Saturday, 6 January 2007

MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY - VICTORIA

Very Dry - Victoria in December 2006

Rainfall Summary

December 2006 was again dry across the state. Most of Victoria received below average rainfall for December with parts of the southwest and east of the state receiving well below average rainfall. The highest December total recorded was 64.0 mm at Coldstream and the lowest was 2.4 mm at Albury Airport.

Click here to view maps of rainfall for Victoria, and long term climate trends for Victoria.

Temperature Summary

Daytme temperatures during December were generally above average with the hottest temperature of 42.9 deg C recorded at Kerang on the 10th. Temperatures at night were slightly below average. A cold burst on Christmas Day saw Mt Hotham record −5 deg C on the 26th.

Click here to view maps of temperature for Victoria, and long term climate trends for Victoria.

Significant Weather Systems

High pressure systems dominated the weather for December 2006 producing northerly winds when situated over the Tasman. A cold air mass moving up from the south on the 24th produced cold conditions for the Christmas period and snow was reported in some regions of the state.

Melbourne Summary

Melbourne received 18.2 mm of rain (normal: 58 mm); the mean maximum temperature was 25.4 deg C (normal: 24.1 deg C), and the mean minimum temperature was 13.4 deg C (normal: 13.7 deg C).

Included in this summary are a table of State extremes, some new records, and summaries for locations across the State. Visit our maps of rainfall and temperatures for this month.

Please contact us for further information.

Victoria Climate Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Dr Harvey Stern (03) 9669 4949
Email climate.vic@bom.gov.au

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 11 AM on Friday 5 January 2007 . Although every effort has been made to check them, it is possible that results may change as new information becomes available.

Extremes

Weather extremes during December 2006
Highest temperature
Hottest day		 42.9°C Kerang on 10th
Highest mean daily maximum temperature
Warmest days on average		 31.3°C Albury Airport
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature
Coolest days on average		 15.3°C Mt Hotham
Lowest daily maximum temperature
Coldest day		 2.1°C Mt Hotham on 25th
Lowest temperature
Coldest night		 −5.0°C Mt Hotham on 26th
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature
Coldest nights on average		 5.0°C Mt Hotham
Highest mean daily minimum temperature
Mildest nights on average		 14.7°C Mildura Airport
Highest daily minimum
Warmest night		 25.3°C Shepparton Airport on 22nd
Highest total rainfall
Wettest overall		 64.0 mm Coldstream
Lowest total rainfall
Driest overall		 2.4 mm Albury Airport
Highest daily rainfall
Wettest day		 28.6 mm Noojee (Slivar) on 26th

Records

Record Lowest Total Rainfall for December

Total rainfall
for December 2006 (mm) 		Previous lowest
for December 		Years of
record
Bairnsdale Airport 18.8 20.0
in 2000
 27
Portland 14.0 14.8
in 1987
 25
Albury Airport 2.4 9.5
in 2002
 23


Lowest Total Rainfall for 20 or more years for December

Total rainfall
for December 2006 (mm) 		Most recent lower
for December
Cape Otway Lighthouse 16.6 12.5
in 1972
East Sale Airport 14.4 8.8
in 1979


Record Highest Temperature for December

Highest temperature
in December 2006 (°C) 		Previous highest
for December 		Years of
record
Mangalore Airport 42.2
on 10th
 41.0
on 17th in 2002
 43
Portland 39.9
on 9th
 39.7
on 11th in 1998
 25
Morwell 42.2
on 10th
 39.2
on 30th in 2005
 22


Record Lowest Daily Maximum Temperature for December

Lowest daily maximum
temperature
in December 2006 (°C) 		Previous lowest
for December 		Years of
record
Noojee 10.0
on 25th
 11.9
on 26th in 2001
 23


Record Lowest Mean Daily Minimum Temperature for December

Mean daily minimum
temperature
for December 2006 (°C) 		Previous lowest
for December 		Years of
record
Noojee 8.1 8.3
in 1984
 23


Record Lowest Temperature for December

Lowest temperature
in December 2006 (°C) 		Previous lowest
for December 		Years of
record
Point Hicks 6.0
on 3rd
 6.8
on 30th in 2000
 37
Portland 0.9
on 7th
 3.0
on 5th in 1996
 25


Summaries

Summary statistics for December 2006


 Maximum temperatures
for December
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for December
(°C)		 Rainfall
for December
(mm)
Mean for 2006 Difference from normal Highest for 2006 Mean for 2006 Difference from normal Lowest for 2006 Total for 2006 Normal total
Albury Airport 31.3 +2.9 41.0 14.2 +1.1 6.5 2 53
Bairnsdale Airport 23.1 −0.3 36.3 9.8 −1.3 3.4 19 61
Ballarat Aerodrome 24.5 +2.0 40.1 8.9 −0.7 3.9 15 47
Bendigo Airport 27.9 +1.4 41.0 11.0 −1.7 4.7 8 40
Cape Otway Lighthouse 18.8 −0.3 30.9 11.8 −0.3 7.2 17 57
Castlemaine Prison 26.3 +0.7 39.6 10.1 −0.6 3.3 20 42
Cerberus 23.4 +1.4 39.9 10.9 −2.7 4.7 36 56
Colac 23.3 0 38.2 9.8 +0.2 4.8 17 51
Coldstream 25.9 +1.1 40.9 7.8 −1.2 1.1 64 74
East Sale Airport 23.8 +0.5 36.3 10.0 −1.5 3.9 14 58
Echuca Aerodrome 30.6 +2.0 42.8 12.2 −0.9 4.4 4 29
Geelong Airport 23.3 +0.8 37.3 10.3 −0.5 5.4 10 43
Hamilton Airport 25.1 +1.5 40.4 8.3 −1.2 1.6 13 43
Horsham 29.0 +1.7 40.3 10.3 −1.4 3.8 7 23
Kerang 30.4 +1.1 42.9 12.8 −0.8 7.1 6 28
Kilmore Gap 23.0 +1.3 38.4 9.2 −0.6 3.6 18 57
Lake Eildon 28.3 +2.3 40.2 10.4 −0.5 4.5 16 61
Longerenong 28.6 +1.2 40.9 10.6 −0.8 3.1 6 24
Mangalore Airport 28.4 +1.5 42.2 11.3 −0.5 4.5 5 44
Maryborough 27.0 +0.9 41.2 10.3 −1.2 5.5 16 38
Melbourne Regional Office 25.4 +1.3 42.1 13.4 −0.3 8.5 18 58
Mildura Airport 31.1 +1.1 41.3 14.7 −0.2 7.7 3 22
Morwell 25.8 +2.2 42.2 9.8 −1.4 2.0 23 74
Mt Hotham 15.3 +1.2 24.2 5.0 −0.1 −5.0 19 115
Nhill 28.9 +1.3 41.6 9.8 −1.6 2.9 7 26
Noojee 24.2 +2.0 38.8 8.1 −1.6 2.5 62 95
Orbost 24.3 +0.6 39.8 11.6 −0.5 5.6 13 87
Ouyen 31.0 +0.9 42.0 13.8 0 6.1 5 25
Point Hicks 23.3 +1.8 34.8 13.9 −0.3 6.0 22 75
Portland 21.2 +1.3 39.9 9.4 −1.4 0.9 14 49
Shepparton Airport 29.9 +2.2 42.4 12.3 −0.3 6.3 7 44
Stawell Aerodrome 27.1 +1.5 39.8 10.3 −0.9 4.7 8 26
Swan Hill Aerodrome 30.7 +1.2 42.8 12.5 −1.5 5.5 4 24
Wangaratta Aero 30.9 +2.2 41.2 11.2 −0.3 5.5 7 37
Warracknabeal Museum 29.3 +0.7 41.4 11.7 −0.4 5.6 8 24
Warrnambool Airport Ndb 23.5 +2.9 41.0 8.6 −1.6 1.3 16 63
Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse 18.7 +0.1 30.3 12.5 −0.3 9.4 27 63
Wonthaggi 22.8 +1.1 38.5 10.9 −0.4 5.5 33 61
Yarrawonga 31.0 +1.2 42.0 13.6 +0.9 8.0 6 37

Note

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 11 AM on Friday 5 January 2007 . Although every effort has been made to check them, it is possible that results may change as new information becomes available.
Long term averages are calculated using the WMO standard of 1961 to 1990.
Climate averages for Victoria localities are available here.
Please use the following localities to cover these regions: Coldstream for the Yarra Glen area; Ceberus for the Mornington Peninsula; Morwell for the Latrobe Valley; Mangalore for Seymour; Mt Hotham for the Alpine area.
Daily Weather Observations for selected Victoria localities are available here.

Please contact us for further information.

Victoria Climate Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Paul Martin (03) 9669 4949
Email climate.vic@bom.gov.au