Monday, 3 April 2017 - Monthly Climate Summary for Western Australia - Product code IDCKGC11R0

Western Australia in March 2017: Wet in northwest and central WA

March rainfall was above average for much of Western Australia, with some parts of the State's inland and southwest having one of their wettest March's on record. Both State-wide mean maximum and minimum temperatures were above average, despite parts of the Lower West district having their mildest March for over two decades.

Above average rainfall for much of WA

• March rainfall averaged across WA was 43 % above average
• A low developing in a trough along the west coast produced thunderstorms with moderate to heavy falls in the Southwest district in late March; a number of March daily rainfall records were reported on the 22nd
• A tropical low moved across the Pilbara coast late in the month, and the low and associated cloudband brought moderate to heavy rainfall to northwest, central, and southeast parts of the State; some locations in the Goldfields had their March daily rainfall on record on the 25th
• Port Hedland Airport recorded 278.2 mm over three days from the 22nd to 24th as the tropical low moved close to the town. It was the airport's highest three-day rainfall total for 28 years, since 324.0 mm was recorded on 24-26 February 1989 from a tropical low. Port Hedland Airport's March total of 368.0 mm was its 2nd-highest March total since records commenced in 1943, only behind 427.2 mm in March 2007, and 3rd-highest total for any month (highest monthly total was 453.5 mm on January 1967).
• A very wet second half of the month resulted in some Goldfields sites having their highest March rainfall on record; or highest March rainfall for at least 50 years
• A few sites in the Southwest, southwest Great Southern, and western South Coastal districts recorded their wettest March, or wettest March for at least 40 years
  

Days warmer in southeast but cooler in southwest; warmer nights for much of WA away from the west coast

• Mean maximum and minimum temperatures averaged across WA was 0.5 °C and 0.6 °C above average for March respectively
• Goldfields, Eucla and Southern Interior districts, as well as pockets in the State's northwest saw 1 °C to 3 °C above average maximum temperatures; Giles Meteorological Office recorded its highest March mean daily maximum temperature for 31 years
• Below average maxima were recorded in the east Pilbara, west Casoyne, and the Lower Southwest (southwest of a line from Jurien Bay to Bremer Bay); the mean maximum temperature averaged across the Lower Southwest was 1.2 °C below average, and some sites had their coolest March days for over two decades
• Most of the State saw above average mean minima in March, however much of the South West Land Division was close to normal
• A few cold nights were experienced in the southern WA in the second half of the month, and a number of record low March temperatures were recorded on the 20th and last two days
• A number of sites including Cape Leeuwin had its coolest March nights for 24 years

Tropical low impacts the Pilbara coast; Tropical cyclones Blanche and Caleb

• Tropical cyclone Blanche developed northwest of Darwin on the 5th and tracked southwestward over the north Kimberley on the the 6th as a category 2 system before weakening rapidly over land. Minor damage was reported at the Berkeley River Lodge, whilst heavy rainfall led to minor to moderate flooding in some Kimberley river systems.
• A tropical low crossed the coast west of Port Hedland on the 23rd, and weakened and dissipated while moving southeast into central WA. The low and associated cloudband produced heavy rainfall, flash flooding and severe winds in the Pilbara and central WA
• Tropical cyclone Caleb developed in the tropical Indian Ocean about 400 km east of Cocos Islands on the 23rd and moved southward then westward before dissipating, with no direct impact on Christmas Island or the Cocos Islands

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Extremes in March 2017
Hottest day	44.6 °C at Mandora on the 5th
Warmest days on average	37.6 °C at Learmonth Airport
Coolest days on average	21.7 °C at Cape Leeuwin
Coldest day	16.4 °C at Bickley on the 18th 16.4 °C at Rocky Gully on the 26th 16.4 °C at Shannon on the 26th
Coldest night	1.6 °C at Salmon Gums Res.Stn. on the 30th
Coolest nights on average	11.6 °C at Newdegate Research Station
Warmest nights on average	27.4 °C at Troughton Island
Warmest night	30.0 °C at Barrow Island Airport on the 7th 30.0 °C at Legendre Island on the 7th 29.7 °C at Broome Airport on the 18th
Warmest on average overall	31.3 °C at Marble Bar 31.3 °C at Telfer Aero
Coolest on average overall	17.1 °C at Albany Airport
Wettest overall	368.0 mm at Port Hedland Airport
Wettest day	193.0 mm at Yeeda on the 13th
Strongest wind gust	119 km/h at Wyndham Aero on the 15th

xtremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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

Click on a map to show it full size in a pop-up window

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Record highest March daily rainfall
	New record (mm)		Old record		Years of record
Edjudina	77.0	on the 25th	75.0	on the 19th in 2012	109
Kookynie	94.0	on the 25th	82.6	on the 16th in 1907	99
Jarrahwood	52.0	on the 22nd	31.0	on the 20th in 1993	42
Perivale Orchard	51.0	on the 22nd	34.9	on the 20th in 1993	40
Paynedale	55.0	on the 22nd	32.3	on the 20th in 1993	39
Bunbury	43.2	on the 22nd	34.0	on the 11th in 1998	22
Willare Bridge	178.0	on the 13th	160.0	on the 4th in 2000	22
Ludlow	40.2	on the 22nd	30.6	on the 27th in 2016	21
Busselton Aero	39.6	on the 22nd	37.0	on the 10th in 1998	20
Packsaddle Farm	58.8	on the 25th	54.8	on the 1st in 2015	20

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Record highest March total rainfall
	New record (mm)	Old record		Years of record	Average for March
Kookynie	172.0	169.8	in 1927	102	33.9
Yeelirrie	155.1	151.6	in 2000	89	34.0
Denbarker	156.0	96.0	in 1998	44	35.8
Leinster Aero	193.8	170.0	in 2000	22	38.5

Highest March total rainfall for at least 20 years
	Observed (mm)	Most recent higher		Average for March
Edjudina	167.3	180.9	in 1927*	27.7
Cape Leeuwin	91.8	92.5	in 1965	28.5
Wiluna	146.0	147.1	in 1968*	37.4
Lorna Glen	150.5	153.0	in 1965*	39.3
Frankland	43.0	65.5	in 1971*	23.3

* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a higher value has gone unreported

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Highest March mean daily maximum temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent higher		Average for March
Giles Meteorological Office	36.8	=36.8	in 1992	33.7

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Record lowest March mean daily maximum temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for March
Rottnest Island	23.8	24.2	in 1992	27	26.1
Jandakot Aero	27.7	27.9	in 1997	26	29.7
Bickley	25.3	25.4	in 1997	23	28.0
Swanbourne	26.1	27.4	in 1996	23	29.0

Lowest March mean daily maximum temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent lower		Average for March
Lancelin	25.9	25.5	in 1968*	28.6
Karnet	25.5	25.3	in 1986*	27.9
Pearce RAAF	28.8	28.6	in 1992	30.6
Denham	29.8	28.0	in 1993	31.1
Perth Airport	28.3	27.7	in 1993	29.7
Gosnells City	28.5	=28.5	in 1993*	30.5
Cape Leeuwin	21.7	=21.7	in 1997	22.7
Dwellingup	25.5	=25.5	in 1997	27.0

* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a lower value has gone unreported

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Record lowest March temperature
	New record (°C)		Old record		Years of record	Average for March
Esperance Aero	5.7	on the 30th	6.9	on the 11th in 2002	26	14.5
Forrest	7.0	on the 31st	7.2	on the 28th in 2008	25	14.5
Rocky Gully	4.2	on the 20th	4.3	on the 28th in 2004	22	12.5
Newdegate Research Station	3.1	on the 20th	3.8	on the 31st in 2012	21	12.7

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Lowest March mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent lower		Average for March
Cape Leeuwin	16.2	15.9	in 1993	16.7
Badgingarra Research Stn	15.5	15.0	in 1993*	16.4

* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a lower value has gone unreported

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Highest March mean temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent higher		Average for March
Giles Meteorological Office	29.4	30.2	in 1992	27.2

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Record lowest March mean temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for March
Rottnest Island	20.9	21.0	in 1993	27	22.4
Swanbourne	21.6	22.0	in 1996	23	23.2

Lowest March mean temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent lower		Average for March
Cape Leeuwin	18.9	18.6	in 1986	19.7
Northam	21.8	21.1	in 1984*	23.1
Brookton	20.6	20.3	in 1993	21.9
Bickley	19.7	19.4	in 1997	21.3
Cape Naturaliste	19.7	19.6	in 1997	19.8
Kalbarri	24.9	24.8	in 1997	25.9
Rocky Gully	17.6	17.3	in 1997	18.8

* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a lower value has gone unreported

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Summary statistics for March 2017
	Maximum temperatures (°C)				Minimum temperatures (°C)				Rainfall (millimetres)
	Mean for March 2017	Diff from average	Highest for March 2017		Mean for March 2017	Diff from average	Lowest for March 2017		Total for March 2017	Average for March	Rank of March 2017	Fraction of March average
North Kimberley (district 01)
Doongan	33.6	+0.3	38.6	18th	23.0	+1.0	21.7	2nd	222.0	204.5	average	109%
Kalumburu	34.7	+0.8	38.3	3rd	24.7	+1.2	22.3	31st	195.4	219.8	average	89%
Troughton Island	32.5	+0.5	33.9	17th	27.4	+0.8	21.9	18th	81.2	133.1	average	61%
Truscott	32.4	-0.3	35.3	3rd	25.5	+0.3	22.5	31st	150.6	185.3	average	81%
Wyndham Aero	35.9	-0.1	38.6	29th	26.2	+0.5	23.0	16th	201.6	147.4	high	137%
East Kimberley (district 02)
Argyle Aerodrome	35.7	+0.2	39.3	2nd	25.3	+0.5	22.2	14th	194.4	152.6	high	127%
Halls Creek Airport	35.2		38.8	4th	22.9		18.8	2nd	22.2
Kununurra Aero	35.8	+0.1	39.6	4th	25.4	+1.1	23.4	10th	159.2	149.8	average	106%
Warmun	35.6	-0.4	38.5	4th			22.5	1st	195.5	117.7	high	166%
West Kimberley (district 03)
Bidyadanga	35.6	+0.3	42.5	5th	25.5	+0.6	20.4	17th	53.9	95.5	average	56%
Broome Airport	34.0	0.0	39.0	5th	26.2	+0.8	23.7	8th	171.2	99.9	high	171%
Curtin Aero	35.4	-0.8	39.6	5th	24.9	+0.7	21.8	8th
Derby Aero	35.1	-0.2	38.5	5th	25.7	+0.6	22.1	8th	79.0	130.9	average	60%
Fitzroy Crossing Aero	36.9	0.0	40.7	4th	24.2	+0.2	21.1	7th	89.6	115.2	average	78%
De Grey (district 04)
Karratha Aero	36.1	0.0	42.9	5th	26.3	+0.4	24.4	5th	38.2	47.8	average	80%
Legendre Island	34.2		40.5	5th	27.1		24.3	11th
Mandora	36.9	0.0	44.6	5th	25.1	+1.1	20.8	8th	177.2	74.0	high	239%
Marble Bar	37.1	-0.9	41.8	19th	25.4	+0.3	22.8	23rd	108.4	79.4	high	137%
Port Hedland Airport	36.3	-0.5	44.1	3rd	25.9	+1.3	23.3	23rd	368.0	52.0	v high	708%
Roebourne Aero	36.1	-1.7	42.8	6th	25.2	-0.1	22.5	5th	117.0	44.5	high	263%
Fortescue (district 05)
Barrow Island Airport	33.9	+0.7	39.7	6th	27.0	+0.5	24.9	12th	59.0	58.7	high	101%
Learmonth Airport	37.6	+1.2	43.1	3rd	22.8	-0.1	19.8	15th	1.8	41.4	average	4%
Mardie	36.8	-0.8	42.8	7th	25.1	+0.9	21.6	25th	30.4	49.1	average	62%
Onslow Airport	37.4	+1.3	44.2	3rd	25.1	+1.0	21.9	14th	57.8	72.9	average	79%
Wittenoom	35.8	-0.9	40.3	2nd	25.2	+0.9	21.7	23rd	104.2	69.8	high	149%
West Gascoyne (district 06)
Carnarvon Airport	31.5	-0.1	39.0	31st	22.3	+0.2	17.4	22nd	1.4	16.9	average	8%
Denham	29.8	-1.3	37.5	30th	21.7	-0.4	16.5	27th	0	15.0	lowest	0%
Murchison	35.7	+0.4	41.6	4th	20.1	0.0	15.5	22nd	10.8	31.5	average	34%
Shark Bay Airport	33.3	-0.7	42.1	6th	20.1	-1.1	13.9	22nd	0	21.1	v low	0%
East Gascoyne (district 07)
Newman Aero	36.2	+1.1	40.8	2nd	23.1	+1.3	19.7	4th	152.4	44.0	v high	346%
Paraburdoo Aero	36.8	+0.1	40.5	6th	24.0	+0.7	19.5	8th	91.4	50.7	high	180%
Murchison (district 07A)
Meekatharra Airport	34.6	+0.4	41.4	3rd	21.8	+0.5	16.1	27th	84.0	30.2	high	278%
Mount Magnet Aero	34.1	+1.1	40.7	3rd	20.6	+0.5	13.3	27th	3.2	37.3	low	9%
Paynes Find	34.2	+1.3	40.9	4th	18.6	+0.5	9.5	27th	11.2	25.3	average	44%
North Coast (district 08)
Dalwallinu	31.9	+0.4	41.5	4th	15.9	-0.6	7.9	27th	7.2	25.9	average	28%
Geraldton Airport	30.5		40.9	5th	17.2		8.9	28th	5.4
Kalbarri	31.2	-1.4	38.2	6th	18.6	-0.6	13.5	28th	0	12.8	lowest	0%
Morawa Airport	33.9	+0.7	42.4	4th	17.5	-0.5	10.1	27th	4.4	18.2	average	24%
Mullewa	33.9	+0.2	41.5	5th	18.6	+0.2	12.4	27th	6.0	19.5	average	31%
North Island	27.3	-0.9	29.6	5th	21.7	-0.2	18.9	27th	0.2	6.7	low	3%
Wongan Hills	30.9	0.0	41.3	5th	15.6	-0.8	7.8	27th	20.6	20.8	average	99%
Central Coast (district 09)
Badgingarra Research Stn	30.7	-1.2	41.8	5th	15.5	-0.9	7.8	19th	24.6	16.8	high	146%
Bickley	25.3	-2.7	36.6	1st	14.0	-0.6	7.7	27th	45.6	26.3	high	173%
Garden Island HSF	24.5	-2.6	29.7	11th	17.6	-0.7	13.0	27th	24.2	15.7	high	154%
Gingin Aero	28.9	-1.9	40.0	1st	14.4	-0.9	3.6	27th	32.6	21.2	high	154%
Gosnells City	28.5	-2.0	38.6	1st			9.0	27th	19.1	16.9	high	113%
Jandakot Aero	27.7	-2.0	37.1	1st	15.3	-0.1	6.0	27th	33.4	16.6	high	201%
Jurien Bay	27.9	-1.6	36.1	11th	16.4	-0.2	9.6	20th	12.6	14.9	average	85%
Karnet	25.5	-2.4	35.3	1st			10.0	27th	30.0	24.4	average	123%
Lancelin	25.9	-2.7	34.0	12th	16.4	-0.4	10.4	27th	11.6	15.7	average	74%
Medina Research Centre	28.2	-1.2	38.0	4th	15.2	-0.8	6.7	27th	25.8	19.4	high	133%
Pearce RAAF	28.8	-1.8	40.1	1st	15.2	-0.8	5.1	27th	39.8	16.9	high	236%
Perth Airport	28.3	-1.4	38.1	1st	15.5	-0.4	6.3	27th	19.4	16.4	high	118%
Perth Metro	27.9	-1.7	37.7	1st	16.4	-0.3	8.3	27th	23.6	19.5	high	121%
Rottnest Island	23.8	-2.3	27.8	6th	18.0	-0.7	13.7	29th	27.0	18.5	high	146%
Swanbourne	26.1	-2.9	34.1	1st	17.0	-0.4	10.8	27th	28.8	21.9	high	132%
South Coast (district 09A)
Albany	21.8	-0.5	28.9	3rd	15.9	+1.2	8.2	16th	45.8	38.5	high	119%
Albany Airport	22.4		34.0	2nd	12.2		3.8	30th	50.0
Bridgetown	25.6	-1.9	36.6	1st	11.8	0.0	2.3	20th	26.6	20.9	average	127%
Bunbury	26.6	-1.2	35.2	4th	14.1	-0.1	4.8	27th	50.8	19.4	high	262%
Busselton Aero	26.3	-1.6	35.5	1st	13.3	0.0	6.1	20th	51.8	19.2	v high	270%
Cape Leeuwin	21.7	-1.0	32.4	2nd	16.2	-0.5	11.9	16th	91.8	28.5	v high	322%
Cape Naturaliste	24.9	+0.4	34.1	4th	14.6	-0.5	9.0	29th	45.6	22.9	high	199%
Collie East	26.3	-2.1	36.4	1st	12.0	0.0	3.2	19th	12.8	17.7	average	72%
Donnybrook	26.8	-1.2	37.5	1st	13.7	+0.7	6.0	19th	49.6	25.1	high	198%
Dwellingup	25.5	-1.5	35.9	1st	13.2	+0.2	5.4	27th	37.0	26.4	high	140%
Esperance	25.1	-0.1	35.8	17th	15.8	+0.7	9.0	30th	21.8	30.3	average	72%
Esperance Aero	26.0	0.0	35.3	6th	14.3	-0.2	5.7	30th	24.0	34.2	average	70%
Hopetoun North	24.4	-0.3	36.9	17th	15.0	+1.0	7.4	30th	16.2	33.4	average	49%
Jarrahwood	26.6	-1.1	37.0	1st	11.8	+0.2	3.0	16th	69.6	21.7	v high	321%
Mandurah	26.7	-1.1	37.6	4th	17.3	-0.9	12.1	27th	25.8	17.2	high	150%
Manjimup	23.9	-0.9	34.9	1st	12.3	-0.2	6.1	16th	44.4	29.9	high	148%
North Walpole	21.8	-2.2	34.0	2nd	13.6	-0.8	6.4	20th
Rocky Gully	23.3	-1.9	33.4	3rd	11.8	-0.7	4.2	20th	72.8	36.7	high	198%
Shannon	22.1	-2.9	33.1	2nd	12.3	-0.2	4.5	16th	69.2	33.5	v high	207%
Witchcliffe	23.6	-2.2	31.6	2nd	13.0	-0.1	4.3	20th	89.8	26.8	v high	335%
North Central (district 10)
Bencubbin	30.7	0.0	39.5	6th	16.4	+0.1	8.4	27th	2.8	23.4	low	12%
Cunderdin Airfield	29.9	-1.1	40.9	6th	14.8	-0.6	6.4	27th	20.4	19.6	average	104%
Merredin	30.9	+0.6	40.6	3rd	16.3	+0.1	8.4	28th	21.0	21.3	average	99%
Northam	28.9	-1.9	39.4	6th	14.9	-0.5	6.0	27th	21.8	18.8	high	116%
York	29.3	-1.4	39.5	6th	13.5	-0.8	5.0	27th	28.9	19.4	average	149%
South Central (district 10A)
Beverley	29.2	-1.6	38.8	1st	13.8	-0.9	6.0	27th	35.4	16.8	high	211%
Brookton	27.8	-1.7	37.8	3rd	13.5	-0.9	4.4	27th	20.3	18.3	high	111%
Corrigin	28.7	-0.2	39.1	6th	14.1	-0.2	5.5	27th
Hyden	29.6	-0.4	39.4	6th	13.3	-1.0	5.2	27th	18.2	20.8	average	88%
Jacup	25.3	-0.6	38.7	6th	12.2	-0.4	5.0	20th	30.2	29.7	average	102%
Katanning	25.1	-2.1	35.3	3rd	12.3	-0.7	5.2	20th	39.0	22.0	high	177%
Lake Grace	27.1	-1.0	38.7	6th	13.5	-0.9	6.2	20th	23.6	21.2	average	111%
Narrogin	26.5	-0.9	36.6	3rd	13.0	-0.1	5.2	27th	34.6	21.3	high	162%
Newdegate Research Station	27.1	-1.0	37.4	6th	11.6	-1.1	3.1	20th	17.6	22.1	average	80%
Ongerup	24.8	-1.2	36.4	3rd	12.9	-0.4	6.5	27th	30.4	22.4	high	136%
Pingelly			37.4	3rd	14.1	-0.6	8.5	29th	29.4	17.5	high	168%
Ravensthorpe	26.0	-0.6	38.0	6th	13.5	-0.1	6.0	16th	13.8	32.8	average	42%
Wagin	25.9	-1.8	36.0	3rd	13.2	-0.3	5.6	20th	38.6	20.7	high	186%
Wandering	26.5	-2.5	37.2	1st	12.2	-0.4	4.0	27th	26.6	17.3	average	154%
Eucla (district 11)
Eucla	26.1	+1.0	40.0	14th	15.9	-0.1	7.5	31st	8.4	22.8	average	37%
Eyre	27.1	+1.4	43.2	18th	13.4	-0.8	2.8	31st	48.9	27.6	high	177%
Forrest	31.4	+2.2	41.1	14th	14.4	-0.1	7.0	31st	0.4	24.5	v low	2%
Red Rocks Point	25.2	+1.0	39.3	18th	17.1	+0.1	8.7	31st	20.8	23.4	average	89%
South East (district 12)
Bulga Downs	32.4	-0.2	40.7	2nd	18.7	+0.4	11.1	31st	121.4	26.5	v high	458%
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport	29.5	+0.1	39.1	2nd	17.2	+1.1	9.3	28th	23.4	25.8	average	91%
Laverton Aero	31.8	+1.4	40.5	2nd	18.8	+0.6	10.3	30th	129.6	44.3	v high	293%
Leinster Aero	32.3	+0.9	40.6	2nd	19.5	+0.5	11.6	31st	193.8	38.5	highest	503%
Leonora Aero	31.4	+0.2	40.8	2nd	19.4	+0.5	11.7	31st	195.8	50.4	v high	388%
Munglinup West	26.7	-0.3	37.6	2nd	13.3	-0.6	6.2	30th	18.4	35.2	low	52%
Norseman Aero	29.4	+0.8	40.0	1st	13.8	-0.3	4.5	30th	19.8	31.1	average	64%
Salmon Gums Res.Stn.	27.0	-0.3	36.1	7th	12.1	-0.5	1.6	30th	31.8	26.6	high	120%
Southern Cross Airfield	30.9	+0.4	39.6	3rd	15.2	-0.1	4.9	27th	10.6	34.8	average	30%
Yeelirrie	33.8	+0.6	41.1	17th	19.1	+0.9	11.0	31st	155.1	34.0	highest	456%
North East (district 13)
Carnegie	36.2	+2.2	41.3	1st	22.6	+2.6	15.3	30th	28.0	33.3	average	84%
Giles Meteorological Office	36.8	+3.1	40.4	26th	21.9	+1.3	16.9	13th	15.8	36.1	average	44%
Telfer Aero	37.3	-0.2	41.1	5th	25.2	+1.1	22.0	30th	45.4	72.2	average	63%
Warburton Airfield	36.5	+2.5	41.4	19th	21.6	+1.6	14.6	31st	17.4	30.3	average	57%
Offshore Islands (district 200)
Browse Island	30.4		32.4	11th	27.2		22.9	19th
Rowley Shoals	30.6		32.4	14th			5.6	30th
Note: Observations for “Perth Metro” are taken from the current site at Mount Lawley (Bureau number 009225). Comparisons are made against combined data from the current site (which opened in early 1993) and the previous site at Perth Regional Office (009034), which ran from 1876 to early 1992. From 2017 on, information about Cocos and Christmas Islands can be found in the climate summary for the Remote Islands and Antarctica

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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