Friday, 1 May 2009 - Monthly Climate Summary for Western Australia - Product code IDCKGC21R0

Western Australia in April 2009
A warm month in WA

Summary

  • Near average rainfall for WA.
  • Above average mean maximum temperature for WA.
  • Above average mean minimum temperature for WA.

An archive of previous monthly summaries for Western Australia is also available, as are summaries for other states and many other climate summaries and diagnostics.

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Details

Rainfall

April rainfall was below to very much below average in the north and east Kimberley, parts of the Pilbara,west Gascoyne and a large part of Southwest Land Division (SWLD). Several towns in the SWLD experienced their driest April on record. Parts of the northern Goldfields and Eucla saw above to very much above average rainfall (see April rainfall decile map). Averaged across WA as a whole, rainfall in April 2009 was near average.

Maximum temperature

Mean maximum temperatures were above to very much above average in the Kimberley and adjacent areas, and western part of the state, with up to 4°C warmer than normal mean maxima in the Lower West. Conversely, parts of the Southeast Coastal, Goldfields and Eucla recorded below to very much below average mean maxima, with up to 2°C cooler than normal mean maxima in the east Southeast Coastal and Eucla. Averaged across the state, the mean maximum temperature was above average. (see April maximum temperature anomaly map).

Minimum temperature

Mean minimum temperatures were near average across a large part of the state, though the Kimberley, Pilbara, Lower West and east Eucla experienced above average minima, with a pocket of mean minimum temperatures up to 2ºC above average in the Pilbara. Averaged across the state as a whole, however, the WA mean minimum temperature was above average. (see April minimum temperature anomaly map).

Further information

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

Extremes

 

Hottest day
Highest temperature		 42.5°C at Bidyadanga on the 4th
Warmest days on average
Highest mean daily maximum temperature		 38.3°C at Wyndham Aero
Coolest days on average
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature		 20.6°C at Albany
Coldest day
Lowest daily maximum temperature		 15.5°C at Mount Barker on the 22nd & 23rd
Coldest night
Lowest temperature		 1.2°C at Bridgetown on the 2nd
Coolest nights on average
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature		 8.2°C at Collie East
Warmest nights on average
Highest mean daily minimum temperature		 28.4°C at Troughton Island
25.5°C at Kuri Bay
Warmest night
Highest daily minimum temperature		 30.1°C at Roebourne Aero on the 3rd
Wettest overall
Highest total rainfall		 64.8 mm at Manypeaks
Wettest day
Highest daily rainfall		 39 mm at Balladonia on the 23rd
Highest wind gust
 76 km/h at Rottnest Island on the 22nd

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Records

Record lowest total April rainfall
Total rainfall
for April 2009 (mm) 		Previous lowest
for April		 Years of
record		 Average for
April
Greenbushes 0.6 1.6 in 1982 117 51.0
Nannup 0.8 2.0 in 1982 110 52.7
Donnybrook 1.0 1.4 in 1982 109 49.5
Lake Grace Comparison 0.0 0.2 in 1994 97 23.4
Forest Grove 6.8 7.4 in 1982 84 71.9
Salmon Gums Res.Stn. 0.4 0.5 in 1950 77 27.8
Woodanilling 1.6 1.8 in 2001 77 29.6
Walpole 9.8 10.0 in 1999 57 96.1
Rosa Brook 1.2 13.0 in 2001 39 63.6


Record highest April temperature
Highest temperature
in April 2009 (°C) 		Previous highest
for April		 Years of
record		 Average for
April
Giles Meteorological Office 38.3 on the 1st 38.2 on the 1st in 2005 53 29.4


Record highest April mean daily maximum temperature
Mean daily maximum
temperature
for April 2009 (°C) 		Previous highest
for April		 Years of
record		 Average for
April
Kuri Bay 36.0 35.8 in 1981 38 34.3


Record highest April daily minimum temperature
Highest daily minimum
temperature
in April 2009 (°C) 		Previous highest
for April		 Years of
record		 Average for
April
Port Hedland Airport 28.8 on the 3rd 28.4 on the 18th in 1986 61 21.4
Badgingarra Research Stn 22.8 on the 13th 22.0 on the 14th in 1999 41 13.4
Troughton Island 29.8 on the 17th 29.7 on the 18th in 1998 30 26.8

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Notes

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Friday 1 May 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 5 years of record, as they cannot then be calculated reliably.
The median is sometimes more representative than the mean of long-term average rain.