Tuesday, 1 February 2011 - Monthly Climate Summary for Melbourne Metropolitan Area and Environs - Product code IDCKGC2xx0

Melbourne Metropolitan Area in January 2011: A wet start to the year

  • Record breaking rainfall at several stations
  • Very warm night-times
  • Average to cool daytimes

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

January was much wetter than usual for the Melbourne Metropolitan area. The wettest station was Avalon Airport with 124.4 mm and the driest was Coldstream with 75.2 mm. Avalon Airport also recorded the largest anomaly for the month, receiving almost four times their usual rainfall, making it their highest total January rainfall on record. Ferny Creek's (Dunns Hill) monthly total was the closest to normal, but even they still received almost one and a half times their usual rainfall. The wettest single day was the 14th when Viewbank (ARPANSA) recorded 41.2 mm. Most other stations also recorded their wettest day on the 14th, including Avalon which recorded its highest January daily rainfall on record

Maximum temperature

Average maximum temperatures in the Melbourne Metropolitan area were generally very close to normal. Almost half of the stations reported average maximums within 0.1 °C of their long-term mean. The coolest daytimes were recorded at Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) (22.4 °C) while Coldstream recorded the warmest (26.9 °C). All stations recorded their hottest day of the month on either the 30th or 31st and Avalon Airport's was the greatest at 38.7 °C on the 30th. The coolest day was the 18th when Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) recorded 14.2 °C; a majority of other stations also recorded their coolest day for the month on the 18th.

Minimum temperature

Monthly minimum temperatures across the Melbourne Metropolitan area were generally above average. Coldstream recorded its warmest ever average January minimum temperature, 13.9 °C, which is 2.3 °C warmer than normal. But the greatest anomaly occurred at Melbourne Regional Office, which recorded an average minimum temperature 2.7 °C warmer than usual. The coldest average night-times were recorded at Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) (12.5 °C), while the warmest were at Melbourne Regional Office (17.0 °C). The coldest night was the 4th when Coldstream recorded 5.5 °C. The warmest night was the 8th when Melbourne Regional Office recorded 23.0 °C.

Further information

Dr Harvey Stern and Jonathan Pollock
Climatologists
Victoria Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (03) 9669 4956
Email climate.vic@bom.gov.au
Extremes in January 2011
Hottest day 38.7 °C at Avalon Airport on the 30th
Warmest days on average 26.9 °C at Coldstream
Coolest days on average 22.4 °C at Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill)
Coldest day 14.2 °C at Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) on the 18th
Coldest night 5.5 °C at Coldstream on the 4th
Coolest nights on average 12.5 °C at Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill)
Warmest nights on average 17.0 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Warmest night 23.0 °C at Melbourne Regional Office on the 8th
Wettest overall 124.4 mm at Avalon Airport
Driest overall 75.2 mm at Coldstream
Wettest day 41.2 mm at Viewbank (ARPANSA) on the 14th
Highest wind gust 100 km/h at Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) on the 14th

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Record highest January daily rainfall
Highest daily rainfall
in January 2011 (mm) 		Previous wettest
for January		 Years of
record
Avalon Airport 36.6 on the 14th 35.0 on the 16th in 1984 29


Record highest total January rainfall
Total rainfall
for January 2011 (mm) 		Previous wettest
for January		 Years of
record		 Average for
January
Avalon Airport 124.4 86.2 in 1980 30 31.9
Cerberus 93.8 82.4 in 2000 21 39.1

Highest total January rainfall for at least 20 years
Total rainfall
for January 2011 (mm) 		Most recent January
at least this wet		 Years since
wetter		 Average for
January
Melbourne Airport 98.6 101.6 in 1991 20 42.6


Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for January 2011
Maximum temperatures
for January
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for January
(°C)		 Rainfall
for January
(millimetres)
Mean for
January
2011		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
January
2011		 Mean for
January
2011		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
January
2011		 Total for
January
2011		 Average
for
January		 Rank of
January
2011		 Fraction of
January
average
East Central (district 86)
Bundoora (Latrobe University) 26.0 -0.5 37.4 30th 15.7 +1.7 9.4 29th 86.2 48.3 v high 178%
Cerberus 24.3 +0.1 37.0 30th 14.9 +1.2 9.1 4th 93.8 39.1 highest 240%
Coldstream 26.9 -0.8 36.8 31st 13.9 +2.3 5.5 4th 75.2 46.3 v high 162%
Cranbourne Botanic Gardens 25.1 -0.1 36.6 30th 14.6 +1.2 8.8 4th 90.5 55.3 high 164%
Essendon Airport 26.1 -0.2 37.0 30th 15.5 +2.2 9.5 29th 76.2 43.7 high 174%
Ferny Creek (Dunns Hill) 22.4 +0.1 33.4 31st 12.5 +0.5 7.0 4th 98.0 67.9 high 144%
Melbourne Airport 26.2 -0.1 37.2 30th 15.0 +1.4 8.5 4th 98.6 42.6 v high 231%
Melbourne Regional Office 26.5 +0.6 38.1 30th 17.0 +2.7 12.7 4th 89.6 47.7 high 188%
Moorabbin Airport 25.4 -0.2 37.5 30th 15.5 +1.4 8.4 4th 100.8 45.5 v high 222%
Scoresby Research Institute 26.1 0.0 36.1 31st 14.9 +1.8 7.6 4th 102.4 53.5 v high 191%
Viewbank (ARPANSA) 26.5 -1.2 37.2 31st 15.6 +1.4 9.1 4th 108.8 43.5 v high 250%
West Central (district 87)
Avalon Airport 25.8 -0.3 38.7 30th 14.8 +0.9 9.8 29th 124.4 31.9 highest 390%
Laverton RAAF 25.3 -0.3 38.4 30th 15.6 +1.9 9.8 29th 111.4 40.0 v high 279%

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 10 am on Tuesday 1 February 2011. 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

Dr Harvey Stern and Jonathan Pollock
Climatologists
Victoria Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (03) 9669 4956
Email climate.vic@bom.gov.au