Friday, 1 July 2011 - Monthly Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC17R0

Tasmania in June 2011: Wind, waves, rain and snow along with volcanic ash

The start of June was wet and windy with some large waves and plenty of snow. More rain followed in the middle of the month so that overall it was wetter than usual across nearly all of the state. Average temperatures were not far from normal in most areas though individual days varied widely. 

• 114 mm at Tunnack in a day
• -8.7 °C at Liawenee on the 15th
• Volcanic ash affected the state on several days

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Wild weather at the start of the month

A week of strong winds, large waves, heavy rain, flooding and significant snowfalls affected Tasmania at the start of the month. Wind gusts reached 139 km/h at Maatsuyker Island on the 7th while waves reached over 15 metres on the west coast of Tasmania and swells reached 6 metres at Cape Bruny early the next day. Snow settled to around 400 metres, with over half a metre recorded on Ben Lomond on the 8th bringing an early start to the snow season. 

Heavy rain followed, with several sites in the east receiving 50 to 100 mm in a day on the 8th. York Plains (48.0 mm), Hobart Airport (46.6 mm) and Richmond (53.8 mm) had their wettest June day on record. The highest daily total was at Tunnack, where 114 mm fell in the 24 hours to 9 am on the 9th. Rainfall of this intensity around Tunnack is expected only once in a hundred years, on average. Many rivers in the south and east experienced minor to moderate flooding that persisted until the 12th in some areas. 

Wet overall, except on Flinders Island

Along with the heavy rain around the 8th (from a low pressure system), showers and rain persisted in the west between the 17th and 27th as a number of cold fronts crossed the state. Of note was the cold front on the 20th that brought over 50 mm to higher ground in the north, including around 80 mm at Liffey and Quamby Bluff. Minor to moderate flooding developed in several northern river basins.

The whole month was wetter than usual across nearly all of Tasmania, especially in the Midlands where totals of 80 to 100 mm were more than double the long-term average. The central west was the wettest area, with at least 458 mm falling on Mount Read. A few parts of the north coast were slightly drier than usual, and northern parts of Flinders Island received only about half the usual rainfall for June. Fort Direction (34 mm) and Flinders Island Airport (35 mm) were the driest sites.

Warm and cool periods

There were warm and cool periods both during the day and overnight but for the whole month average temperatures were mostly within half a degree of normal. Orford was an exception, having its lowest June mean daily minimum temperature since 1986 after several cold nights.

The warmest temperatures occurred in northerly airstreams at the start of the month and around the 25th with many sites reaching over 15 °C during the day and not dropping below 10 °C in the night. The highest daytime temperatures were 19.1 °C and 18.9 °C at Swansea on the 1st and 2nd, while Bicheno had the warmest night — 12.9 °C on the 3rd. Geeveston had its warmest June night on record on the 25th, not falling below 11.7 °C.

Some of the coldest nights occurred in the middle of the month as a high pressure system moved near the state. Liawenee fell below -7 °C for 3 nights in a row, falling as low as -8.7 °C on the 15th. The coldest day was -1.3 °C at Mount Wellington on the 21st after a cold front crossed the state and snow fell on the mountain.

Hobart: wet with widely varying temperatures

June in Hobart was slightly wetter than usual with a total of 64.4 mm. This contrasts with the last two June's: there was less than half the 144 mm that fell in June 2009, and more than five times the 12.4 mm total from June 2010. More than half this month's rain fell between the 7th and 9th when a low pressure system moved near the state.

The coldest days were the 15th and 16th, with the temperature reaching just 9.0 °C on the 15th then falling to 0.8 °C early the next day. Interestingly, Mount Wellington was warmer than Hobart for nearly all of the 15th and some of the 16th. While Hobart fell to 0.8 °C, the temperature on Mount Wellington remained above 8 °C.

There were also some very mild nights. On the 20th Hobart's midnight temperature of 15.5 °C was one of the warmest on record for June. A few days later on the 24th it was 15.1 °C at 6 am — the last time this happened in June was 1986. The temperature climbed to 17.4 °C later in the day, Hobart's highest temperature for the month.

Volcanic ash affects the state

An eruption of the Cordón Caulle volcano in Chile beginning on the 4th sent millions of tonnes of volcanic ash into the atmosphere that began encircling the globe. Volcanic ash moved into the air above Tasmania between the 12th and 15th then again on the 22nd and 23rd. Flights into and out of the state were disrupted, affecting thousands of people.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Maps
	Observed	Anomaly	Decile rank
Total rainfall
Mean daily maximum temperatures
Mean daily minimum temperatures

Click on a map to show it full size in a pop-up window

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top