Friday, 1 May 2009 - Monthly Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC17R0

Tasmania in April 2009: warm, windy, wet... then cold to finish

Warm, wet and windy conditions were felt in Tasmania at various times during April, and the last five days were very cold. Daytime temperatures at the end of the month struggled to reach what they had been overnight early in the month, and several records were broken. Destructive winds blew across the north on the 15th, peaking at 194 km/h at Scottsdale (nearly a Tasmanian record). Rainfall for most of the state was near or above normal.

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

Warm at the start: Northerly winds blew across Tasmania during the first few days of the month and temperatures were very warm, reaching into the mid-twenties during the day and staying warm during the night. Most overnight temperatures remained in the mid to high teens. Wynyard's minimum of 17.2°C on the 2nd was its warmest April night on record, but this was broken on the 3rd when it didn't fall below 17.7°C. Several other places had their warmest April night in over 15 years. 

Cold at the end: A southerly change on the 26th brought very cold conditions which persisted for the rest of the month. The lowest April minimum and maximum temperature records at a number of sites were broken, on multiple days at some sites. Daytime temperatures struggled to reach what they has been overnight at the start of the month, and overnight temperatures fell well below zero at many sites. Liawenee's −7.5°C early on the 29th is the second-coldest April temperature ever recorded in Tasmania, and the temperature on Mount Wellington stayed below −1°C on the 27th and 28th; both days are in the coldest five April days ever measured in Tasmania. Hobart had three consecutive days below 12°C - this hasn't happened since 1952 - and Launceston had an unprecedented five days in a row below 15°C. A media release was issued to cover the unseasonably cold weather.

But temperatures close to average overall:  There were a few cold days after fronts crossed the state (on the 6th and 15th) and a warm day on the 14th (ahead of a front), but otherwise temperatures were near normal in the middle part of the month. This meant that mean maxima and minima for April were near normal. Daytime temperatures were generally around half a degree below normal. The warm nights at the start of the month compensated for the cold ones at the end, so overnight temperatures mostly about half a degree warmer than usual.

Damaging winds: Severe thunderstorms on a cold front affected northern areas on the morning of the 15th. Wind gusts of over 100 km/h were common, causing extensive structural and tree damage, particularly at Boat Harbour, Wynyard and Scottsdale, and power outages to around 30,000 premises. The peak gust of 194 km/h at Scottsdale was most likely associated with a tornado, and is the second-strongest wind gust ever recorded in Tasmania (the strongest is 200 km/h on Mount Wellington). A deep low on the 26th also caused damaging winds in some areas. Gusts reached 152 km/h at Hogan Island and Maatsuyker Island, which ranks in the top ten April gusts for Tasmania.

Wet in the north and southeast, otherwise near average rainfall: The main rain events during April were associated with cold fronts and a low pressure system. Fronts on the 15th and 16th brought falls of over 50 mm to the western highlands, 20 to 30 mm to most of the north and 5 to 15 mm elsewhere. This was followed by statewide rain between the 24th and 26th with further fronts and a deep low pressure system which moved across the north coast on the 26th. Heavy rain fell in the north with many sites receiving over 70 mm, many sites in the southeast and west received 30 to 50 mm, and most remaining areas received 10 to 20 mm. The highest three-day total was 100.6 mm at Pipers River, whilst the highest daily total was 72.0 mm at Railton in the 24 hours to 9 am on the 25th. These two events led to a wetter than usual April in the north (some sites, including Ulverstone and Scottsdale, had their wettest April since 1992) and in parts of the southeast. Totals were near average elsewhere, except for a few sites around Bothwell and in the central east which were drier than usual.

A generally wet start to the year: With various areas of the state experiencing average or even above-average rain in January,  February or March as well as April, totals for the first four months of the year are mostly near average. The main exception is the East Coast and Flinders Island, where totals are below average so far. Rainfall over the past two months means that some areas (especially in the southeast and the north) have had their wettest start to autumn since at least 2003. However, for most of Tasmania the period since January 2006 ranks as the driest 40 months on record; it will take a great deal of rain to remove these longer-term deficits.

Further information

Melanie Webb
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	26.5°C at Strahan Aerodrome on the 2nd, and at Friendly Beaches and Swansea on the 3rd
Warmest days on average Highest mean daily maximum temperature	18.7°C at Bicheno (Council Depot)
Coolest days on average Lowest mean daily maximum temperature	7.7°C at Mount Wellington
Coldest day Lowest daily maximum temperature	−1.9°C at Mount Wellington on the 27th
Coldest night Lowest temperature	−7.5°C at Liawenee on the 29th
Coolest nights on average Lowest mean daily minimum temperature	1.2°C at Liawenee
Warmest nights on average Highest mean daily minimum temperature	12.5°C at Hogan Island
Warmest night Highest daily minimum temperature	18.1°C at Flinders Island Airport on the 2nd
Wettest overall Highest total rainfall	333.8 mm at Mount Read
Driest overall Lowest total rainfall	23.6 mm at Ashton (Ouse River)
Wettest day Highest daily rainfall	72.0 mm at Railton (Dowbiggin Street) on the 25th
Highest wind gust	194 km/h at Scottsdale (West Minstone Road) on the 15th

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Records

Record lowest April daily maximum temperature
	Lowest daily maximum temperature in April 2009 (°C)		Previous lowest for April		Years of record	Average for April
Orford (Aubin Court)	10.0	on the 28th	10.3	on the 22nd in 1969	41	18.4
Scottsdale (West Minstone Road)	9.8	on the 26th	11.0	on the 5th in 1983	37	18.0
Tarraleah Village	5.5	on the 27th	5.8	on the 7th in 2006	25	13.9
Dover	9.6	on the 27th	9.8	on the 6th in 2006	20	16.7
Lake Leake (Elizabeth River)	6.4	on the 28th	6.6	on the 21st in 1999	20	14.1

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Record highest April daily minimum temperature
	Highest daily minimum temperature in April 2009 (°C)		Previous highest for April		Years of record	Average for April
Wynyard Airport	17.7	on the 3rd	16.7	on the 10th in 1961	24	7.0

Macquarie Island also had some record warm nights. Its minimum of 7.8°C on the 15th equalled its previous warmest April night recorded on 19 April 2006. This was then beaten on the 25th, when a minimum of 8.0°C was recorded. (Macquarie Island has 62 years of record).

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Record lowest April temperature
	Lowest temperature in April 2009 (°C)		Previous lowest for April		Years of record	Average for April
Flinders Island Airport	−0.3	on the 30th	0.1	on the 27th in 1967	47	10.7
Fingal (Legge Street)	−4.8	on the 30th	−4.6	on the 21st in 1994	23	5.4
Geeveston (Cemetery Road)	−2.8	on the 30th	−2.5	on the 25th in 1997	23	6.2
Dover	−2.0	on the 30th	−0.5	on the 17th in 2006	20	7.0
Lake Leake (Elizabeth River)	−5.9	on the 29th	−4.9	on the 25th in 1997	20	4.1

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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 April 2009
	Maximum temperatures for April (°C)				Minimum temperatures for April (°C)				Rainfall for April (millimetres)
	Mean for April 2009	Diff from average	Highest for April 2009		Mean for April 2009	Diff from average	Lowest for April 2009		Total for April 2009	Average for April	Rank of April 2009	Fraction of April average
Northern (district 91)
Bridport	17.6	−0.5	21.2	2nd	9.7	+0.4	2.2	28th	106.1	56.0	very high	189%
Burnie	17.6	−0.1	21.4	18th	11.0	+1.1	4.0	29th	84.6	75.0	average	113%
Cape Grim BAPS	16.0	−0.4	20.6	14th	11.2	−0.1	4.9	28th	95.8	67.4	high	142%
Cressy Research Station	17.8	−0.3	22.3	14th	5.8	+0.5	−3.7	30th	53.0	43.5	average	122%
Devonport Airport	17.8	+0.2	22.8	18th	9.4	+1.0	1.2	28th	64.0	60.6	average	106%
Launceston	18.4	−0.4	23.9	3rd	7.8	+0.4	−0.6	30th	73.6	51.5	high	143%
Launceston Airport	17.4		23.8	3rd	6.6		−1.3	30th	68.2
Launceston Airport Comparison	16.8	−0.6	22.9	3rd	7.0	+0.4	−1.6	30th	76.2	54.5	high	140%
Low Head	16.9	−0.7	20.1	2nd	11.4	+0.6	3.7	29th	89.4	54.9	very high	163%
Luncheon Hill	15.0	−0.5	20.6	2nd	8.2	+0.3	0.3	28th	144.4	103.4	high	140%
Marrawah	16.3	−0.5	22.0	2nd	10.3	+0.1	3.5	28th	99.0	85.7	high	116%
Scottsdale	16.7	−1.4	21.6	3rd	8.0	+0.1	−0.3	6th	121.6	81.0	high	150%
Sheffield School Farm	16.0	−0.5	20.2	18th	7.3	+0.5	−1.5	29th	108.2	62.4	very high	173%
Smithton Aerodrome	17.2	−0.5	21.9	2nd	8.2	+0.8	−0.7	29th	86.8	58.1	high	149%
Wynyard Airport	17.4	0.0	21.3	18th	8.4	+1.5	−1.1	29th	86.2	74.1	high	116%
East Coast (district 92)
Bicheno	18.7	−0.2	22.0	3rd	10.5	+0.3	3.3	30th	30.4	59.6	low	51%
Eddystone Point	18.5	+0.5	22.8	18th	11.5	+0.1	5.0	6th	48.2	64.9	average	74%
Fingal	17.8	−0.5	25.3	3rd	5.8	+0.4	−4.8	30th	25.8	51.9	average	50%
Friendly Beaches			26.5	3rd	10.3	+0.8	1.5	30th	28.4	50.3	average	56%
Lake Leake	14.1	0.0	22.2	3rd	3.7	−0.3	−5.9	29th	36.4	69.8	low	52%
Maria Island	17.3		21.6	14th	11.2		5.5	30th	57.6
Orford	17.7	−0.6	24.3	3rd	8.5	+0.1	0.5	30th	56.1	58.1	average	97%
Scamander	18.4	−0.4	25.9	3rd	9.8	+0.1	2.2	30th	37.8	66.4	average	57%
St Helens Aerodrome	18.2		26.1	3rd	10.2		1.3	30th	41.8
Swan Island	17.6		21.0	23rd	12.4		6.2	28th	48.2
Swansea Post Office	18.6	−0.1	26.5	3rd	7.7	−0.6	−0.5	30th	27.4	51.1	average	54%
Midlands (district 93)
Ross	17.8	+0.4	23.2	3rd	6.5	+1.0	−4.0	29th	37.4	37.6	average	99%
Southeast (district 94)
Bull Bay	16.6	−0.6	24.0	2nd	9.3	−0.1	2.6	30th	65.6	47.3	high	139%
Campania	18.0		25.0	2nd	7.2		−1.4	30th	36.0
Cape Bruny	15.9	−0.4	23.3	2nd	9.7	0.0	3.7	29th	55.4	52.4	average	106%
Cape Bruny Lighthouse	15.4	0.0	22.8	2nd	9.6	0.0	3.6	29th	75.0	80.2	average	94%
Dover	16.2	−0.4	24.2	2nd	6.4	−0.7	−2.0	30th	83.4	67.1	high	124%
Geeveston	17.0	−0.2	25.0	2nd	6.3	+0.1	−2.8	30th	80.0	63.3	high	126%
Grove	17.7	+0.2	24.7	2nd	7.3	+1.1	0.0	29th	56.8	61.3	average	93%
Grove	17.1		24.1	2nd	6.1		−2.1	30th	65.4
Hobart	17.6	+0.4	24.7	2nd	9.0	+0.1	1.3	30th	66.8	51.3	high	130%
Hobart Airport	17.6	−0.5	25.1	2nd	9.2	+0.4	1.3	30th	48.2	43.1	average	112%
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse	14.1	−0.3	25.5	2nd	9.7	+0.2	4.6	6th	62.6	108.5	low	58%
Melton Mowbray	16.7	−0.5	23.6	3rd	6.3	+0.8	−3.3	29th	25.4	28.8	average	88%
Mount Wellington	7.7	−0.7	14.5	2nd	1.6	−0.5	−5.6	6th	63.0	85.3	average	74%
Tasman Island	14.2		20.1	2nd	9.3		3.6	6th	106.0
Tunnack Fire Station	14.5	−0.6	20.0	2nd	5.5	+0.6	−4.1	30th	39.6	42.7	average	93%
Derwent Valley (district 95)
Bushy Park	18.0	+0.1	25.3	2nd	5.3	−0.9	−3.5	30th	29.0	46.8	low	62%
Maydena Post Office	15.3	−0.5	23.9	2nd	5.7	+0.4	−1.4	30th	74.7	85.1	average	88%
Ouse Fire Station	17.5	−0.8	25.5	2nd	4.5	0.0	−5.6	30th	25.8
Tarraleah Village	13.7	−0.2	20.8	2nd	4.5	+0.5	−1.7	29th	98.8	95.6	average	103%
Central Plateau (district 96)
Butlers Gorge	13.1	+0.1	21.0	2nd	3.1	−0.2	−4.6	29th	135.2	146.3	average	92%
Lake St Clair National Park	13.0	+0.1	18.7	2nd	3.3	+0.6	−4.4	29th	119.0	135.2	average	88%
Liawenee	11.2		16.5	8th	1.2		−7.5	29th	62.6
West Coast (district 97)
Hartz Mountain	10.7	−0.1	19.2	2nd	4.1	−0.2	−1.6	28th	78.4	64.3	high	122%
Mount Read	8.3	−0.6	16.8	2nd	3.2	0.0	−2.9	28th	333.8	263.5	high	127%
Scotts Peak Dam	14.4	0.0	24.0	2nd	6.4	0.0	−0.4	29th	174.0	122.9	high	142%
Strahan Aerodrome	16.6	+0.1	26.5	2nd	8.3	+0.1	1.2	29th	139.2	113.2	high	123%
Strathgordon Village	13.7	−0.4	21.8	14th	6.4	−0.5	2.1	6th	194.9	202.3	average	96%
Warra	13.0		21.7	2nd	5.5		−2.5	29th	155.4
King Island (district 98)
King Island Airport	17.4	−0.2	25.9	2nd	10.3	+0.1	1.3	29th	73.6	56.7	high	130%
Flinders Island (district 99)
Flinders Island Airport	18.1	−0.6	24.3	3rd	10.3	−0.4	−0.3	30th	49.4	59.0	average	84%
Hogan Island	17.5		22.8	3rd	12.5		7.3	28th	76.0
Antarctica and Macquarie Island (district 300)
Macquarie Island	7.4	+0.5	9.6	2nd	4.4	+0.7	1.4	7th	73.8	93.4	low	79%

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Notes

Further information

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

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