Friday, 1 August 2008 - Monthly Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC17R0

Tasmania in July 2008: cold and wet

Several low pressure systems passing close to Tasmania brought rain (and some snow) across the state at different times during July. It was cooler than usual for most of the month, with several bursts of cold winds and snow, however a lack of sustained westerly winds meant the West Coast had less than average rain.

An archive of previous monthly summaries for Tasmania is also available, as are summaries for other states and many other climate summaries and diagnostics.

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Details

Low pressure systems bring rain: There was rain somewhere in the state on most days during July, in a marked change from the generally dry pattern seen in many recent months. Several low pressure systems that moved slowly past the ensured that there were some quite wet individual days, notably around the 1st, 18th and 21st. There were also several days with thunderstorms, some of which brought heavy rain or hail. Rainfall for the month as a whole displayed a complicated pattern, as individual weather events brought rain to some areas but not others. For much of the state, totals were close to average. However, it was above average along the western North West Coast, the northern East Coast and in parts of the Derwent Valley and southern Midlands. A lack of sustained westerly winds during the month meant it was drier than average on the West Coast and in the southwest; Maatsuyker Island had its driest July since 1932. It was also drier than average in some of the central north and the northeast of the state.

Long-term rain deficits continue: Most of Tasmania has been markedly drier than average for many months, with no sustained period of widespread rain since late 2005. Totals for 2008 so far are down on average in all but the northern East Coast (which had significant rain in February as well as July). For the 31 months between January 2006 to July 2008 almost all of the state has been the driest on record and much of the eastern half has received less than 70% of its normal rain. Rainfall deficits over the period exceed 500 mm in most parts of the state, and in some usually wet areas deficits exceed 1000 mm.

Cool days and snow: There were several bursts of cold weather through July, with five events that brought significant snow to the highlands: on the 2nd, 10th to 12th, 19th, 21st and 28th. The coldest of these was the 21st, where cold southerly winds from a low to the east of Tasmania kept the temperature below 10°C all day in most places and brought snow that settled below the 200 metre level in the south. Most days were cooler than average for July, with the main exceptions the 7th to 9th and the 14th. Averaged across the month, maximum temperatures were below average in almost all areas, typically by half to one degree. For many places it was the coldest June since 2004 or even 1995, and for Swansea it was the coldest since 1966.

Cold nights and frosts: Along with the cool days, there were many cold and frosty nights, especially the 4th to 6th, 19th to 27th, and the 29th to 31st. In most cases these occurred when a ridge of high pressure moved over the state in the wake of a cold front. On the morning of the 4th, Liawenee fell to −10.2°C, the coldest temperature recorded in Tasmania since May 2006 and the equal third coldest July temperature for the state. Liawenee also dropped below −9 °C on the 5th and 30th. Averaged across the month, minimum temperatures were below average across the state, typically by about half a degree near the north and east coasts but by one and half degrees in the southern inland. Hobart has not ha a lower July mean daily minimum temperature since 1982, Strathgordon equalled its record low mean daily minimum from 1971, and some other sites had their lowest for several decades.

Strong winds and high tides: Wind gusts over 100 km/h were reported from many places in the first few days of the month, and again around the 21st. High astronomical tides early in the month combined with low air pressure to cause inundation to some low-lying areas. Foggy mornings were also common in many areas, with the fog sometimes lingering well into the day.

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

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Extremes

Hottest day Highest temperature	17.7°C at Bicheno (Council Depot) on the 8th
Warmest days on average Highest mean daily maximum temperature	13.6°C at Bicheno (Council Depot)
Coolest days on average Lowest mean daily maximum temperature	1.9°C at Mount Wellington
Coldest day Lowest daily maximum temperature	−2.6°C at Mount Wellington on the 21st
Coldest night Lowest temperature	−10.2°C at Liawenee on the 4th
Coolest nights on average Lowest mean daily minimum temperature	−2.6°C at Liawenee
Warmest nights on average Highest mean daily minimum temperature	8.3°C at Hogan Island
Warmest night Highest daily minimum temperature	11.6°C at Hogan Island on the 7th
Wettest overall Highest total rainfall	270.8 mm at Cradle Valley (Waldheim) The normally very wet Mt Read was not working this month
Driest overall Lowest total rainfall	31.8 mm at Dodges Ferry
Wettest day Highest daily rainfall	57.0 mm at Rosebery (Gepp Street) on the 11th
Highest wind gust	148 km/h at Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse on the 2nd

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Records

Lowest total July rainfall for at least 20 years
	Total rainfall for July 2008 (mm)	Most recent lower for July		Years since lower	Normal for July
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse	61.2	51.0	in 1932	76	128.8

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Lowest July mean daily maximum temperature for at least 20 years
	Mean daily maximum temperature for July 2008 (°C)	Most recent lower for July		Years since lower	Normal for July
Swansea Post Office	12.3	12.2	in 1966	42	13.3
Bushy Park (Bushy Park Estates)	10.5	10.4	in 1987	21	11.1

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Record lowest July mean daily minimum temperature
	Mean daily minimum temperature for July 2008 (°C)	Previous lowest for July		Years of record	Normal for July
Strathgordon Village	1.9	= 1.9	in 1971	27	3.0

Lowest July mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years
	Mean daily minimum temperature for July 2008 (°C)	Most recent lower for July		Years since lower	Normal for July
Hobart (Ellerslie Road)	3.9	3.1	in 1982	26	4.5
Hobart Airport	3.2	2.5	in 1982	26	4.1
Grove (Comparison)	0.9	0.1	in 1982	23	2.0
Bushy Park (Bushy Park Estates)	0.1	−0.1	in 1987	21	1.5
Flinders Island Airport	4.5	3.5	in 1987	21	6.3

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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 2008
	Maximum temperatures for July (°C)				Minimum temperatures for July (°C)				Rainfall for July (millimetres)
	Mean for July 2008	Diff from normal	Highest for July 2008		Mean for July 2008	Diff from normal	Lowest for July 2008		Total for July 2008	Normal for July	Rank of July 2008	Fraction of July normal
Northern (district 91)
Bridport			15.0	15th	5.2	−0.2	0.9	4th	77.2	73.6	average	105%
Burnie	12.7	0.0	14.9	7th	6.6	+0.7	2.2	4th	98.6	124.7	average	79%
Cape Grim BAPS	12.3	−0.2	14.4	6th	7.3	−0.9	3.3	29th	128.2	102.5	high	125%
Cressy Research Station	11.1	−0.9	15.7	8th	0.5	−1.2	−5.6	4th	57.6	60.7	average	95%
Devonport Airport	12.4	−0.3	15.0	16th	4.4	−0.2	0.6	23rd	76.4	96.6	average	79%
Launceston	12.4	−0.2	15.3	3rd	2.2	+0.1	−2.4	4th	54.0	75.8	low	71%
Launceston Airport	11.0		15.4	7th	1.5		−3.3	4th	42.8
Launceston Airport Comparison	10.6	−0.3	14.4	7th	1.7	−0.6	−3.3	4th		76.4
Low Head	12.2	−0.5	14.0	15th	6.3	−0.7	2.1	4th	83.6	69.5	high	120%
Luncheon Hill	10.1	−0.6	13.8	15th	4.3	−0.6	1.1	4th	171.4	182.5	average	94%
Marrawah	12.1	−0.2	14.5	14th	6.3	−0.4	2.5	28th	121.2	137.7	average	88%
Scottsdale	11.5	−0.5	14.8	7th	2.8	−0.9	−1.3	4th	69.0	118.9	low	58%
Sheffield School Farm	9.8	−1.1	12.6	14th	2.6	−0.8	−2.3	29th		112.6
Smithton Aerodrome	12.9	−0.2	15.0	31st	4.3	−0.3	−2.6	29th	132.2	114.4	average	116%
Wynyard Airport	12.5	−0.1	14.6	9th	3.2	−0.3	−2.4	4th	181.2	133.1	high	136%
East Coast (district 92)
Bicheno	13.6	−0.5	17.7	8th	5.6	−0.5	1.9	5th	70.8	53.2	average	133%
Eddystone Point	13.4	+0.3	16.2	8th	6.9	−0.1	2.5	22nd	100.2	77.1	high	130%
Fingal	11.3	−0.9	15.3	8th	0.3	−0.2	−5.5	4th	41.0	55.9	average	73%
Friendly Beaches	12.4	−1.4	16.5	7th	4.3	−1.5	−0.5	5th	74.4	48.5	average	153%
Lake Leake	7.7	−0.8	13.6	7th	−0.9	−1.2	−7.6	4th	54.2	78.6	average	69%
Maria Island	11.9		16.5	7th	6.6		2.5	22nd	57.8
Orford	11.9	−1.2	16.2	7th	3.1	−0.4	−1.6	5th	43.2	58.7	average	74%
Scamander	13.2	−0.5	16.5	8th	4.4	−0.1	0.5	4th	75.5	56.6	high	133%
St Helens Aerodrome	12.8		16.0	8th	4.1		−0.3	4th	70.0
Swan Island	12.7		15.4	6th	7.6		4.7	23rd	95.2
Swansea Post Office	12.3	−1.0	15.6	9th	3.2	−0.4	−1.3	5th	52.8	48.0	average	110%
Midlands (district 93)
Ross	10.5	−0.8	15.7	8th	0.9	−0.5	−3.8	4th	47.2	40.9	high	115%
Southeast (district 94)
Bull Bay	11.3	−1.2	14.6	9th	4.5	−1.4	1.8	30th	59.0	55.2	average	107%
Campania	11.8		16.2	7th	2.4		−1.6	30th	53.6
Cape Bruny	11.3	−0.8	14.8	7th	5.5	−1.2	2.7	5th	67.4	72.5	average	93%
Cape Bruny Lighthouse	10.8	−0.4	14.3	7th	5.5	−0.6	3.0	5th	91.8	95.6	average	96%
Dover	11.4	−1.0	13.9	7th	1.7	−2.0	−2.1	25th	74.0	86.5	average	86%
Geeveston	11.2	−0.9	15.4	7th	0.6	−1.6	−3.9	5th	84.2	91.0	average	93%
Grove	11.1	−0.7	16.5	7th	0.9	−1.2	−3.9	5th	60.0	72.0	average	83%
Grove	11.2		16.7	7th	0.4		−4.5	4th	60.2
Hobart	11.7	0.0	15.8	7th	3.9	−0.7	0.3	30th	47.6	52.5	average	91%
Hobart Airport	11.9	−0.5	16.3	7th	3.2	−0.9	−0.3	25th	33.6	43.9	average	77%
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse	11.2	+0.3	15.7	7th	6.7	+0.1	2.8	22nd	61.2	128.8	very low	48%
Melton Mowbray	9.9	−1.5	13.5	7th	0.7	−1.6	−4.0	30th	51.6	31.6	high	163%
Mount Wellington	1.9	−0.4	6.9	8th	−2.2	−0.6	−5.8	22nd		76.2
Tasman Island	10.0		13.1	7th	6.0		1.1	22nd	71.0
Tunnack Fire Station	8.4	−1.2	12.8	8th	0.7	−1.2	−3.6	30th	53.2	46.0	high	116%
Derwent Valley (district 95)
Bushy Park	10.5	−0.6	14.9	8th	0.1	−1.4	−3.8	5th	48.0	49.5	average	97%
Maydena Post Office	9.4	−1.3	14.0	8th	0.9	−1.3	−2.4	5th	95.3	106.3	average	90%
Ouse Fire Station	10.1	−1.7	14.6	8th	−0.2	−1.5	−5.1	5th	56.8	49.9	average	114%
Tarraleah Village			11.6	8th	−0.1	−0.5	−3.9	5th	103.0	117.0	average	88%
Central Plateau (district 96)
Butlers Gorge	7.2	+0.3	11.8	8th	−1.7	−1.3	−7.8	25th	151.8	175.5	average	86%
Lake St Clair National Park	6.5	−0.8	10.7	8th	−1.5	−1.5	−6.0	26th	167.3	199.7	average	84%
Liawenee	4.6		8.5	14th	−2.6		−10.2	4th	85.6
West Coast (district 97)
Hartz Mountain	5.5	−0.6	10.8	7th	0.6	−0.9	−2.8	22nd		89.3
Mount Read	3.0	−0.7	7.7	14th	−0.7	−0.8	−3.9	22nd		341.5
Scotts Peak Dam	8.7		14.5	8th	1.6		−1.6	30th	172.4
Strahan Aerodrome	12.2	0.0	15.1	30th	3.9	−1.2	−0.8	28th	140.0	167.1	low	84%
Strathgordon Village	8.2	−0.8	12.1	7th	1.9	−1.1	−2.0	29th	209.1	268.2	average	78%
Warra	7.6		12.0	8th	1.3		−2.3	30th	154.0
King Island (district 98)
King Island Airport	13.3	+0.2	15.5	14th	6.3	−1.2	0.7	29th	109.6	112.0	average	98%
Flinders Island (district 99)
Flinders Island Airport	13.5	+0.2	17.2	14th	4.5	−1.8	−1.4	4th	79.2	84.7	average	94%
Hogan Island	12.8		15.3	6th	8.3		4.2	22nd	81.4
Antarctica and Macquarie Island (district 300)
Macquarie Island	5.0	+0.1	7.8	1st	2.0	+0.4	−3.2	4th	64.6	71.7	average	90%

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Notes

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