Monday, 1 October 2012 - Monthly Climate Summary for Melbourne Metropolitan Area and Environs - Product code IDCKGC16L0

Melbourne Area in September 2012: Dry with warm nights

September 2012 in the Melbourne area was characterised by:

  • Mostly below average rainfall
  • Warmer than average night-times
  • Daytime temperatures close to average.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

Preliminary data indicates that rainfall totals in the Melbourne area were below average for September. The exceptions were some relatively young stations in the west that observed new rainfall records. The wettest station overall was Poowong East (Upper Lang Lang RG) with 135.2 mm. A couple of stations had their highest total September rainfall on record. The wettest single day was the 13th when Warburton recorded 33.8. Lara had their highest September daily rainfall on record.

Temperature

The warmest station on average was Melbourne Regional Office with 14.2 °C whilst the coolest on average was Wallan (Kilmore Gap) with 9.9 °C.

Maximum temperature

Overall, maximum temperatures for September in the Melbourne area were close to average. However, there were some variations between stations and several recorded warmer than normal average maximum temperatures for the month. The hottest day was the 27th when Avalon Airport and Breakwater (Geelong Racecourse) both recorded 26.7 °C. Melbourne Regional Office recorded the warmest days on average with 18.6 °C. The coolest days on average were recorded at Ferny Creek with 13.7 °C and Ferny Creek also recorded the coldest day of the month on the 29th with 7.9 °C.

Minimum temperature

Average minimum temperatures were warmer than normal in the Melbourne area during September. Most stations recorded average maximum temperatures within 0.5 °C of their long-term means, however, there were a couple of stations that recorded average maximum temperatures more than 1.0 °C above their long-term means. The coldest night was the 2nd when Coldstream Comparison recorded -0.6 °C and Wallan (Kilmore Gap) recorded the coolest nights on average with 5.9 °C. Melbourne Regional Office recorded the warmest nights on average with 9.9 °C and Scoresby Research Institute recorded the warmest night of the month on the 5th with 16.5 °C.

Wind

The strongest wind gust was 100 km/h recorded at Point Wilson and St Kilda Harbour - RMYS on the 5th.

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Extremes in September 2012
Hottest day 26.7 °C at Avalon Airport on the 27th
26.7 °C at Breakwater (Geelong Racecourse) on the 27th
Warmest days on average 18.6 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Coolest days on average 13.7 °C at Ferny Creek
Coldest day 7.9 °C at Ferny Creek on the 29th
Coldest night -0.6 °C at Coldstream Comparison on the 2nd
Coolest nights on average 5.9 °C at Wallan (Kilmore Gap)
Warmest nights on average 9.9 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Warmest night 16.5 °C at Scoresby Research Institute on the 5th
Warmest on average overall 14.2 °C at Melbourne Regional Office
Coolest on average overall 9.9 °C at Wallan (Kilmore Gap)
Wettest overall 135.2 mm at Poowong East (Upper Lang Lang RG)
Wettest day 33.8 mm at Warburton on the 13th
Highest wind gust 100 km/h at Point Wilson on the 5th
100 km/h at St Kilda Harbour - RMYS on the 5th

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Record highest September daily rainfall
Highest daily rainfall
in September 2012 (mm) 		Previous wettest
for September		 Years of
record
Lara (Flinders Ave) 28.2 on the 19th 15.2 on the 29th in 2011 11

Record highest total September rainfall
Total rainfall
for September 2012 (mm) 		Previous wettest
for September		 Years of
record		 Average for
September
Bacchus Marsh (Lerderderg River @ U/S Go 51.2 49.8 in 2009 11 28.8
Parwan Ck @ Parwan 44.4 42.6 in 2009 10 25.4

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for September 2012
Maximum temperatures
for September
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
for September
(°C)		 Rainfall
for September
(millimetres)
Mean for
September
2012		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
September
2012		 Mean for
September
2012		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
September
2012		 Total for
September
2012		 Average
for
September		 Rank of
September
2012		 Fraction of
September
average
East Central (district 86)
Bundoora (Latrobe University) 17.8 +0.9 25.3 27th 7.6 +0.4 1.6 2nd 41.8 58.7 low 71%
Cerberus 16.8 +0.5 25.6 27th 7.9 +0.4 0.8 2nd 74.0 66.5 high 111%
Coldstream 17.3 +0.2 24.5 27th 6.4 +0.9 -0.5 2nd 62.0 70.9 average 87%
Coldstream Comparison 17.3 24.5 27th 6.2 -0.6 2nd 62.0
Cranbourne Botanic Gardens 17.0 +0.6 25.1 27th 8.0 +0.3 3.2 2nd 66.9 85.0 average 79%
Essendon Airport 17.9 +1.2 25.7 27th 7.9 +1.3 2.7 2nd 28.4 50.8 low 56%
Ferny Creek 13.7 21.2 27th 6.8 1.9 29th 73.8
Frankston AWS 15.9 +0.5 22.1 27th 9.8 +0.5 5.4 2nd
Melbourne Airport 17.7 +1.1 26.1 27th 7.3 +0.3 1.5 10th 27.6 46.4 low 59%
Melbourne Regional Office 18.6 +1.4 26.6 27th 9.9 +1.9 5.3 2nd 38.2 58.0 low 66%
Moorabbin Airport 17.2 +0.4 25.5 27th 8.6 +0.7 2.4 2nd 46.6 65.5 low 71%
Phillip Island Penguin Reserve 16.2 +0.1 22.8 27th 8.6 +0.3 2.7 2nd 75.0 69.4 high 108%
Rhyll 16.2 +0.3 23.0 27th 9.6 +0.3 5.9 2nd 77.2 67.0 average 115%
Scoresby Research Institute 17.5 +1.1 25.3 27th 8.0 +0.5 2.3 1st 49.0 84.1 low 58%
Viewbank 17.8 +0.1 25.3 27th 7.6 -0.1 1.2 2nd 36.8 54.6 average 67%
Wallan (Kilmore Gap) 13.8 +0.8 20.4 27th 5.9 +0.4 1.5 29th 35.6 57.5 low 62%
Wonthaggi 16.5 +0.5 25.0 27th 8.4 +0.7 3.0 2nd 102.0 89.2 average 114%
West Central (district 87)
Avalon Airport 17.4 -0.3 26.7 27th 7.1 +0.5 0.7 2nd 57.2 46.2 average 124%
Breakwater (Geelong Racecourse) 17.6 26.7 27th 8.1 3.5 26th 46.8
Laverton RAAF 17.6 +0.6 26.5 27th 7.3 +0.7 1.2 2nd 27.0 49.2 low 55%
Sheoaks 16.0 +0.6 24.4 27th 6.6 +0.5 1.2 25th 51.6 49.2 average 105%

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 1 pm on Monday 1 October 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

Media
(03) 9669 4057
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