Tuesday, 2 June 2009 - Monthly Climate Summary for Western Australia - Product code IDCKGC21R0

Western Australia in May 2009
A dry May with abnormal warmth in the west

Summary

  • Below average rainfall for WA.
  • Near average mean maximum temperature for WA, but very much above average in the west of WA.
  • Below 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

Though strong cold fronts brought some useful rainfall to western parts of the Southwest Land Division (SWLD) of WA in the third week of May, rainfall totals for the month were below to very much below average in a large part of WA, including the SWLD, Gascoyne, west Pilbara, southern Interior, Goldfields, and Eucla. Only small parts of the eastern Kimberley and eastern Interior saw above average rainfall (see May rainfall decile map). Averaged across WA as a whole, rainfall in May 2009 was below average.

Maximum temperature

Mean maximum temperatures were above average in the west Kimberley, and above to very much above average in western districts of WA, with up to 3°C warmer than normal mean maxima in west coast and adjacent inland parts south of Carnarvon. Some locations in the Central West, Lower West and Southwest experienced their warmest May on record. Conversely, small pockets in the Interior,Goldfields and Eucla recorded below average mean maxima, with up to 2°C cooler than normal mean maxima mainly in the Interior. Averaged across the state, the mean maximum temperature was near average. (see May maximum temperature anomaly map).

Minimum temperature

Mean minimum temperatures were below to very much below average across large areas of central and southern WA, with a pocket of mean minimum temperatures up to 4ºC below average in the Eucla. Eyre, on the Eucla coast, recorded its coldest May mean minimum temperature on record. Averaged across the state as a whole, the WA mean minimum temperature was below average. (see May 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		 37.6°C at Mardie on the 1st
Warmest days on average
Highest mean daily maximum temperature

34.0°C at Wyndham Aero
34.0°C at Kalumburu
Coolest days on average
Lowest mean daily maximum temperature		 19.8°C at Shannon
Coldest day
Lowest daily maximum temperature		 10.3°C at Rocky Gully on the 22nd
Coldest night
Lowest temperature		 −1.4°C at Eyre on the 29th
Coolest nights on average
Lowest mean daily minimum temperature		 3.5°C at Collie East
Warmest nights on average
Highest mean daily minimum temperature		 26.1°C at Troughton Island
22.1°C at Truscott (mainland)
Warmest night
Highest daily minimum temperature		 28.4°C at Troughton Island on the 4th
25.7°C at Cygnet Bay on the 6th (mainland)
Wettest overall
Highest total rainfall		 157.1 mm at Worsley Downs
Wettest day
Highest daily rainfall		 97.6 mm at Worsley Downs on the 21st
Highest wind gust
 115 km/h at Rottnest Island on the 21st

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Records

Record highest May daily rainfall
Highest daily rainfall
in May 2009 (mm) 		Previous highest
for May		 Years of
record
Brunswick Junction 96.2 on the 21st 80.3 on the 29th in 1945 101


Record lowest total May rainfall
Total rainfall
for May 2009 (mm) 		Previous lowest
for May		 Years of
record		 Average for
May
Salmon Gums Res.Stn. 1.6 2.1 in 1964 78 34.2



Record highest May mean daily maximum temperature
Mean daily maximum
temperature
for May 2009 (°C) 		Previous highest
for May		 Years of
record		 Average for
May
Perth Metro 24.4 24.0 in 2003 112 22.3
Bridgetown Comparison 22.7 22.6 in 1934 107 19.2
Donnybrook 23.0 22.4 in 2003 105 20.0
Dwellingup 21.4 21.0 in 2003 71 18.4
Manjimup 20.5 20.4 in 2003 69 17.6
Karnet 22.1 21.7 in 1996 43 19.1
Lancelin 25.5 24.6 in 2003 41 22.5
Jurien Bay 25.7 25.4 in 2002 39 23.1
Kalbarri 28.3 28.2 in 2006 35 25.8



Record lowest May mean daily minimum temperature
Mean daily minimum
temperature
for May 2009 (°C) 		Previous lowest
for May		 Years of
record		 Average for
May
Eyre 6.2 6.4 in 2000 49 9.3
Wagin 6.1 6.4 in 1985 34 8.0


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Notes

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 9 am on Tuesday 2 June 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.

Further information

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