Wednesday, 1 February 2012 - Monthly Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC27R0

Tasmania in January 2012: Warm days, warm nights, and unseasonal cold

January was an interesting month, with both record warm and record cold temperatures. Overall the month was warmer than average. Rainfall was near average in most areas, mostly due to a wet burst on the 30th, and in the north and west mid-month.

• Record warm January nights at Hobart Airport, Scamander and Wynyard Airport
• Coldest January day since 2005 at Burnie and Launceston
• Very cold in the southeast on the 31st
• Heavy rain on the 30th, including a record 64 mm at Maatsuyker Island

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Warm days and nights

The start of the month was warm and humid as a high pressure system over the Tasman Sea directed warm, moist air from the mainland across Tasmania. Nights were generally 2 to 5 degrees warmer than average, while day time temperatures were as much as 11 degrees above average. The 3rd was particularly warm: Hobart Airport recorded its warmest January night (highest daily minimum temperature) on record, not falling below 21.2 °C, and several locations in the east and southeast climbed above 30 °C during the day. The highest temperature was 37.2 °C at Scamander (more than 15 °C above its January average). Overnight, Scamander's temperature didn't fall below 19.8 °C, making it their warmest January night on record. Maximum temperatures also exceeded 30 °C at several locations from the 16th to 18th, and on several days from the 23rd to the 30th. Nights were warm during these periods too, with Wynyard Airport recording its warmest January night on record the morning of the 30th, when the temperature fell to only 19.9 °C (though this record has been exceeded previously at the old Wynyard (Jackson Street) site on 29 January 1974 with a minimum of 20.4 °C).

Unseasonal cold spell

The second week of January was unseasonably cold in a southwesterly airstream with a number of cold fronts crossing the state. Temperatures were generally 2 to 9 degrees below average, and up to 12 degrees below average in the west. On the 10th, a few sites in the north had their coldest January day in 7 years, including Burnie (16.6 °C) and Launceston (18.4 °C). The following morning both Hobart and Hobart Airport had their coldest January mornings in 8 years, with minimum temperatures of 6.3 °C and 5.8 °C respectively.

A Special Climate Statement entitled Unseasonal cold in southeast Australia was issued on this event for the southeast mainland.

Temperatures dropped again significantly on the 31st following the passage of a cold front, with temperatures at most locations struggling to reach the mid-teens. Sites in the southeast had their coldest January day in several years, including Bull Bay (14.0 °C) where it hadn't been this cold in January in 12 years, and Campania (15.7 °C) in 7 years.

Warm days and nights overall

Overall, bot maximum and minimum temperatures were up to two degrees warmer than average. Scamander, Geeveston and Tarraleah Village had their highest January mean daily minimum temperature on record. Bushy Park also had its highest January mean daily minimum temperature in 24 years.

Heavy rain at the end of the month

Most areas of Tasmania were relatively dry for much of January until the passage of a cold front and low pressure system on the 30th delivered around 30 to 60 mm of rain to the west and southeast, and up to 20 mm to most other areas. Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse recorded 64.4 mm of rain with this event, which is its wettest January day on record, and also its wettest day (of any month) since 9 July 1916 when 121.9 mm was recorded.

The 8th to the 10th was also a wet period in the north and west of the state with daily totals up to around 30 mm, as several cold fronts and troughs of low pressure affected Tasmania.

For the whole month, rainfall was near average apart from an area of the northeast where several sites had less than half their January average, including Mathinna which was the driest location overall, with only 9 mm. Mount Read was the wettest location with 240 mm.

Hobart: many warm days and nights, but very cold ones too

There were more warm days and nights than cold in January, with both maximum and minimum temperatures close to 2 degrees warmer than average. There were 8 days where the temperature exceeded 28 °C, which has only happened twice before in any month: January 1961 and February 1895. Of those 8 days, 7 saw the temperature exceed 29 °C, which has never happened before in January, and only once in any other month (February 2001). There were 12 mornings where the minimum temperature did not fall below 15 °C. This is a new record for Hobart in January (previous record of 10 days set in 1961, 1971, 2001 and 2008).

Despite all the warmth, Hobart also experienced unseasonal cold: 6.3 °C on the morning of the 11th was the coldest January morning in 8 years, and the 31st was Hobart Airport's coldest January day in 12 years (14.7 °C) and Hobart's coldest in 7 years (15.4 °C).

Hobart received 56 mm of rain for the month, just above the long-term average of 48 mm. Most of this fell on the 30th and into the morning of the 31st (29 mm) with the passage of a cold front, and on the evening of the 17th when thunderstorms developed over the Hobart area. Conditions were hot and humid on this day, with vigorous thunderstorms forming as a cold front moved through. Lightning caused power outages in some areas.

Further information

Media

media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057

Enquiries

helpdesk.climate@bom.gov.au

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Extremes in January 2012
Hottest day	37.2 °C at Scamander on the 3rd
Warmest days on average	26.3 °C at Ouse Fire Station
Coolest days on average	14.7 °C at Mount Wellington
Coldest day	3.7 °C at Mount Read on the 10th
Coldest night	-1.3 °C at Mount Wellington on the 11th
Coolest nights on average	5.8 °C at Liawenee and Mount Wellington
Warmest nights on average	15.6 °C at Swan Island
Warmest night	21.3 °C at Hobart (Ellerslie Road) on the 3rd
Warmest on average overall	19.4 °C at Launceston (Ti Tree Bend)
Coolest on average overall	10.2 °C at Mount Wellington
Wettest overall	240.4 mm at Mount Read
Driest overall	8.8 mm at Mathinna (South Esk River)
Wettest day	74.6 mm at Catamaran and Southport (Huon Highway) on the 31st
Highest wind gust	139 km/h at Mount Wellington on the 9th

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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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

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Record highest January daily rainfall
	Highest daily rainfall in January 2012 (mm)		Previous wettest for January		Years of record
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse	64.4	on the 31st	53.3	on the 3rd in 1913	113




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Record highest January daily minimum temperature
	Highest daily minimum temperature in January 2012 (°C)		Previous warmest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Hobart Airport	21.2	on the 3rd	21.0	on the 3rd in 1973	54	12.0
Scamander	19.8	on the 4th	19.5	on the 30th in 2009	28	12.7
Wynyard Airport	19.9	on the 30th	19.1	on the 17th in 2007	25	11.0




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Record highest January mean daily minimum temperature
	Mean daily minimum temperature for January 2012 (°C)	Previous warmest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Scamander	14.3	13.8	in 2011	27	12.7
Tarraleah Village	9.3	9.1	in 2001	27	7.1
Geeveston (Cemetery Road)	11.2	= 11.2	in 2011	25	9.8




Highest January mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years
	Mean daily minimum temperature for January 2012 (°C)	Most recent January at least this warm		Years since warmer	Average for January
Bushy Park (Bushy Park Estates)	11.5	11.8	in 1988	24	10.0




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Lowest January mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years
	Mean daily minimum temperature for January 2012 (°C)	Most recent January at least this cool		Years since cooler	Average for January
Macquarie Island	4.6	=4.6	in 1976	36	5.3




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Record highest January mean temperature
	Mean daily temperature for January 2012 (°C)	Previous warmest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Tarraleah Village	15.6	15.5	in 2001	27	13.3
Devonport Airport	17.7	= 17.7	in 2008	20	16.7





Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Summary statistics for January 2012
	Maximum temperatures for January (°C)				Minimum temperatures for January (°C)				Rainfall for January (millimetres)
	Mean for January 2012	Diff from average	Highest for January 2012		Mean for January 2012	Diff from average	Lowest for January 2012		Total for January 2012	Average for January	Rank of January 2012	Fraction of January average
Northern (district 91)
Bridport (Sea View Villas)	22.4	+0.6	27.7	3rd	13.7	+0.6	6.4	11th	36.3	56.3	average	64%
Burnie (Round Hill)	22.6	+1.6	28.8	26th			8.1	6th	51.0	44.6	average	114%
Cape Grim	19.6		26.0	17th	14.0		8.7	11th	47.6
Cape Grim BAPS (Comparison)	19.8	+1.0	26.5	17th	13.9	+0.9	8.8	11th	45.6	37.0	high	123%
Cressy Research Station	26.0	+1.0	32.9	3rd	10.7	+0.6	2.8	11th	21.0	31.8	average	66%
Devonport Airport	22.4	+1.2	28.0	18th	13.0	+0.8	5.6	11th	26.8	42.7	average	63%
Launceston (Ti Tree Bend)	25.6	+1.4	31.2	29th	13.2	+1.0	6.5	11th	23.6	45.9	low	51%
Launceston Airport	25.7		32.0	29th	11.2		3.7	11th	25.6
Low Head	21.2	+1.0	24.7	3rd	14.9	+0.7	9.8	11th	35.4	50.9	average	70%
Luncheon Hill (Forestry)	21.8	+0.9	30.2	24th	11.0	+0.5	5.6	11th	78.8	80.6	average	98%
Marrawah	21.1	+1.0	27.2	17th	13.0	+1.1	8.2	11th	61.2	49.4	high	124%
Scottsdale (West Minstone Road)	24.0	+1.2	30.5	29th	11.7	+0.9	3.2	11th	55.2	58.2	average	95%
Sheffield School Farm	23.2	+1.4	28.7	29th	10.7	0.0	3.7	11th	49.0	48.8	average	100%
Smithton Aerodrome	21.9	+0.4	26.8	3rd	12.1	+1.0	3.9	6th	47.6	42.7	average	111%
Wynyard Airport	22.2	+0.9	27.1	25th	12.3	+1.3	4.2	5th	65.2	44.6	high	146%
East Coast (district 92)
Eddystone Point	23.7	+2.8	28.7	18th	14.7	+1.1	7.3	11th	23.8	45.5	low	52%
Fingal (Legge Street)	24.8	+1.4	35.0	3rd	11.2	+0.9	2.7	11th	12.4	43.8	low	28%
Friendly Beaches	23.8	+0.9	33.0	3rd	13.6	+0.5	7.8	11th	27.6	59.0	average	47%
Lake Leake (Elizabeth River)	20.5	+1.2	29.6	3rd	8.9	+0.6	1.4	11th	26.4	54.7	low	48%
Maria Island (Point Lesueur)	21.5		28.5	17th	14.2		9.5	11th	28.0
Orford (Aubin Court)	22.8	+0.8	29.2	17th	12.5	+0.7	6.4	11th	30.2	48.8	low	62%
Scamander	22.7	+0.7	37.2	3rd	14.3	+1.6	7.9	14th	17.8	56.3	low	32%
St Helens Aerodrome	23.4	+0.8	35.1	3rd	14.1	+1.0	6.3	11th	19.2	53.5	low	36%
Swan Island	21.9	+1.2	27.4	17th	15.6	+0.9	9.4	12th	38.8	49.5	average	78%
Swansea (Francis Street)	23.0		31.7	17th	12.7		6.5	14th	21.3
Midlands (district 93)
Ross (The Boulevards)	25.9	+1.6	34.7	3rd	10.7	+0.1	2.0	11th	21.4	46.3	low	46%
Southeast (district 94)
Bull Bay (Lauriston)	21.6	+0.4	32.0	17th	12.6	+0.4	7.0	11th	73.2	50.6	high	145%
Campania (Kincora)	25.4	+1.3	34.4	29th	12.0	+0.7	3.5	11th	54.0	38.9	average	139%
Cape Bruny (Cape Bruny)	20.4	+0.8	30.7	17th	12.5	+0.4	7.5	11th	87.8	46.0	high	191%
Cape Bruny Lighthouse	19.7	+1.4	30.6	17th	12.6	+1.2	7.8	11th	78.9	62.3	high	127%
Dover	21.1	+0.5	33.0	17th	10.9	+0.7	4.6	6th	77.8	53.2	high	146%
Geeveston (Cemetery Road)	22.8	+1.1	33.1	29th	11.2	+1.4	5.4	11th	66.6	56.9	average	117%
Grove (Research Station)	23.7		34.2	17th	10.2		2.8	11th	71.6
Hobart (Ellerslie Road)	23.7	+2.1	36.0	17th	13.5	+1.6	6.3	11th	56.0	47.6	average	118%
Hobart Airport	23.7	+1.2	33.2	3rd	13.1	+1.1	5.8	11th	45.4	40.5	average	112%
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse	17.5	+0.5	28.0	2nd	11.6	+0.9	6.8	10th	118.8	79.6	high	149%
Melton Mowbray (North Stockman)	24.7	+0.8	32.7	29th	11.0	+0.7	2.4	11th	40.4	31.8	average	127%
Mount Wellington	14.7	+1.4	24.1	29th	5.8	+1.1	-1.3	11th	91.0	86.6	average	105%
Tasman Island	18.3	+0.5	27.8	17th	11.6	+0.2	7.1	12th	83.6	76.3	average	110%
Tunnack Fire Station	22.2	+0.6	31.0	29th	9.6	+0.8	1.8	11th	49.6	45.1	average	110%
Derwent Valley (district 95)
Bushy Park (Bushy Park Estates)	26.0	+2.1	35.8	29th	11.5	+1.5	3.9	11th	39.2	41.0	average	96%
Maydena Post Office	22.7	+0.6	33.7	29th	9.7	+0.8	4.4	11th	66.3	61.3	average	108%
Ouse Fire Station	26.3	+1.0	36.5	29th	11.2	+1.1	3.6	11th	31.2	26.9	average	116%
Tarraleah Village	21.6	+2.1	31.4	29th	9.3	+2.2	3.0	11th	58.1	69.6	average	83%
Central Plateau (district 96)
Butlers Gorge	20.1	+1.3	31.2	2nd	7.4	+1.1	0.6	15th	90.2	96.8	average	93%
Lake St Clair National Park	20.3	+1.0	30.5	2nd	7.2	+0.9	0.5	15th	93.2	101.7	average	92%
Liawenee	19.5	+0.8	28.9	29th	5.8	+0.6	-1.1	6th	28.2	49.6	low	57%
West Coast (district 97)
Cape Sorell	20.3	+2.1	27.6	2nd	13.3	+1.6	8.6	11th	62.0	69.5	average	89%
Hartz Mountain (Keoghs Pimple)	18.1	+0.3	31.1	29th	7.6	+0.5	0.3	11th	80.0	66.1	average	121%
Mount Read	14.8	+0.6	26.4	29th	6.7	+1.0	-0.1	11th	240.4	199.3	average	121%
Scotts Peak Dam	21.9	+1.4	34.4	29th	9.7	+0.4	3.8	10th	143.8	105.5	high	136%
Strahan Aerodrome	22.0	+1.4	33.9	2nd	11.5	+0.8	6.8	6th	78.4	85.9	average	91%
Strathgordon Village	20.8	+1.6	32.0	29th	10.5	+1.0	5.3	11th	150.4	146.1	average	103%
Warra	20.2		31.7	29th	8.8		3.2	11th	135.0
King Island (district 98)
King Island Airport	21.9	+1.2	33.5	17th	13.1	+0.8	7.5	6th	46.8	39.2	high	119%
Flinders Island (district 99)
Flinders Island Airport	23.5	+1.4	29.8	17th	13.5	+0.2	6.7	5th	37.8	45.6	average	83%
Hogan Island	21.9		28.6	17th	15.2		10.4	11th	53.0
Antarctica and Macquarie Island (district 300)
Macquarie Island	8.6	-0.2	10.3	17th	4.6	-0.7	1.9	27th	100.0	84.7	high	118%

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Notes

A Monthly Climate Summary is prepared to list the main features of the weather in Tasmania using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated. Later information, including data that has had greater opportunity for quality control, will be presented in the Monthly Weather Review, usually published in the fourth week of the month.

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 9 am on Wednesday 1 February 2012. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

Averages are long-term means based on observations from all available years of record, which vary widely from site to site. They are not shown for sites with less than 10 years of record, as they cannot then be calculated reliably.
The median is sometimes more representative than the mean of long-term average rain.

The Rank indicates how rainfall this time compares with the climate record for the site, based on the decile ranking (very low rainfall is in decile 1, low in decile 2 or 3, average in decile 4 to 7, high in decile 8 or 9 and very high is in decile 10).
The Fraction of average shows how much rain has fallen this time as a percentage of the long-term mean.

Further information

Media

media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057

Enquiries

helpdesk.climate@bom.gov.au

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