Tuesday, 3 June 2008 - Monthly Climate Summary for Western Australia - Product code IDCKGC11R0

Western Australia in May 2008
A dry and warm May


Summary

  • Fourth driest May for WA.
  • Fourth highest mean maximum temperature for WA.
  • Near average mean minimum temperature for WA.

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Details

Rainfall

The May rainfall was below to very much below average across most of Western Australia (see May rainfall decile map). WA as a whole was the fourth driest May on record since at least 1900.

Temperature

With the exception of the Kimberley, the rest of WA saw above to very much above average daytime temperatures (see May mean maximum temperature anomaly map). Averaged across the whole state, May 2008 was the fourth warmest May in terms of mean maximum temperature with 2.45°C above the long term average.

Several locations in the Gascoyne, Interior and Goldfields districts registered their highest mean maximum temperatures on record for May.

May 2008 saw above to very much above average mean minimum temperatures across a large area of the southern half of WA, whilst below to very much below average mean minimum temperatures occurred in the Kimberley and parts of the Pilbara, Interior and Gascoyne (see May mean minimum temperature anomaly map). The statewide mean minimum temperature was near average with an anomaly of −0.15°C.

 

Extremes

Hottest day
Highest temperature		 40.0°C at Bidyadanga on the 3rd & 5th
Warmest days on average
Highest mean daily maximum temperature		 34.9°C at Mandora
Coolest days on average
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature		 18.3°C at Rocky Gully
18.3°C at Shannon
Coldest day
Lowest daily maximum temperature		 13.1°C at Shannon on the 22nd
Coldest night
Lowest temperature		 −0.7°C at Eyre on the 26th
Coolest nights on average
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature		 6.4°C at Wandering
Warmest nights on average
Highest mean daily minimum temperature

25.1°C at Troughton Island
18.2°C at Kuri Bay
Warmest night
Highest daily minimum temperature		 27.0°C at Bedout Island on the 1st
23.6°C at Wittenoom on the 1st
Wettest overall
Highest total rainfall		 220.4 mm at Witchcliffe (one day data missing)
Wettest day
Highest daily rainfall		 58.0 mm at Jarrahwood on the 31st
Highest wind gust
 107 km/h at Cape Leeuwin on the 22nd

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Records

Record lowest total May rainfall
Total rainfall
for May 2008 (mm) 		Previous lowest
for May		 Years of
record		 Normal for
May
Onslow Airport 0.0 0.2 in 2000 45 54.9
Eneabba 11.7 18.5 in 1964 43 71.1
Karara 1.2 2.2 in 1992 31 37.9



Record highest May mean daily maximum temperature
Mean daily maximum
temperature
for May 2008 (°C) 		Previous highest
for May		 Years of
record		 Normal for
May
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport 24.4 24.3 in 2002 67 20.6
Meekatharra Airport 27.3 27.2 in 1998 59 23.7
Norseman 24.3 23.9 in 2002 58 20.3
Warburton Airfield 29.3 28.7 in 2005 35 24.2
Yeelirrie 27.7 26.8 in 1994 35 23.4



Record lowest May mean daily minimum temperature
Mean daily minimum
temperature
for May 2008 (°C) 		Previous lowest
for May		 Years of
record		 Normal for
May
Wyndham 16.0 17.5 in 1976 41 20.8
Kuri Bay 18.2 19.1 in 2006 39 22.0


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Notes

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 9 am on Tuesday 3 June 2008. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

Normals 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 30 years of record, as they cannot then be calculated reliably.
The median is sometimes more representative than the mean of "normal" rain.

Further information

Yanhui Blockley
Western Australia Climate Services Centre
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (08) 9263 2222
Email climate.wa@bom.gov.au