Western Australian Monthly Climate Summary: August and Winter 2006
Record low winter rainfall in WA

Monday 4 September, 2006

In Brief

Averaged over the State it was the warmest August on record for maximum temperatures. In contrast to recent months, average to above average rain fell in the southwest corner. Further east and north it was very dry.


Details

An extensive area of WA south of a line from Exmouth to Eucla saw its lowest winter rainfall since accurate records commenced in 1900. (See map 1). Winter 2006, for Western Australia as a whole, was the second driest winter with only 1976 being drier.

It was also the warmest winter in some western parts of southern WA.

Rainfall records for winter 2006 are tabulated below for selected locations in WA (see table 1).
(several hundred rainfall sites have broken their lowest winter rainfall record and the list below only includes main towns and those locations with over 95 years of records)

Mean maximum and minimum temperature records for winter 2006 for locations with at least 30 years of records are listed in tables 2 to 4.

Please note: Only preliminary quality checks have been performed on the data.


Table 1

Record lowest total rainfall for winter
Location Total rainfall
for winter 2006 (mm) 		Previous lowest
for winter 		Years of
record
Perth * 230.4 260.0
in 1940
 130
Northampton 71.2 112.0
in 1976
 122
New Norcia 129.5 149.9
in 1914
 121
Carnamah 51.7 79.4
in 1969
 119
Southern Cross 38.2 43.6
in 1905
 118
Mandurah * 223.8 284.7
in 1940
 117
Gabyon 17.4 24.6
in 1976
 117
Coolgardie 6.0 11.7
in 1969
 114
Kellerberrin 62.2 63.4
in 1914
 114
Doongin Peak 65.2 71.2
in 1914
 111
Bulong 7.2 11.7
in 1969
 110
Mingenew 88.2 90.7
in 1976
 110
Leonora 5.2 5.3
in 1969
 109
Denham 17.6 26.1
in 1979
 106
Mullewa 45.3 73.9
in 1979
 106
Yalgoo 18.8 39.2
in 1969
 105
Barnong 30.6 41.6
in 1976
 104
Merredin 63.0 74.3
in 1914
 103
Nangeenan 58.6 62.0
in 1911
 103
Berkshire Valley 116.6 122.1
in 1914
 100
Cowcowing 52.8 60.0
in 1911
 100
Nabawa 97.2 102.2
in 1976
 100
Yandanooka 80.8 85.2
in 1976
 100
Armadale 183.6 300.5
in 1914
 98
Kokardine 61.8 76.0
in 1984
 98
Tammin 70.1 73.7
in 1914
 96
Bullfinch 45.8 52.0
in 1940
 95
Marron 4.6 8.8
in 1979
 95
Ogilvie 68.3 76.0
in 1976
 95
Yuna 60.2 85.2
in 1914
 95
Dalwallinu Comparison 62.0 76.0
in 1914
 94
Wyalkatchem 52.7 68.4
in 1914
 94
Koorda 39.2 64.3
in 1994
 93
Westonia 55.9 58.8
in 1976
 92
Perenjori 30.6 67.8
in 1976
 86
Narembeen 70.8 73.7
in 1940
 80
Margaret River 409.8 415.0
in 1971
 76
Lake King 51.5 53.3
in 1971
 72
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport 7.0 10.2
in 1976
 68
Port Hedland Airport 0.2 0.6
in 1976
 64
Perth Airport 233.0 285.3
in 1971
 63
Carnarvon Airport 10.2 22.8
in 1979
 62
Meekatharra Airport 5.2 9.2
in 1969
 61
Learmonth Airport 6.4 6.8
in 1962
 53

* Denotes a composite site.

Table 2

Record highest mean daily maximum temperature for winter
Location Mean daily maximum
temperature
for winter 2006 (°C) 		Previous highest
for winter 		Years of
record
Cape Naturaliste 18.5 17.9
in 1999
 102
Kellerberrin 19.3 19.1
in 1940
 94
Northam 19.7 19.4
in 1940
 93
Dwellingup 17.1 16.8
in 1959
 65
Manjimup 16.2 16.1
in 1949
 65
Perth Airport 20.0 19.9
in 1959
 63
Mullewa 22.1 21.9
in 1949
 59
Pemberton 17.2 16.9
in 1948
 59
Corrigin 17.6 17.5
in 1959
 58
Cunderdin 19.1 18.9
in 1977
 56
Norseman 19.5 19.2
in 2002
 55
Salmon Gums Res.Stn. 18.7 18.6
in 2002
 55
Lake Grace Comparison 17.9 17.3
in 1959
 50
Dalwallinu Comparison 19.7 19.4
in 1977
 49
Pearce RAAF 19.7 19.4
in 1994
 45
Wongan Hills Res.Station 19.1 18.9
in 2001
 43
Albany Airport 17.4 17.1
in 1983
 42
Merredin 18.9 18.3
in 1977
 41
Brookton 18.1 18.0
in 1977
 39
Gascoyne Junction 25.9 25.8
in 1940
 39
Narrogin 16.9 16.5
in 2001
 38
Ongerup 16.8 16.5
in 2001
 38
Jurien Bay 21.2 20.9
in 1976
 37
Wongan Hills 19.5 19.2
in 1977
 37
Beverley 19.1 18.9
in 1977
 36
Karnet 17.6 16.8
in 1994
 35
Pingelly 17.7 16.9
in 1977
 35
Eneabba 22.1 21.4
in 2001
 32
Hyden 19.2 18.3
in 2002
 32
Wagin 17.3 16.7
in 2001
 32

Table 3

Record lowest mean daily maximum temperature for winter
Location Mean daily maximum
temperature
for winter 2006 (°C) 		Previous lowest
for winter 		Years of
record
Wyndham 30.3 30.4
in 1977
 37

Table 4

Record lowest mean daily minimum temperature for winter

Mean daily minimum
temperature
for winter 2006 (°C) 		Previous lowest
for winter 		Years of
record
Carnarvon Airport 10.0 10.4
in 1966
 60
Mardie 10.4 10.5
in 1967
 48
Eyre 4.3 4.7
in 2001
 45

Further information:
Yanhui Blockley, John Relf Western Australia Climate Services Centre
climate.wa@bom.gov.au
Tel: (08) 9263 2222, office hours.