Monday, 3 December 2012 - Monthly Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC27R0

Tasmania in November 2012: Warm and dry, with tornadoes

Temperatures were very warm on the last two days of November, reaching into the mid-thirties in the east during the day and not dropping below 20 °C at night at some site. November was drier than average in most areas, particularly so across the western half of Tasmania. Three tornadoes were observed in the Hobart area on the 9th, though no damage was reported.

• A very warm finish
• Warmest November day on record at Strahan and Lake St Clair
• Warmest November night on record for some
• On the dry side, particularly in the west
• Unusual (but weak) tornadoes in the Hobart area

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

A hot finish after a cool start, and warm overall

The last 11 days of November were warmer than average in most areas, with this warmth culminating in summer-like heat on the last two days of the month. Although Tasmania mostly escaped the heatwave conditions across the southeast mainland, maximum temperatures approached the high twenties and low thirties on the 29th when both Strahan and Lake St Clair recorded their highest November temperature on record. On the 30th temperatures reached into the mid-thirties across the east, peaking at 34.2 °C at Orford, it's warmest November day in 30 years (since 24 November 1982).

In contrast, maximum temperatures were much cooler than average at the start of the month; most sites observed their coldest day of November on either the 1st, 2nd or 3rd. Mount Wellington's maximum of 2.4 °C on the 1st was the coldest day overall, with other areas in the southeast observing maximum temperatures up to 12 degrees below average.

Overall, maximum temperatures were up to one degree warmer than average in most areas, but were not as warm as in November last year.

Very mild night to end the month

The very warm air that was brought over Tasmania for the last two days of the month saw the temperature not drop below 15 °C at most sites on the morning of the 30th, remaining above 20 °C at some sites; both Strahan and Hobart stayed above 22 °C on the morning of the 30th. Although it was a very warm morning, minimum temperatures are measured over the 24 hours to 9 am. For many places the minimum occurred at 9 am on the 29th and that number has gone into the climate records. Cape Bruny, Dover, Strathgordon, Lake St Clair and Bull Bay all recorded their warmest November night (highest daily minimum temperature) on record on the 30th. Strahan Aerodrome's minimum of 19.3 °C was the warmest standard minimum of the month.

There were also a few cold nights during the month, with central parts of the state recording sub zero temperatures on the 3rd when Liawenee dropped to -4.5 °C.

Minimum temperatures were generally warmer than average overall.

Dry, especially in the west

November rainfall was below average in most areas of Tasmania and particularly so in the western half of the state, due to less rain-bearing cold fronts than usual. This continues a pattern seen in October, and is in stark contrast to the generally wet November last year. The wettest days clustered around the start of the month, generally associated with the passage of troughs of low pressure on the 1st, 5th, 8th and 9th. Thunderstorms on the 8th brought moderate falls to the southeast, with Birralee Creek recording 36 mm in the 24 hours to 9 am on the 9th, much of it falling in short bursts. Cold fronts around the 12th, 14th and 21st did see a few other wet days in the west, but daily rainfall totals tended to be less than 5 mm in other areas throughout the rest of the month.

The wettest overall was Mount Read with at least 191 mm (some snow is likely to have been lost), followed by Lake Margaret Power Station with 158 mm. New Norfolk (West) was the driest site with only 18 mm.

Tornadoes in Hobart, hail in the southeast

In a highly unusual event, at least three weak tornadoes were seen in the Hobart area on the 9th: one between the City and Mount Wellington just before 10 am, and two others over eastern suburbs around midday. The tornadoes were small and do not appear to have caused any damage, but they are quite rare: the last confirmed impact from a tornado around Hobart was in 1971. The same group of thunderstorms brought pea-sized hail to the southeast, with deep "drifts" of hail around Kingston and some instances of buildings being flooded when hail blocked roof guttering.

Warm and dry in Hobart

Hobart was almost 2 degrees warmer than normal by day, and 1 degree warmer than normal by night. The 29th and 30th were especially warm. Having dipped to 18.8 °C at 9 am on the 29th, it rose to 30.2 °C that afternoon. The night of the 29th/30th was very warm, with the temperature only falling to 22.1 °C around 6 am on the 30th, and by the afternoon of the 30th, it had reached 33.7 °C. The overnight minimum of 22.1 °C is not an "official" record, but the 18.8 °C is still Hobart's 4th-warmest November minimum. The 33.7 °C is well short of the record 36.8 °C on 26 November 1937.

Rainfall of 24.8 mm was about half the long-term average for November. 10 mm of that fell on the evening of the 8th, and a further 8 mm during the day on the 9th, when hail also fell across the city and some weak tornadoes were spotted.

* The true total at Mount Read is probably higher, as it is likely some snow was lost.

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