Monday, 2 February 2009 - Monthly Climate Summary for Western Australia - Product code IDCKGC21R0

Western Australia in January 2009
A hot January for WA


Summary

  • Above average rainfall for WA
  • Above average mean maximum temperature for WA
  • Second highest January mean minimum temperature on record for WA

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Details

Rainfall

Rainfall in WA was above to very much above average in most of the Kimberley, west Pilbara, inland Gascoyne, Goldfields, Central WheatBelt, Great Southern and Southeast Coastal districts, with record high daily and monthly totals reported in the west Pilbara and inland Gascoyne. This contrasts with below to very much below average rainfall mainly in small areas of the southwest Gascoyne, the southern Southwest and South Coastal, as well as parts of the Eucla. (see January rainfall decile map). Averaged across WA as a whole, rainfall in January 2009 was above average.

Tropical Cyclone Dominic produced heavy rainfall and some flooding in the west Pilbara, inland Gascoyne and Goldfields as it crossed the Pilbara coast near Onslow on the 27th, then weakened to a tropical low and moved southeast across the inland Gascoyne and Goldfields.

Maximum temperature

Mean maximum temperatures were above to very much above average across most of the southern half of WA, with up to 4°C warmer than normal maxima in parts of the Gascoyne and Central Wheat Belt. Conversely, parts of the northeast Kimberley recorded mean maxima to 3ºC below normal. Averaged across the state, the mean maximum temperature was above average. (see January maximum temperature anomaly map).

Several sites in the western part of the state including Perth experienced a hot spell in the first half of January 2009. Emu Creek Station in the southwest Pilbara and Gascoyne Junction in the northern Gascoyne registered their highest temperature for January on record. See media release for more details.

Minimum temperature

January 2009 was the 2nd hottest January in WA, since records commenced in 1950, in terms of mean minimum temperatures averaged across the state. The only hotter January was that in 2008. Most of WA saw above to very much above average mean minimum temperatures, with up to 4°C warmer than normal mean minima in the Gascoyne district. (see January minimum temperature anomaly map).

Further information

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

Extremes

Hottest day
Highest temperature		 49.0°C at Emu Creek Station on the 10th
Warmest days on average
Highest mean daily maximum temperature		 43.3°C at Gascoyne Junction
Coolest days on average
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature		 23.0°C at Albany
Coldest day
Lowest daily maximum temperature		 18.0°C at Ravensthorpe on the 19th
Coldest night
Lowest temperature		 3.3°C at Eyre on the 21st
Coolest nights on average
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature		 13.2°C at Jarrahwood
Warmest nights on average
Highest mean daily minimum temperature		 27.1°C at Broome Airport
Warmest night
Highest daily minimum temperature		 32.4°C at Meekatharra Airport on the 12th
Wettest overall
Highest total rainfall		 764.4 mm at Kuri Bay
Wettest day
Highest daily rainfall		 238.4 mm at Onslow Airport on the 27th
Highest wind gust
 148 km/h at Wyndham Aero on the 7th

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Records

Record highest January daily rainfall
Highest daily rainfall
in January 2009 (mm) 		Previous highest
for January		 Years of
record
Mileura 132.6 on the 28th 99.1 on the 22nd in 1909 105
Beringarra 113.8 on the 28th 109.7 on the 23rd in 1925 78
Onslow Airport 238.4 on the 27th 236.7 on the 25th in 1961 39


Record highest total January rainfall
Total rainfall
for January 2009 (mm) 		Previous highest
for January		 Years of
record		 Average for
January
Onslow Airport 275.6 258.6 in 1961 46 39.7



Record highest January temperature
Highest temperature
in January 2009 (°C) 		Previous highest
for January		 Years of
record		 Average for
January
Emu Creek Station 49.0 on the 10th 48.2 on the 1st in 2004 37 41.3
Gascoyne Junction 48.6 on the 11th 48.3 on the 4th in 2008 32 40.7


Record lowest January daily maximum temperature
Lowest daily maximum
temperature
in January 2009 (°C) 		Previous lowest
for January		 Years of
record		 Average for
January
Emu Creek Station 26.2 on the 27th 27.4 on the 22nd in 1982 37 41.3


Record highest January mean daily maximum temperature
Mean daily maximum
temperature
for January 2009 (°C) 		Previous highest
for January		 Years of
record		 Average for
January
Wongan Hills 36.9 36.6 in 1980 41 34.4
Pingelly 34.0 33.9 in 1997 37 31.7



Record highest January mean daily minimum temperature
Mean daily minimum
temperature
for January 2009 (°C) 		Previous highest
for January		 Years of
record		 Average for
January
Merredin 19.4 19.2 in 1978 43 17.6
Emu Creek Station 26.2 26.1 in 1980 36 24.4


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Notes

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Monday 2 February 2009. 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 30 years of record, as they cannot then be calculated reliably.
The median is sometimes more representative than the mean of long-term average rain.

Further information

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