Friday, 1 February 2019 - Monthly Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC17R0

Tasmania in January 2019: record warm and record dry

January 2019 was Tasmania's warmest and driest on record, with many warm, dry days and very few cool or wet days. Lightning led to significant fires.

Record dry

• Total rainfall for Tasmania was record low for January at about one-fifth of average, and the third-driest month at any time of year
• Most of the east and north of Tasmania had less than 10 mm of rain for the whole month, and even in the usually wet western highlands totals were less than 100 mm
• Almost the entire State had very much below average rain, with some areas the lowest on record
• Several sites across the State, including Hobart and Launceston, had their lowest total January rainfall on record
• There were several bursts of thunderstorms, but mostly these gave only localised rain

Record warm

• It was Tasmania's warmest January on record with many warm days, and only a few cool days, the main feature of the month
• The mean temperature for the month was 2.50 °C above average, clear of the previous record from 1961 when the anomaly was +2.24 °C
• Daytime temperatures were record warm, with the State's mean maximum temperature 3.22 °C above average, exceeding January 1961 when the anomaly was +2.99 °C
• Tasmania's night-time temperatures were third-warmest for January, at 1.78 °C above average
• Tasmania missed most of the extreme heat that affected the mainland (as detailed in the Special Climate Statement Widespread heatwaves during December 2018 and January 2019)
• Several sites, mostly in the southeast, had a record number of warm days; for example both Hobart and Hobart Airport had a record 17 days over 25 °C
• No individual daily temperature records were broken, although Hobart Airport's maximum of 40.1 °C on the 25th was the equal second-highest temperature ever recorded there (behind 40.3 °C on 4 January 2013)
• Numerous sites, including Hobart, Launceston and Devonport had their highest January mean daily maximum temperature on record; in some cases they were more than a degree warmer than the previous record
• A few sites, most notably Hobart and Flinders Island Airport, had their highest January mean daily minimum temperature on record

Thunderstorms, fires and smoke

• There were several bursts of thunderstorms, often with little or no rain, most notably on the 14th, 15th and 31st
• Lightning strikes onto dry vegetation led to bushfires, including over 60 that started on the 15th, many in remote and difficult terrain
• Repeated warm days, little or no rain and some periods of strong winds saw several very large fires that were still burning at the end of the month,
• The largest fires reported by the Tasmanian Fire Service as still going at the end of January included the "Riveaux Road" fire from the southwest into the Huon Valley (over 56 000 ha burned by the end of January), the "Great Pine Tier" fire on the Central Plateau (51 000 ha), the "Moores Valley" fire in the southwest (30 000 ha), and the "Gell River" fire in the southwest (27 000 ha); dozens of smaller fires were also still burning at the end of the month
• Communities near to the fires were affected by thick smoke, which was also blown across different parts of the State during the month: for example Hobart experienced particularly high smoke concentrations on the evenings of the 29th and 30th and again on the morning of the 31st

Hobart's warmest and driest month

• Only 0.4 mm of rainfall was recorded at Hobart (Ellerslie Road); the driest January on record (below 2.8 mm in 2008), equal with December 1994 as the driest for any month, and less than 1% of the long-term January average
• The mean daily maximum temperature for Hobart (Ellerslie Road) was a record warm 25.9 °C, which is 4.2 °C above the long-term average, and 0.9 °C warmer than any previous month (January 2003 and February 2001 both had 25.0 °C)
• A record run of 31 consecutive days over 20 °C in Hobart started on 23 December 2018 and ended on 22 January 2019; the 23rd and 31st were the only days that did not reach 20 °C
• Hobart had a record total of 17 days over 25 °C during January, and a record 7 days that reached at least 30 °C
• The warmest day was the 25th, with 37.9 °C in the city and 40.1 °C at the airport
• The mean daily minimum temperature for Hobart (Ellerslie Road) was a record warm 14.7 °C, which is 2.7 °C above the long-term average, 0.3 °C warmer than the previous January record (from 2016), and the second-warmest month for any time of year (just behind the 14.8 °C from February 1972)
• The coldest temperature was 9.9 °C on the 13th, the only morning below 10 °C compared to a January average of about seven mornings that cool
• The warmest morning was on the 29th when the minimum temperature was 19.1 °C

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 lower 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