Tuesday, 6 January 2015 - Monthly Climate Summary for Western Australia - Product code IDCKGC11R0

Western Australia in December 2014: A dry and warm month

Mean maximum temperatures were above to very much above average across large parts of WA in December, and a few sites in the Pilbara, Southern Interior, and northern Goldfields registered record high mean maxima in December, with mean maximum temperatures 3 °C to 4 °C above average in the western Southern Interior. Only parts of the south coast, west Pilbara coast, and east Kimberley recorded below average day-time temperatures. Averaged across the State, the mean maximum temperature was 0.99 °C above the long-term average, and thus well-above average, whilst averaged across the Lower Southwest (southwest of a line from Jurien Bay to Bremer Bay), the December mean maximum for the region was near average.

Mean minimum temperatures were above to very much above average across much of the northern, central and eastern WA, with a couple of sites in the Kimberley registering their highest mean minimum temperatures on record. Below average mean minimum temperatures were recorded near the Southwest Land Division (SWLD) south coast, and in the east Kimberley. Averaged across the State, the mean minimum temperature was 0.41 ° C above the long-term average, and well above average, whilst for the Lower Southwest the mean minimum was close to average.

Rainfall in December 2014 was below to very much below average in parts of western and central WA. Areas of above average rainfall were scattered through the Kimberley, Northern and Southern Interior, and in the South and Southeast Coastal and western Eucla. December 2014 was near average for the state as a whole in terms of rainfall, but the driest December for ten years, since December 2004. For both the SWLD and the Lower Southwest (southwest of a line from Jurien Bay to Bremer Bay), rainfall in December 2014 was below average, and the driest since 2009.

• Very high temperatures across parts of the northern half of WA from the 4th to 9th saw Giles Meterological Office record a maximum temperature of 45.1 °C on the 5th, the highest December temperature in 59 years of record at the site, and the third highest temperature on record at the station, whilst Pardoo recorded a maximum temperature of 48.0 °C on the 6th, the highest temperature at the site in 22 years of recording, and the highest temperature recorded in WA in December 2014.
• A fire at Whiteman Park in the northern Perth suburbs burnt 367 hectares of bushland on 14 December.
• Twenty-two consecutive days with temperatures at or above 40 °C at Marble Bar from the 1st to 23rd: longest such run in December for 9 years.
• A bushfire destroyed a home and three sheds in Toodyay, about 85 kilometres north-east of Perth, on 30 December.
• High overnight temperatures were reported in various parts of the State in the last 10 days of the month with Denham in the Gascoyne, Port Hedland in the Pilbara, and Salmon Gums Research Station in the Southeast Coastal all registering their highest December minimum temperatures on record.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Maps
	Observed	Anomaly	Decile rank
Total rainfall
Mean daily maximum temperatures
Mean daily minimum temperatures

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Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top