Wednesday, 1 June 2016 - Monthly Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC17R0

Tasmania in May 2016: a cool end to a wet, warm and windy month

May was a wet month, especially in the west where persistent and gusty westerly winds brought some very high totals. The first three weeks of the month were mild, but the final week was cool.

• Wettest May since 1958
• Mount Read 919.2 mm in the month
• Very warm in the first half of the month
• Cold for the final week
• Temperatures above average overall
• Persistent and gusty westerly winds for much of the month

Persistent, and often strong, westerly winds brought frequent rain to the western two-thirds of Tasmania during May, with the northeast picking up some significant totals in the final week from a low pressure system to the east. Totals were well above average in many areas and a few sites reported their highest total May rainfall on record. Many other sites had their wettest May since at least 1986, and in some cases (including Hobart) their wettest since the 1970s. The entire State had a wetter than typical May, and the State total was double the May average, making it Tasmania's third-wettest May on record and the wettest May since 1958.

Mount Read registered 919.2 mm for the month, the second-highest monthly total ever reported by a Tasmanian station. The highest monthly total for a Tasmanian station was 984 mm at Mount Mawson in October 1988. Mount Read was not open back then, but comparison with nearby sites suggests it would have received well over 1000 mm in October 1988.

The first three weeks of the month continued the pattern of above-average temperatures that have been common since spring, through summer and into March and April. At the start of May most days were a few degrees above average, although no day was especially hot (the highest temperature was only 22.5 °C at Bicheno on the 14th). Nights were much warmer than usual, with the temperature often remaining in the mid-teens under the influence of persistent westerly winds. There was some highland snow on the 4th and 10th, but that soon melted as temperatures recovered. A cold front crossed on the 23rd, introducing much cooler air and commencing a run of below-average temperatures that lasted until the end of the month. The 27th was a particularly cold day in the east, and the morning of the 31st saw Liawenee dip to -8.9 °C.

Many sites reported gusts well in excess of 100 km/h in the first three weeks, with both Maatsuyker Island and kunanyi / Mount Wellington reaching that high on fourteen days.

Hobart

Hobart's mean daily maximum of 15.6 °C was 1.1 °C above the long-term average for May. The warmest day was a relatively mild 21.5 °C on the 5th, but there were few days markedly below average until the end of the month. Overnight temperatures came to a mean of 8.7 °C, which is 1.7 °C above the long-term average. The coldest weather was near the end of the month, with the city dipping to 1.8 °C in the morning of the 31st. Rain of 96.0 mm was almost double the long-term average, and the wettest May in the city since 1973. Strong and gusty westerly winds were prevalent through the month; a gust to 111 km/h on the evening of the 12th was one of eight days with gusts over 80 km/h in the city.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top