0.2	0.1	4th	54.4	74.5	normal	73%
Launceston	15.8	+0.3	19.6	17th	5.2	0	–0.5	23rd	49.2	65.6	low	75%
Launceston Airport	15.0		18.1	17th	3.7		–2.2	22nd	41.4
Launceston Airport Comparison	14.3	+0.3	17.4	17th	3.9	–0.4	–2.2	4th	46.8	63.8	low	73%
Low Head	14.1	+0.2	16.5	17th	8.3	0	2.9	22nd	59.0	64.4	normal	92%
Luncheon Hill	12.8	+0.5	17.7	8th	5.6	+0.1	0.6	4th	187.0	177.9	normal	105%
Marrawah	14.0	+0.3	16.2	8th	7.8	+0.4	1.5	4th	109.4	104.5	normal	105%
Powranna	14.5	+0.2	18.0	17th	3.4	–0.5	–2.6	4th	42.4	60.6	low	70%
Scottsdale	14.1	–0.2	18.5	17th	4.6	–0.2	–2.5	22nd	97.0	99.6	normal	97%
Sheffield School Farm	13.1	0	16.9	25th	4.1	–0.7	–1.8	4th	118.4	136.3	low	87%
Smithton Aerodrome	15.1	+0.4	18.0	25th	5.7	–0.6	–1.4	22nd	97.6	108.0	normal	90%
Wynyard Airport	14.4	+0.2	18.3	11th	4.8	–0.1	–0.9	4th	106.0	94.7	normal	112%
East Coast (district 92)
Bicheno	16.9	+0.8	20.3	17th	8.6	+1.3	3.9	23rd	17.7	43.2	low	41%
Eddystone Point	16.1	+1.3	19.2	17th	8.4	+0.4	2.7	22nd	39.4	63.0	low	63%
Fingal	15.0	–0.3	18.8	18th	3.7	+0.5	–3.7	23rd	28.2	49.0	low	58%
Friendly Beaches	17.1	+0.5	21.1	18th	7.5	0	2.2	23rd	19.6	34.0	very low	58%
Lake Leake	11.6	+0.3	15.2	19th	1.5	–0.5	–4.9	23rd	42.8	70.0	low	61%
Maria Island	15.3		18.1	27th	8.8		5.1	4th	27.6
Orford	16.2	+0.5	20.0	18th	5.0	–0.6	–1.3	5th	23.2	50.3	low	46%
Scamander	16.7	+0.4	19.5	18th	7.5	+0.9	2.7	1st	21.2	51.2	low	41%
St Helens Aerodrome	15.8		18.1	21st	7.1		1.7	23rd	20.0
Swan Island	14.8		17.3	25th	9.4		4.6	22nd	43.4
Swansea Post Office	16.9	+0.9	20.9	18th	6.2	+0.4	–1.5	23rd	12.8	40.4	very low	32%
Midlands (district 93)
Ross	14.9	+0.5	17.9	8th	2.7	–1.0	–3.7	22nd	30.0	51.2	low	59%
Southeast (district 94)
Bull Bay	15.0	+0.3	21.5	19th	6.6	–0.3	2.8	22nd	59.8	52.7	normal	113%
Campania	16.4		21.4	18th	5.2		–0.1	5th	37.0
Cape Bruny	14.8	+0.5	22.1	19th	7.6	0	4.7	22nd	79.4	64.1	high	124%
Cape Bruny Lighthouse	14.2	+1.0	21.0	19th	7.8	+0.8	4.0	4th	91.6	80.5	high	114%
Dover	15.2	+0.7	22.4	19th	4.6	–0.4	–0.8	5th	82.6	82.7	normal	100%
Geeveston	15.6	+0.9	21.6	19th	4.0	–0.4	–1.7	5th	98.4	90.0	normal	109%
Grove	16.1	+1.3	21.5	19th	3.9	–0.2	–1.4	23rd	73.2	73.3	normal	100%
Grove	15.8		21.1	19th	3.2		–2.3	23rd	77.8
Hobart	15.8	+0.8	20.9	18th	6.9	+0.5	2.8	5th	63.0	52.7	high	120%
Hobart Airport	16.3	+1.0	21.4	18th	6.3	+0.3	1.2	5th	33.2	41.2	normal	81%
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse	13.0	+0.9	18.0	23rd	7.8	+1.0	4.7	4th	102.8	109.5	normal	94%
Melton Mowbray	14.5	–0.2	19.5	18th	3.8	–0.6	–0.9	5th	56.0	52.0	normal	108%
Mount Wellington	5.9	+1.7	11.6	18th	–0.2	+1.2	–4.8	4th
Tasman Island	12.8		16.2	19th	7.6		2.7	22nd	66.2
Tunnack Fire Station	12.6	0	15.3	7th	2.9	–0.5	–3.6	4th	34.6	55.8	low	62%
Derwent Valley (district 95)
Bushy Park	16.5	+1.0	21.9	19th	3.1	–0.8	–3.0	5th	63.0	53.8	normal	117%
Maydena Post Office	14.1	+0.4	20.0	19th	2.9	–0.5	–1.5	7th	131.4	136.5	normal	96%
Moogara	12.1	+0.8	16.0	19th	3.7	+0.5	0.5	3rd	89.6	92.1	normal	97%
Ouse Fire Station	15.7	–0.1	20.5	18th	2.5	–1.4	–4.2	23rd	66.6	73.1	normal	91%
Tarraleah Village	12.1	+1.0	16.6	18th			–2.8	4th	111.9	118.3	normal	95%
Central Plateau (district 96)
Lake St Clair National Park	10.8	+0.7	15.2	8th	0.4	–0.3	–4.4	4th	201.8	205.7	normal	98%
Liawenee	8.5		13.7	18th	–0.9		–6.3	4th	107.4
West Coast (district 97)
Hartz Mountain	9.9	+1.3	15.7	19th	2.3	+0.4	–2.0	4th	100.0	95.5	normal	105%
Mount Read	5.7	+0.1	12.4	8th	0.6	+0.1	–4.0	4th
Scotts Peak Dam	13.5		19.3	13th	4.4		0.1	4th	200.2
Strahan Aerodrome	15.2	+1.0	19.2	13th	6.1	0	–0.3	5th	147.8	152.5	normal	97%
Strathgordon Village	12.6	+1.0	17.5	13th	3.9	–0.3	–1.0	5th	283.4	274.8	normal	103%
Warra	11.9		18.4	19th	3.4		–1.8	4th	226.8
King Island (district 98)
King Island Airport	15.4	+1.0	19.9	23rd	8.3	+0.1	1.1	22nd	68.2	87.5	normal	78%
Flinders Island (district 99)
Flinders Island Airport	15.3	+0.3	18.3	19th	7.6	+0.1	–1.2	23rd	27.0	63.7	low	42%
Hogan Island	14.2		17.7	19th	9.3		6.6	29th	59.4
Macquarie Island (district 300)
Macquarie Island	5.9	+0.5	6.9	28th	2.0	+0.5	–1.9	4th	75.2	73.4	normal	102%

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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