Sunday, 1 September 2013 - Monthly Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC27R0

Tasmania in August 2013: Frequent rain and flooding in the north

August rainfall was well above average across most of Tasmania, and record wet in some parts of the north. Frequent rain throughout the month led to flooding in the north when falls were heavy. Maximum temperatures were close to average. Minimum temperatures were up to 2 °C above average in the north, and up to 1 °C elsewhere.

• Frequent rain and flooding in the north
• Launceston's wettest August on record
• Damaging winds on the 18th
• −0.4 °C Hobart's coldest August morning in 41 years

A summary for all of winter has also been prepared.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Frequent rain and flooding in the north

August saw the passage of cold fronts and low pressure troughs on most days, and in combination with warmer than usual sea surface temperatures surrounding Tasmania led to frequent rain across the north and west of the state. The rain was heavy at times, notably around the 6th, 14th and 19th, which resulted in flooding as catchments were already saturated. The flooding caused damage to property, landslips and a rock falls. Several roads were closed across the north of the state, with railway lines also affected.

On the evening of the 5th, a short but intense heavy rain event produced daily totals of around 20 to 60 mm across the north and west. Three Hummock Island recorded 36 mm, its highest August daily rainfall on record. The rainfall caused minor flooding in the Meander, Mersey, North Esk, upper South Esk and lower Macquarie river basins, as well as minor flash flooding in the Railton area.

A cold front brought heavy rain to the north and west overnight on the 13th. Daily rainfall totals generally ranged from 30 to 60 mm, peaking at 78 mm at Mount Victoria. Cape Grim BAPS recorded its wettest August day on record with 39.4 mm. There was moderate flooding in the North Esk, Lower Meander and Upper South Esk river basins, and minor flooding in the Mersey and Forth rivers with this event. The heavy rain caused flash flooding around Launceston (Launceston recorded 52 mm over the 24 hours to 9am on the 14th), and in Smithton.

Another cold front crossed overnight on the 16th, followed by a second during the day on the 18th. Daily rainfall totals of around 20 to 40 mm were observed across the north and west on each of those three days. Mount Victoria recorded the highest daily total with 87 mm over the 24 hours to 9am on the 19th. There was moderate flooding in the North Esk, Mersey, Lower Meander, Lower Macquarie, and Upper South Esk river basins, and minor flooding in the Forth river basins. The Launceston area also flooded for a second time in a week.

Record wet in the north overall

August rainfall totals were two to three times the long-term average across northern Tasmania. Sites including Launceston, Scottsdale, Marrawah and Wynyard all had their highest total August rainfall on record, with several other sites observing their wettest August in more than 20 years. Launceston's 233.0 mm is its highest total for any month. This beats the previous monthly record of 183.6 mm set at the current Ti Tree site in August 2005, but is around 35 mm short of the all-time record set at the Launceston City site in August 1936 (254.4 mm).

It rained on almost every day in August across the north and west, with only a handful of rain-free days. Daily rainfall amounts were not as high in the east, resulting in near-average August rainfall totals in the east compared to well-above-average totals elsewhere. Across Tasmania, more than 20 dams were spilling in August due to the above-average rain.

Mount Read was the wettest site overall with at least 740.6 mm (the true total is not known as snow was blown away on some days), whilst Swansea on the east coast was the driest with 21.0 mm.

Damaging winds and snow

A series of cold fronts brought snow showers and strong winds between the 18th and 21st. The cold front on the 18th produced damaging winds across the north, with wind gusts reaching 83 km/h in Launceston, 93 km/h in Wynyard and 98 km/h in Devonport. Cape Grim recorded a wind gust of 157 km/h that evening, followed by a wind gust of 161 km/h in the early hours of the 19th. Thousands of premises lost power in the Launceston area due to downed power lines, including South Launceston, Trevallyn, Kings Meadows and Riverside. Hundreds of premises also lost power around Burnie, Boat Harbour, and Pipers River.

Snow settled down to around 400 m on the 20th, resulting in a number of road closures in the northwest. This followed earlier snow showers between the 12th to 14th, with reports of thick snow in the northwest around the 13th which closed the Anthony Road between Tullah and Queenstown.

Both cool and warm August days

Maximum temperatures were generally on the cool side of average over the first 3 weeks of August due to increased cloud cover and above-average rainfall. The coldest day was on the 20th when maxima remained below 12 °C in a cold southwesterly flow, and there were reports of snow down to 400 m and small hail. Mount Wellington's maximum of −2.6 °C was the coldest day of the month.

The last 9 days of August were warmer than average, maxima rising into the mid to high teens every day. Most sites had their warmest day of the month on the 30th or 31st, Hobart's 19.7 °C on the 30th the highest temperature observed.

Overall, mean maximum temperatures were within one degree of the August average in most areas.

A cold August night

The morning of the 21st was particularly cold, with temperatures dropping below zero in many areas and approaching −7 °C in central regions. Several sites had their coldest August morning in several years: Burnie's minimum of −1.3 °C was its coldest August morning in 18 years and Launceston's −2.5 °C its coldest August morning in 7 years. Liawenee's −7.6 °C that morning was the lowest temperature of the month.

Nights were warmer than average around the 25th, 26th, 30th and 31st due to milder northwest winds and overnight cloud cover. Devonport equalled its warmest August night on record on the 30th with a minimum of 12 °C. The highest minimum temperature of the month was 12.9 °C at Cape Sorell and Flinders Island Airport on the 30th.

Overall, mean minimum temperatures were warmer than average, by up to 2 °C in the north, and up to 1 °C elsewhere.

Hobart's coldest August morning in 41 years, but warm overall

Hobart had a few cold nights in August, the coldest of which was on the 21st when the temperature dropped to −0.4 °C. This was Hobart's coldest morning in 18 years (since −1.0 °C on 6 June 1995) and its coldest August morning in 41 years (since −1.8 °C on 5 August 1962). There were also a few mild nights, Hobart's minimum of 10.2 °C on the morning of the 25th was the warmest of the month. Overall, minimum temperatures were 0.5 °C above average.

The temperature rose to 16 degrees or higher on 10 days, more than double the August average of 4 days. The warmest day was 19.7 °C on the 30th. The coldest day was on the 20th when the temperature only reached 9.8 °C. This was the only day the temperature remained below 10 °C; a typical August sees an average of 4 days. Overall, day-time temperatures were 1.1 °C above average for Hobart.

Hobart recorded 61.0 mm of rain, slightly more than the long-term average of 53.6 mm. The wettest day was on the 13th when a cold front delivered 15 mm over the 24 hours to 9am on the 14th.

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Extremes in August 2013
Hottest day	19.7 °C at Hobart (Ellerslie Road) on the 30th
Warmest days on average	15.4 °C at Bicheno (Council Depot)
Coolest days on average	2.8 °C at Mount Wellington
Coldest day	-2.6 °C at Mount Wellington on the 20th
Coldest night	-7.6 °C at Liawenee on the 21st
Coolest nights on average	-2.1 °C at Mount Wellington
Warmest nights on average	9.2 °C at King Island Airport
Warmest night	12.9 °C at Cape Sorell and at Flinders Island Airport on the 30th
Warmest on average overall	11.8 °C at King Island Airport
Coolest on average overall	0.4 °C at Mount Wellington
Wettest overall	740.6 mm at Mount Read*
Driest overall	21.0 mm at Swansea (Francis Street)
Wettest day	87.0 mm at Mount Victoria (Una Plain) on the 19th
Highest wind gust	161 km/h at Cape Grim BAPS (Comparison) on the 19th

* 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

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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 August daily rainfall
	Highest daily rainfall in August 2013 (mm)		Previous wettest for August		Years of record
Cape Grim BAPS (Comparison)	39.4	on the 14th	38.8	on the 2nd in 2007	27
Three Hummock Island	36.2	on the 6th	35.6	on the 12th in 1947	22
Low Rocky Point	43.6	on the 12th	34.0	on the 10th in 2007	20

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Record highest total August rainfall
	Total rainfall for August 2013 (mm)	Previous wettest for August		Years of record	Average for August
Naracoopa	332.8	265.3	in 1936	98	129.0
City of Melbourne Bay	350.2	335.4	in 1936	81	140.0
Burnie (Round Hill)	253.5	244.0	in 1955	70	112.3
Forthside Research Station	245.0	239.0	in 1970	47	119.7
Marrawah	306.8	236.0	in 1996	43	136.6
Scottsdale (West Minstone Road)	298.6	269.4	in 1991	43	124.6
Wynyard Airport	334.6	273.1	in 1955	42	120.5
Launceston (Ti Tree Bend)	233.0	183.6	in 2005	34	90.7
Cape Grim BAPS (Comparison)	252.0	208.6	in 2009	27	99.3
Strahan Aerodrome	329.6	324.6	in 1996	26	179.8
Deviot Jetty	255.6	216.2	in 2009	23	108.5
Mount Victoria (Una Plain)	554.0	510.4	in 2011	22	278.9
Three Hummock Island	275.6	196.0	in 2009	22	128.3

Highest total August rainfall for at least 20 years
	Total rainfall for August 2013 (mm)	Most recent August at least this wet		Years since wetter	Average for August
Frankford (Rossville)	315.8	337.7	in 1939	74	128.3
Latrobe (Coal Road)	291.4	410.0	in 1939*	73	116.9
Ringarooma (Charles Street)	379.0	401.2	in 1936*	71	151.7
Northdown (Hamley)	211.8	292.6	in 1939*	70	91.0
Yolla (Sea View)	368.8	409.5	in 1955	58	183.9
Mole Creek	288.2	293.2	in 1970*	42	146.4
Barrington Post Office	293.7	319.1	in 1970*	41	146.6
Lorinna	357.2	437.0	in 1955*	22	182.1
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse	228.2	255.0	in 1991	22	124.1
Lilydale Post Office	217.0	236.3	in 1991*	21	114.8

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

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Record highest August daily minimum temperature
	Highest daily minimum temperature in August 2013 (°C)		Previous warmest for August		Years of record	Average for August
Devonport Airport	12.0	on the 30th	= 12.0	on the 30th in 2005	22	5.1

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Summary statistics for August 2013
	Maximum temperatures for August (°C)				Minimum temperatures for August (°C)				Rainfall for August (millimetres)
	Mean for August 2013	Diff from average	Highest for August 2013		Mean for August 2013	Diff from average	Lowest for August 2013		Total for August 2013	Average for August	Rank of August 2013	Fraction of August average
Northern (district 91)
Bridport (Sea View Villas)	13.5	-0.2	16.7	29th	5.2	-0.6	-1.1	21st	232.9	95.8	v high	243%
Burnie (Round Hill)	13.6	+0.5	17.3	26th	7.2	+1.1	1.3	21st	253.5	112.3	highest	226%
Burnie NTC AWS	13.1		16.0	27th	7.4		2.4	21st
Cape Grim	12.9		15.7	31st	8.6		4.7	21st	288.4
Cape Grim BAPS (Comparison)	13.1	+0.4	16.0	31st	8.5	+0.2	4.8	21st	252.0	99.3	highest	254%
Cressy Research Station	12.9	-0.1	16.5	26th	3.5	+0.9	-4.1	21st	144.0	76.1	high	189%
Devonport Airport	13.3	+0.2	15.8	29th	6.3	+1.2	-0.9	21st
Launceston (Ti Tree Bend)	14.0	+0.2	17.8	29th	4.5	+0.8	-2.5	21st	233.0	90.7	highest	257%
Launceston Airport	12.7		16.6	29th	3.5		-3.2	21st	211.8	95.7	high	221%
Low Head	13.2	+0.1	16.0	31st	8.3	+0.9	0.5	21st	192.2	89.5	v high	215%
Marrawah	12.9	+0.2	16.5	31st	7.6	+0.6	1.8	21st	306.8	136.6	highest	225%
Scottsdale (West Minstone Road)	12.2	-0.4	15.7	31st	4.3	+0.4	-2.0	21st	298.6	124.6	highest	240%
Sheffield School Farm	11.1	-0.6	14.9	26th	4.0	+0.1	-2.4	21st	309.6	144.7	v high	214%
Smithton Aerodrome	13.5	-0.2	16.2	31st	5.9	+0.5	-1.6	21st	286.6	129.2	v high	222%
Wynyard Airport	13.2	-0.1	16.9	27th	4.8	+0.7	-2.5	21st	334.6	120.5	highest	278%
East Coast (district 92)
Bicheno (Council Depot)	15.4	+0.7	19.5	30th	6.9	+0.5	2.6	5th	40.5	51.0	average	79%
Fingal (Legge Street)	13.3	0.0	17.8	31st	2.0	+0.7	-4.9	21st	85.4	60.6	high	141%
Friendly Beaches	15.3	+0.6	19.4	31st	6.4	+0.1	0.2	5th	34.6	56.6	low	61%
Lake Leake (Elizabeth River)	9.6	+0.1	13.9	31st	0.9	+0.1	-6.6	21st	104.4	79.3	high	132%
Larapuna (Eddystone Point)	14.3	+0.6	17.3	31st	7.6	+0.4	1.9	21st	95.4	72.1	high	132%
Maria Island (Point Lesueur)	13.8		17.3	31st	7.5		3.7	21st	48.4	43.7	average	111%
Orford (Aubin Court)	14.3	+0.3	19.4	31st	4.0	-0.2	-2.1	21st	61.2	62.1	average	99%
Spring Bay NTC AWS	13.8		17.6	31st	6.4		2.0	5th
St Helens Aerodrome	14.5	+0.2	18.1	31st	5.5	+0.1	-0.9	21st
Swan Island	13.5	0.0	15.6	31st	8.7	+0.2	2.2	21st	135.0
Swansea (Francis Street)	15.2		19.4	31st	4.9		-1.1	21st	21.0
Midlands (district 93)
Ross (The Boulevards)	12.4	-0.2	16.3	25th	3.1	+0.7	-5.4	21st	85.0	50.1	high	170%
Southeast (district 94)
Bull Bay (Lauriston)	13.7	+0.4	18.0	31st	6.0	0.0	2.5	5th	40.6	56.0	low	73%
Campania (Kincora)	14.0	-0.3	19.1	31st	4.4	+0.2	-2.1	5th	58.2	55.5	average	105%
Cape Bruny (Cape Bruny)	12.8	-0.1	18.1	31st	6.4	-0.3	2.2	21st	99.0	90.7	average	109%
Cape Bruny Lighthouse	12.5	+0.6	17.2	31st	6.4	+0.1	2.3	21st	106.0	93.1	high	114%
Dennes Point	13.3		16.6	31st	6.8		2.4	5th	41.6
Dover	13.0	-0.1	18.8	30th	4.1	0.0	-1.5	21st	131.2	90.2	high	145%
Dunalley (Stroud Point)	13.7		18.8	30th	6.8		1.7	5th	54.0
Geeveston (Cemetery Road)	12.9	-0.1	18.0	30th	3.6	+0.6	-2.7	21st	158.4	105.5	high	150%
Grove (Research Station)	13.4		18.4	29th	2.7		-4.0	21st	101.8	89.3	average	114%
Hobart (Ellerslie Road)	14.2	+1.1	19.7	30th	5.7	+0.5	-0.4	21st	61.0	53.7	high	114%
Hobart Airport	14.1	+0.6	19.4	31st	5.0	+0.3	0.3	5th	50.0	47.2	average	106%
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse	11.5	+0.3	17.8	31st	6.6	+0.1	3.2	20th	228.2	124.1	v high	184%
Melton Mowbray (North Stockman)	12.7	+0.1	17.6	31st	3.2	+0.5	-3.5	5th	59.6	52.3	average	114%
Mount Wellington	2.8	+0.1	9.3	31st	-2.1	-0.4	-7.3	21st
Tasman Island	11.6	+0.1	17.7	31st	6.2	-0.4	3.1	21st	76.0	79.0	average	96%
Tunnack Fire Station	10.3	-0.3	14.4	31st	1.8	-0.3	-5.2	5th	58.0	65.7	average	88%
Derwent Valley (district 95)
Bushy Park (Bushy Park Estates)	13.6	+0.5	18.4	31st	2.1	-0.3	-3.8	21st
Maydena Post Office	10.8	-1.2	16.3	31st	2.6	-0.1	-3.1	21st	244.0	157.2	v high	155%
Ouse Fire Station	13.0	-0.7	18.8	31st	2.3	+0.1	-3.0	21st	93.2	64.1	average	145%
Central Plateau (district 96)
Butlers Gorge	7.8	-0.1	13.5	31st	0.3	+0.2	-6.6	21st	377.8	185.3	v high	204%
Lake St Clair National Park	7.6	-0.6	13.7	31st	0.3	0.0	-6.6	21st
Liawenee	5.9	-0.8	10.6	31st	-0.9	+0.1	-7.6	21st	197.8	145.6	high	136%
West Coast (district 97)
Cape Sorell	13.1	+1.0	18.3	29th	7.9	+0.6	3.8	21st	204.0	150.2	high	136%
Hartz Mountain (Keoghs Pimple)	5.5	-1.2	11.3	29th	0.5	-1.0	-2.8	21st
Low Rocky Point	12.8		18.3	31st	6.8		2.6	21st	231.2	153.8	v high	150%
Mount Read	3.8	-0.3	9.4	31st	-0.5	-0.6	-3.9	20th
Scotts Peak Dam	9.8	-0.6	15.7	29th	3.0	-0.6	0.0	20th	379.4	224.3	v high	169%
Strahan Aerodrome	13.0	-0.1	18.6	31st	6.0	+0.2	-0.2	8th	329.6	179.8	highest	183%
Warra	9.1		14.3	31st	2.0		-2.9	8th	377.4
King Island (district 98)
King Island Airport	14.2	+0.5	19.6	31st	9.2	+1.4	3.9	21st
Flinders Island (district 99)
Flinders Island Airport	14.4	+0.6	17.8	31st	8.3	+1.7	-1.6	21st	152.2	77.6	v high	196%
Antarctica and Macquarie Island (district 300)
Macquarie Island	5.7	+0.6	7.5	20th	2.5	+0.9	-1.8	28th	104.4	73.8	high	141%

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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