Monday, 3 February 2014 - Monthly Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC27R0

Tasmania in January 2014: a warm, dry month after a cool, wet start

After a relatively cool and wet start, Tasmania had a generally warm and dry January. Temperatures reached into the high 30s several times (and topped 40 °C on the 14th) with some records set. Strong winds early in the month caused some damage.

• A dry month for many areas of Tasmania
• Hot days, after a cool start
• Mostly cool nights
• Strong and damaging winds

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

A dry month for many areas

For much of the state, the majority of the rain for January fell in the first week. Moderate totals were seen on several days leading up to the 7th in many areas, especially the western highlands and the Central Plateau. For most of the rest of the month rain was generally patchy or light, although there were a few isolated heavier falls, notably around the 19th in the north and the 24th in the east.

Overall, rain was below normal in most areas, and well below normal in patches of the east and central north. Only over the western highlands were totals close to the January average. Several sites in the east reported totals less than 10 mm for the whole month, whilst Lake Margaret Power Station had a total of 155.2 mm.

Hot days after a cool start

There were several spells of warm to hot weather through the month, particularly from the 10th to the 17th, and again on the 27th and 28th. Bushy Park reached 40.2 °C on the 14th and Melton Mowbray 40.1 °C, whilst on the 28th Hobart Airport reached 39.7 °C. These temperatures are all in the top 50 ever recorded in Tasmania (many of the others in that top 50 are either from 4 January 2013, or late January 2009). A few sites had their highest January temperature on record on the 14th, and Scotts Peak Dam's 38.6 °C on that day is the equal-hottest day for western Tasmania (matching Strahan Airport from 14 February 1982).

These hot days countered a generally cool start, with temperatures struggling to reach the low 20s from the 2nd to the 9th (with many days below 10 °C at some highland sites). Overall, mean maximum temperatures for January were above the long-term average at almost all locations, typically by about half a degree in the north, but by well over a degree in the south and west and over two degrees at some sites.

Mostly cool nights

There were plenty of relatively cool nights through January, with the first 9 days and also the period from the 22nd to the 26th being especially chilly. The coldest night was at Liawenee with -2.2 °C on the 3rd, followed by Mount Wellington with -1.1 °C on the 25th, both well below their respective January averages. The middle of the month brought a string of mild nights: Flinders Island Airport dropped to only 22.3 °C and Liawenee 21.0 °C on the 15th, and Mount Wellington registered its mildest January night on record with 19.1 °C that day.

In most areas, mean minimum temperatures for the month were within half of a degree of the January average.

Strong and damaging winds

The first week saw some exceptionally strong winds, with several sites on mountain tops or coastal cliffs reporting gusts in excess of 100 km/h between the 1st and the 6th as a series of cold fronts and low pressure systems passed close to the state. The strongest were on Mount Wellington with gusts to 165 km/h on the 2nd and 137 km/h on the 4th. There were numerous reports of damage, including yachts blown from moorings, trees and power lines down and subsequent power outages and road closures. A number of community events were cancelled due to the strong winds.

There were further strong winds on the 28th as a cool change moved through: Mount Wellington reported gusts to 133 km/h and several exposed sites reported gusts over 90 km/h.

Warm and dry overall for Hobart

Like the rest of the state, Hobart started January with a cool spell but saw some very high temperatures. On the 7th, Hobart managed only 15.6 °C, but it then went on to have a total of four days of 30 °C (in a typical January there are about 2 days that warm in Hobart). The temperature peaked at 38.9 °C on the 28th, the equal-16th highest temperature ever recorded in Hobart (although short of the record-breaking 41.8 °C from 4 January 2013). The mean maximum for the month of 23.9 °C is 1.8 °C above the long-term average.

Overnight minimum temperatures were below average for the first 10 days of the month, and again around the 22nd and 25th. Against this, nights were warmer than usual from the 11th to the 19th and from the 27th to the 31st. Hobart's coolest temperature for the month was 8.6 °C on the morning of the 6th, and the warmest night saw the temperature dip to only 18.3 °C on the morning of the 15th. The mean minimum for the month of 12.5 °C is 0.6 °C above the long-term average.

There was a total of 16.2 mm of rain in Hobart during January, well below the long-term average of 47 mm. Almost all of this fell between the 3rd and the 7th.

Strong wind gusts were common early in the month, with 113 km/h reported on the 2nd and 104 km/h on the 4th. On the 28th Hobart registered a gust to 87 km/h just ahead of a cool change.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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

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Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top