Thursday, 1 November 2012 - Monthly Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC17R0

Tasmania in October 2012: a dry month overall

Despite a few wet days, rainfall was below average in most of Tasmania in October, and especially so in the central north. There were some warm days, but also plenty of cool weather.

• Below average rainfall
• Many cold mornings
• Near-average temperatures overall
• Damaging winds on the 4th

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

A relatively dry month, especially in the north

Rainfall totals were below average in almost all areas, and especially so in the northern and central regions. Mount Read recorded 348 mm for the month, whilst Low Head had only 4 mm, Devonport 8 mm and Launceston only 14 mm. Maydena had its lowest total October rainfall on record, and Frankford its lowest total October rainfall for many years. Even in a relatively dry month there were a number of rain events, including almost statewide rain with cold fronts around the 10th, 16th and the 25th, and many wet days in the western half.

Springtime warmth, but many cool days too

The 30th was the warmest day of October, when northerly winds and clear skies saw temperatures reach into the mid to high twenties and Friendly Beaches reach 28.9 °C. Daytime temperatures were also warm in northwest winds in the middle of the month and around the 3rd and 4th. Following the early burst of warmth, temperatures dropped significantly in the wake of a cold front on the 6th, Scamander and Strahan recording their coldest October day on record in the wintery weather. After that, there were several cool days and many occasions when temperatures struggled to reach into the mid-teens. Overall, daytime temperatures were close to or slightly above average in most areas.

Plenty of cool nights

Cool nights were much more common than mild ones during October. There were several quite cold nights, especially in the northeast inland. Fingal dropped below -1 °C on the 6th, 8th, 11th and 23rd. An average October only sees two mornings below -1 °C in Fingal. Devonport also had some cold nights, notably between the 6th and 14th, which contributed to its lowest October mean daily minimum temperature in 20 years of record. Overall, overnight temperatures were below average in most parts of the state, typically by less than half a degree but by over a degree at some sites in the northeast.

Damaging winds

On the 4th, an intense low pressure system passed well to the south of Tasmania and brought a strong west to northwest stream over the state. Wind gusts exceeded 130 km/h at some exposed sites (peaking at 141 km/h on Mount Wellington) and 90 to 100 km/h in urban areas. Flying debris damaged properties from Huonville to Hobart and Richmond, with several reports of roof damage, downed trees and subsequent power outages.

Hobart: dry with average temperature

Hobart's rain was well down on average in October, despite a few wet days. The total of 29 mm was less than half that recorded in October 2011.
Temperatures in Hobart were close to average overall, with some quite warm days balancing out many cool ones to give a mean daily maximum of 17.5 °C, 0.5 °C above the long-term October average. Hobart's warmest day this month was 28.6 °C on the 30th, a far cry from the 25th when it reached just 11.2 °C. There were some cold nights for the time of year (the temperature fell below 5 °C on the 6th, 7th and 8th), but there were enough mild nights to counter this and give a mean daily minimum temperature 0.4 °C above average at 8.2 °C.
Hobart was not spared the damaging winds of the 4th, recording a wind gust of 104 km/h early that afternoon.

2012 so far

Maximum temperatures have been warmer than average this year so far, by up to half a degree in the north and up to one degree in the south. Minimum temperatures have also been up to one degree warmer than average in the south and west, and up to half a degree warmer than average elsewhere.

With a mixture of wet and dry months, rainfall has generally been close to average for the January to October period. In the northeast some sites, including Launceston and Scottsdale, have had below average rainfall.

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

* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a lower value has gone unreported.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top