Tuesday, 4 September 2012 - Monthly Climate Summary for Melbourne Metropolitan Area and Environs - Product code IDCKGC2xx0

Melbourne in August 2012: A typical August

August 2012 in Melbourne was characterised by:

  • Mixed rainfall across suburbs but overall close to normal totals for the Melbourne area
  • Average to above average night-time temperatures
  • Close to normal daytime temperatures

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

Rainfall totals for August were mixed across the Melbourne area. Some stations recorded above average rainfall while others had below average. However, most stations observed rainfall totals close to normal and overall, for the Melbourne area, August 2012 rainfall was near the long-term average. The wettest station was Bundoora (Latrobe University) with 82.3 mm (143 % of normal) whilst the driest was Laverton RAAF with 40.2 mm. The wettest day was the 31st when Cerberus recorded 23.0 mm. Cerberus recorded the most number of rain days with 25 and Essendon Airport the least with 17. Moorabbin Airport received the least amount of rain compared to normal with just 71 % of their long-term average for August.

Temperature

The warmest station on average (maximum and minimum temperatures combined) was Melbourne Regional Office with 11.6 °C whilst the coolest on average was Coldstream with 9.5 °C.

Maximum temperature

Maximum temperatures in the Melbourne area were close to normal during August 2012. There were some stations that reported below average maximum temperatures but all were within 1.0 °C of normal. The hottest day was the 22nd when Coldstream recorded 21.5 °C. The warmest days on average were recorded at Melbourne Regional Office with 15.2 °C whilst the coolest days on average, 14.0 °C, were recorded at Coldstream.. The coldest day was the 8th when Melbourne Airport recorded 9.4 °C.

Minimum temperature

Minimum temperatures in the Melbourne area ranged from close to average to above average during August 2012. Almost all stations reported an average maximum temperature within 1.0 °C of normal. The coldest night was the 2nd when Coldstream recorded -1.1 °C and Coldstream also recorded the coolest nights on average with 4.9 °C. The warmest night was the 23rd when Melbourne Regional Office recorded 13.1 °C and Melbourne Regional Office also recorded the warmest nights on average with 8.1 °C.

Wind

The strongest wind gust was 89 km/h and was recorded at Melbourne Airport on the 8th, and at Avalon Airport on the 23rd.

Further information

Dr Harvey Stern
Climate Meteorologist
Victoria Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (03) 9669 4956
Extremes in August 2012
Hottest day 21.5 °C at Coldstream on the 22nd
Warmest days on average 15.2 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Coolest days on average 14.0 °C at Coldstream
Coldest day 9.4 °C at Melbourne Airport on the 8th
Coldest night -1.1 °C at Coldstream on the 2nd
Coolest nights on average 4.9 °C at Coldstream
Warmest nights on average 8.1 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Warmest night 13.1 °C at Melbourne Regional Office on the 23rd
Warmest on average overall 11.6 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Coolest on average overall 9.5 °C at Coldstream
Wettest overall 82.3 mm at Bundoora (Latrobe University)
Driest overall 40.2 mm at Laverton RAAF
Wettest day 23.0 mm at Cerberus on the 31st
Highest wind gust 89 km/h at Melbourne Airport on the 8th
89 km/h at Avalon Airport on the 23rd

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for August 2012
Maximum temperatures
for August
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for August
(°C)		 Rainfall
for August
(millimetres)
Mean for
August
2012		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
August
2012		 Mean for
August
2012		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
August
2012		 Total for
August
2012		 Average
for
August		 Rank of
August
2012		 Fraction of
August
average
East Central (district 86)
Bundoora (Latrobe University) 14.2 -0.6 21.0 22nd 6.4 +0.2 0.8 2nd 82.3 57.4 high 143%
Cerberus 14.2 -0.5 18.6 28th 6.6 0.0 0.6 2nd 72.6 76.2 average 95%
Coldstream 14.0 -0.8 21.5 22nd 4.9 +0.6 -1.1 2nd 70.6 67.8 average 104%
Cranbourne Botanic Gardens 14.3 -0.3 20.7 22nd 6.6 +0.2 2.0 2nd 76.9 79.5 average 97%
Essendon Airport 14.3 0.0 20.5 22nd 6.5 +1.0 1.2 2nd 44.8 48.7 average 92%
Melbourne Airport 14.1 -0.3 19.4 29th 5.9 0.0 1.6 2nd 49.4 46.2 average 107%
Melbourne Regional Office 15.2 +0.2 21.2 22nd 8.1 +1.4 3.1 2nd 52.6 50.1 average 105%
Moorabbin Airport 14.5 -0.4 20.1 22nd 7.4 +0.6 1.8 13th 46.8 65.9 low 71%
Scoresby Research Institute 14.1 -0.1 20.6 22nd 6.8 +0.5 1.1 1st 68.2 80.0 average 85%
Viewbank 14.4 -0.9 21.0 22nd 6.7 +0.5 0.8 2nd 60.8 57.2 average 106%
West Central (district 87)
Avalon Airport 15.0 -0.5 19.5 28th 6.0 +0.5 0.9 2nd 56.0 44.5 average 126%
Laverton RAAF 14.6 -0.3 20.1 22nd 6.4 +0.9 1.2 2nd 40.2 44.7 average 90%

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 4 September 2012. 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
Climate Meteorologist
Victoria Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (03) 9669 4956