Thursday, 10 January 2019 - Monthly Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC17R0

Tasmania in December 2018: a warm end to the year

December was a warm month for Tasmania, with the final week bringing some especially warm temperatures. Some heavy rain in the northeast gave a wet month there, but rainfall totals were close to average for much of the State.

A warm end to the year

• Warm weather was dominant in Tasmania during December 2018, with the 5th to the 8th, the 11th to the 16th, and the final week particularly warm
• The main periods of cool weather were from the 2nd to the 4th, and the 18th to 22nd
• The hottest day was the 28th, when several sites in the northeast reached into the low 30s; the 6th had also brought very warm weather to the southwest half of the State
• Most nights were very warm, and temperatures stayed in the mid-teens into the morning of the 8th
• There were some cold mornings early in the month, and a cold snap dropped temperatures close to zero on and around the Central Plateau on the morning of the 30th
• Tasmania's mean minimum temperature was record warm 1.96 °C above average, slightly above the previous record from 2017
• larapuna (Eddystone Point), Marrawah, Launceston, Wynyard and Devonport were among the many sites that had their highest December mean daily minimum temperature on record, in many cases breaking records set only last year
• It was the State's third-warmest December in terms of mean maximum temperature, 2.82 °C above average (much warmer than December 2017)
• Wynard and Devonport were among the sites that had their highest December mean daily maximum temperature on record
• The mean temperature for Tasmania during December was record warm at 2.39 °C above average, almost half a degree warmer than the previous record from 2015
• Many sites, including Launceston, Devonport, Wynyard, Bushy Park and Cape Bruny had their highest December mean temperature on record

Wet in the northeast

• Rainfall was above average in the northeast of Tasmania, following moderate to heavy rain around the middle of the month and again a week later
• Gray received 94.2 mm in the 24 hours to 9 am on the 15th, and a further 79.6 mm in the 24 hours to 9 am on the 16th
• Memana and Pyengana had their highest total December rainfall for several decades
• Some areas in the Northwest also received more rain than usual for December
• Rainfall was average or below average for most of Tasmania, with the State's total rainfall about 12% below average

Hobart (Ellerslie Road)

• Total rainfall for Hobart (Ellerslie Road) was 61.0 mm, which is 108% of the long-term average; less rain than in December 2017 and a little more than December 2016
• The mean daily maximum temperature for Hobart (Ellerslie Road) was 22.3 °C, which is 1.9 °C above the long-term average and just a little cooler than December 2017
• The warmest day was 31.9 °C on the 24th, and the coolest day was on the 20th when the temperature reached 17.0 °C
• The mean daily minimum temperature for Hobart (Ellerslie Road) was 13.3 °C, which is 2.4 °C above the long-term average, and just 0.1 °C cooler than the record-breaking December 2017
• Hobart's coldest morning was 8.1 °C on the 4th (there are typically about four days each December when the temperature goes below 8 °C)
• Hobart's warmest morning was on the 7th when the minimum temperature was 18.4 °C, one of eleven mornings when the temperature did not drop below 15 °C (compared to a December average of only about two such mild nights)

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

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 higher value has gone unreported

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

* 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