Monday, 2 August 2010 - Monthly Climate Summary for Melbourne Metropolitan Area and Environs - Product code IDCKGC1xx0

Melbourne Metropolitan Area and Environs in July 2010: Dry and warm conditions

  • Below average rainfall
  • Warmer than average daytime temperatures

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

Following a slightly wetter than normal June, rainfall for the central district was again below average in July.  The lowest total rainfall in the Melbourne region occurred at Avalon Airport, which received only 17.2mm this month, compared to the long-term average of 37.7mm for July. Moorabin Airport was also particularly dry, measuring only 25.2mm, which is approximately 40% of that usually received.

The wettest location overall was Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill), which recorded 64.4mm for the month. The wettest single day, with a modest 16.8mm at Cranbourne Botanic Gardens, was the 15th of July. Melbourne also received reasonable showers on the 15th, recording 5.2mm, however the highest daily total registered at this site in July occurred on the 19th with 8.8mm. After experiencing only moderate rainfall events at the Melbourne Regional Office, which occurred on just 7 days in July 2010 (compared with the long-term average of 16 days), it is not surprising that this month was notably drier than average.

Maximum temperature

Daytime temperatures were warmer than normal across the central district. The Melbourne Regional Office was the warmest of these, achieving the highest average maximum temperature for this month of 14.6°C. Most stations in the central region recorded average daily maxima of between 13.3°C and 13.8°C, with three locations (Avalon Airport, Laverton RAAF and Melbourne Regional Office) warmer than 14°C on average. In contrast, the coolest daytime temperatures on average were 8.9°C at Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) and the coldest day, reaching just 6.0°C was also observed at this site on the 14th.

In line with observations across much of the State, the 30th recorded the warmest day for the month in the central district, with 18.6°C at Avalon Airport and 18.0°C at Laverton RAAF.

Minimum temperature

Minimum temperatures across the central district were very close to normal in July. Most of the central region observed overnight temperatures near zero on the coldest nights (6th, 9th, 20th and 27th), but the coldest night recorded was -3.2°C at Coldstream on the 9th. Coldstream also experienced the coolest nights on average for the month with just 3.5°C.

Not surprisingly, the warmest nights on average were recorded at the Melbourne Regional Office (7.3°C) and the warmest nights of the month were also recorded at this site remaining at 12.0°C overnight on both the 30th and the 31st.

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Extremes in July 2010
Hottest day 18.6 °C at Avalon Airport on the 30th
Warmest days on average 14.6 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Coolest days on average 8.9 °C at Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill)
Coldest day 6.0 °C at Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) on the 14th
Coldest night -3.2 °C at Coldstream on the 9th
Coolest nights on average 3.5 °C at Coldstream
Warmest nights on average 7.3 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Warmest night 12.0 °C at Melbourne Regional Office on the 30th
12.0 °C at Melbourne Regional Office on the 31st
Wettest overall 64.4 mm at Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill)
Driest overall 17.2 mm at Avalon Airport
Wettest day 16.8 mm at Cranbourne Botanic Gardens on the 15th
Highest wind gust 87 km/h at Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) on the 10th

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for July 2010
Maximum temperatures
for July
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for July
(°C)		 Rainfall
for July
(millimetres)
Mean for
July
2010		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
July
2010		 Mean for
July
2010		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
July
2010		 Total for
July
2010		 Average
for
July		 Rank of
July
2010		 Fraction of
July
average
Avalon Airport 14.1 +0.1 18.6 30th 4.8 -0.2 -0.8 9th 17.2 37.7 low 46%
Bundoora (Latrobe University) 13.4 +0.1 16.5 31st 5.4 0.0 0.1 9th 34.3 48.9 average 70%
Cerberus 13.8 +0.2 17.0 30th 6.3 +0.1 0.9 6th 48.4 74.1 low 65%
Coldstream 13.4 +0.2 16.6 13th 3.5 -0.1 -3.2 9th 46.8 59.3 low 79%
Cranbourne Botanic Gardens 13.4 +0.1 16.9 30th 5.9 -0.2 1.9 9th 45.3 68.6 low 66%
Essendon Airport 13.5 +0.6 17.1 30th 5.5 +0.3 0.2 9th 28.6 43.7 low 65%
Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) 8.9 -0.2 12.2 12th 5.0 +0.1 2.2 20th 64.4 84.1 average 77%
Laverton RAAF 14.0 +0.4 18.0 30th 5.2 +0.3 0.7 27th 18.4 39.0 low 47%
Melbourne Airport 13.3 +0.3 17.4 30th 5.3 0.0 1.4 6th 27.6 35.8 average 77%
Melbourne Regional Office 14.6 +1.2 17.9 31st 7.3 +1.3 3.2 20th 29.6 47.6 low 62%
Moorabbin Airport 13.7 +0.1 17.2 30th 6.1 +0.1 0.7 9th 25.2 62.0 v low 41%
Scoresby Research Institute 13.3 +0.4 16.6 12th 5.3 -0.5 0.5 27th 42.8 73.9 low 58%
Viewbank (ARPANSA) 13.6 -0.3 17.0 31st 5.1 -0.7 0.0 20th 41.2 48.3 average 85%

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Notes

A Monthly Climate Summary is prepared to list the main features of the weather in Melbourne Metropolitan Area and Environs using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated. Later information, including data that has had greater opportunity for quality control, will be presented in the Monthly Weather Review, usually published in the fourth week of the month.

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 3 pm on Monday 2 August 2010. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

Averages are long-term means based on observations from all available years of record, which vary widely from site to site. They are not shown for sites with less than 10 years of record, as they cannot then be calculated reliably.
The median is sometimes more representative than the mean of long-term average rain.

The Rank indicates how rainfall this time compares with the climate record for the site, based on the decile ranking (very low rainfall is in decile 1, low in decile 2 or 3, average in decile 4 to 7, high in decile 8 or 9 and very high is in decile 10).
The Fraction of average shows how much rain has fallen this time as a percentage of the long-term mean.

Further information

Media
(03) 9669 4057
Enquiries

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