Monday, 1 May 2017 - Monthly Climate Summary for Western Australia - Product code IDCKGC11R0

Western Australia in April 2017: Dry and warm in the west

Rainfall was below average to very much below average near the west coast and in the South West Land Division in April, while above average rainfall was reported in areas from the west Kimberley and east Pilbara to the Southern Interior. Mean maximum temperatures were above to very much above average in western parts of the State, while areas in the east Pilbara and adjacent Northern Interior saw below average maxima. Mean minma showed a mixed pattern across the State with large parts of WA close to average. For WA as a whole, mean maximum temperature and the mean minimum temperature averaged across the State for April were both near average.

Dry in the west; above average rainfall in the interior

• Rainfall for WA was 9% above average
• Rainfall for the South West Land Division (SWLD) was the eighth-lowest on record and the driest for 16 years; numerous sites, particularly in the west recorded little or no rainfall
• A dozen sites in the SWLD had their driest April on record
• Some sites in the Central Wheat Belt had their driest April since 1994 or 1982; some sites in the Lower West and South West had their driest April since 1982
• An upper level trough and surface troughs produced lines of thunderstorms in central WA and the SWLD from the 22nd to 24th; 155 mm on the 23rd at Mettler (South Coastal) was a new daily rainfall record for any month in 51 years of recording at the site, and the highest daily fall for the month in WA
• Newman Aerodrome recorded its wettest April on record due to thunderstorms producing moderate falls in the second half of the month

Warm in the west

• Mean maximum temperature for WA was 0.15 °C above average
• Mean maximum temperature for the SWLD was 1.65 °C above average, and the warmest April for four years
• Mean daytime temperatures were 3 °C to 4 °C above average in the southwest Gascoyne; Denham had its hottest April day on record on the 3rd and equal warmest April on record, while Carnarvon Airport recorded its second highest April temperature of 40.2 °C on the 10th and registered its warmest April for 23 years
• Mean minimum temperature for WA was 0.33 ° below average, lowest for eleven years since 2006
• Clear skies and calm conditions following a burst of cool southerly air resulted in a very cold morning in southern parts of the SWLD on the 8th with temperatures dropping to 0.5 °C (the State low for the month); Newdegate Research Station recorded its lowest temperature in April in 21 years of record

Tropical cyclone Frances and Greg

• A tropical low intensified and was named tropical cyclone Frances in the Timor Sea north of WA on the 27th. Frances remained north of WA and had little impact on Kimberley communities
• Tropical cyclone Greg formed west of Christmas Island, well off the northwest Western Australia on the 30th, and had not direct impact on the mainland

Third highest wet season rainfall in Kimberley

• Kimberley recorded area-averaged 1188 mm this west season (October 2016-April 2017), which was third-highest wet season rainfall on record for Kimberley, behind 2011 and 2000
• Two tropical cyclones TC Yvette and TC Blance had direct impact to the Kimberley during the wet season

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

---

Extremes in April 2017
Hottest day	40.2 °C at Carnarvon Airport on the 10th
Warmest days on average	36.1 °C at Mandora 36.1 °C at Wyndham Aero
Coolest days on average	20.1 °C at Albany
Coldest day	15.4 °C at Rocky Gully on the 23rd
Coldest night	0.5 °C at Jarrahwood on the 8th
Coolest nights on average	7.2 °C at Jarrahwood
Warmest nights on average	27.8 °C at Browse Island 24.5 °C at Barrow Island Airport 24.5 °C at Truscott
Warmest night	29.3 °C at Browse Island on the 27th
Warmest on average overall	30.1 °C at Troughton Island 29.6 °C at Wyndham Aero
Coolest on average overall	15.4 °C at Rocky Gully
Wettest overall	184.7 mm at Mettler
Driest overall	0 mm at Perth Metro & others
Wettest day	155.0 mm at Mettler on the 23rd
Strongest wind gust	104 km/h at Newman Aero on the 23rd

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

---

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

---

Record highest April daily rainfall
	New record (mm)		Old record		Years of record
Spring Valley	82.8	on the 24th	62.0	on the 4th in 1974	58
Mettler	155.0	on the 23rd	103.0	on the 1st in 2005	51

---

Record highest April total rainfall
	New record (mm)	Old record		Years of record	Average for April
Newman Aero	106.8	89.6	in 1997	42	22.2

Highest April total rainfall for at least 20 years
	Observed (mm)	Most recent higher		Average for April
Spring Valley	82.8	93.8	in 1966*	26.2

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

---

Record lowest April total rainfall
	New record (mm)	Old record		Years of record	Average for April
Dwellingup	0.0	0.4	in 1977	84	65.8
Cowaramup	2.3	3.0	in 1982	79	67.9
Pearce RAAF	0.0	0.4	in 1982	63	34.8
Lancelin	0.0	0.6	in 1977	50	31.1
Pinjarra Refinery	0.0	0.2	in 2009	33	43.3
Huntly	0.0	1.2	in 2001	27	59.1
Nunile	0.2	0.4	in 1994	27	24.6
Rottnest Island	0.0	3.8	in 2001	25	34.2
Swanbourne	0.4	5.6	in 2009	23	39.7
York	1.1	2.2	in 2004	21	22.4
Dalwallinu	0.0	0.4	in 2001	20	13.8
Gingin Aero	0.2	4.6	in 2004	20	28.4

Lowest April total rainfall for at least 20 years
	Observed (mm)	Most recent lower		Average for April
Perth Metro	0.0	0.0	in 1982	44.0
Perth Airport	0.0	0.0	in 1982	41.1
Warner Glen	4.2	2.6	in 1977	61.8
Bannister	0.4	0.0	in 1982	34.4
Bickley	0.4	0.0	in 1982	55.6
Margaret River	5.0	4.0	in 1982	66.7
Northam	0.1	0.0	in 1982	23.4
Cape Naturaliste	2.0	0.2	in 1982*	43.4
Culford	0.2	0.0	in 1982*	36.5
Jarrahdale	2.2	0.0	in 1982*	60.6
Chapman Hill	0.4	0.0	in 1982*	41.9
Bulyee	0.4	0.0	in 1982*	23.3
Wilgarrup	1.8	0.0	in 1991*	52.2
Badgebup	1.8	0.7	in 1994	28.1
Beverley	0.2	0.0	in 1994	23.4
Brookton	2.4	0.0	in 1994	26.0
Wundi	0.4	0.0	in 1994	22.2
Borden	6.0	3.4	in 1995	24.7
Highfields	0.8	0.0	in 1994*	22.7

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

---

Record highest April temperature
	New record (°C)		Old record		Years of record	Average for April
Denham	39.5	on the 3rd	38.8	on the 2nd in 1998	30	28.6

---

Highest April mean daily maximum temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent higher		Average for April
Carnarvon Airport	31.6	32.0	in 1994	29.1

---

Record lowest April temperature
	New record (°C)		Old record		Years of record	Average for April
Troughton Island	22.3	on the 29th	= 22.3	on the 24th in 1970	38	26.9
Newdegate Research Station	1.2	on the 8th	1.9	on the 2nd in 2014	21	10.3

---

Record lowest April mean daily minimum temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for April
Eyre	9.3	9.4	in 2015	57	11.8

Lowest April mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent lower		Average for April
Salmon Gums Res.Stn.	8.6	7.9	in 1963*	10.0

* 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

---

Summary statistics for April 2017
	Maximum temperatures (°C)				Minimum temperatures (°C)				Rainfall (millimetres)
	Mean for April 2017	Diff from average	Highest for April 2017		Mean for April 2017	Diff from average	Lowest for April 2017		Total for April 2017	Average for April	Rank of April 2017	Fraction of April average
North Kimberley (district 01)
Kalumburu	34.3	-0.6	36.8	9th	21.6	+0.6	18.0	10th	7.6	34.4	average	22%
Troughton Island	32.8	0.0	34.8	10th	27.3	+0.4	22.3	29th	11.6	30.2	average	38%
Truscott	32.9	-0.6	35.5	9th	24.5	+0.4	19.6	29th	6.0	76.8	low	8%
Wyndham Aero	36.1	-0.6	38.6	26th	23.1	-0.3	18.9	4th	5.8	26.4	average	22%
East Kimberley (district 02)
Argyle Aerodrome	34.4	-0.6	36.8	26th	23.1	+0.2	18.9	29th	1.8	25.7	average	7%
Halls Creek Airport	33.5		36.5	9th	19.7		13.7	4th	2.0
Kununurra Aero	34.7	-0.7	37.0	21st	21.9	0.0	17.5	5th	21.8	30.7	average	71%
Warmun	34.6	-0.6	37.2	22nd	21.2	+0.6	16.5	4th	1.4	25.3	average	6%
West Kimberley (district 03)
Bidyadanga	35.7	0.0	39.5	9th	22.2	+0.1	17.9	30th	30.4	25.0	high	122%
Broome Airport	34.3	0.0	38.0	9th	23.0	+0.3	18.5	6th	19.2	25.8	average	74%
Curtin Aero	34.9	-1.6	38.3	9th	23.1	+0.9	17.5	6th	41.6	40.8	average	102%
Cygnet Bay			32.7	1st	23.9	+1.5	19.0	4th	52.7	41.3	high	128%
Derby Aero	35.7	0.0	39.1	9th	23.2	+0.4	18.4	5th	21.4	24.6	average	87%
Fitzroy Crossing Aero	35.9	-0.8	39.0	9th	20.5	-0.3	13.0	12th	10.2	29.3	average	35%
De Grey (district 04)
Karratha Aero	33.4	-0.9	36.6	11th	22.4	-0.3	18.3	14th	35.0	17.6	high	199%
Mandora	36.1	0.0	40.0	9th	21.6	+0.8	13.7	13th	9.6	19.2	average	50%
Marble Bar	34.0	-2.2	37.0	9th	20.9	-1.2	16.7	6th	20.2	21.9	average	92%
Port Hedland Airport	33.5	-1.7	37.5	9th	21.7	+0.2	16.9	13th	38.4	22.1	high	174%
Roebourne Aero	34.3	-1.9	38.9	9th	21.0	-0.8	16.4	14th	15.8	9.2	average	172%
Fortescue (district 05)
Barrow Island Airport	31.3	+0.2	33.4	11th	24.5	-0.1	22.1	21st	0.6	35.5	low	2%
Learmonth Airport	34.3	+1.1	37.8	10th	20.4	0.0	16.6	17th	1.8	17.8	average	10%
Mardie	35.3	-0.6	40.1	10th	21.2	+0.1	17.5	19th	0.8	19.4	average	4%
Onslow Airport	34.2	+0.4	37.3	10th	22.1	+0.7	18.0	30th	0.2	11.6	low	2%
Wittenoom	31.7	-1.5	35.1	9th	19.9	-1.3	14.8	30th	27.4	28.1	average	98%
West Gascoyne (district 06)
Carnarvon Airport	31.6	+2.5	40.2	10th	19.6	+0.4	15.2	30th	0.8	13.3	low	6%
Denham	30.3	+1.7	39.5	3rd	19.7	-0.1	16.5	18th	0	13.9	lowest	0%
Emu Creek Station	34.8	-0.1	39.2	10th	20.1	-0.7	15.7	30th	17.5	20.8	average	84%
Murchison	32.0	+1.1	36.5	4th	16.9	+0.6	10.5	30th	46.3	21.4	high	216%
Shark Bay Airport	32.9	+2.0	39.9	10th	19.0	+0.7	14.4	19th	0	9.2	v low	0%
East Gascoyne (district 07)
Newman Aero	30.9	-0.9	34.7	8th	16.3	-1.2	11.0	30th	106.8	22.2	highest	481%
Paraburdoo Aero	33.6	+0.1	36.1	8th	18.7	-1.0	15.0	30th	10.4	25.4	average	41%
Murchison (district 07A)
Meekatharra Airport	29.8	+0.5	34.0	15th	16.8	-0.3	11.7	30th	1.6	19.0	low	8%
Mount Magnet Aero	29.8	+1.0	35.9	15th	16.2	-0.1	10.5	28th	9.4	18.8	average	50%
Paynes Find	29.8	+1.4	34.9	16th	13.4	-0.9	7.0	28th	1.6	25.6	low	6%
North Coast (district 08)
Dalwallinu	27.9	+0.9	33.3	11th	12.7	-0.6	8.1	8th	0	13.8	lowest	0%
Geraldton Airport	29.7		37.1	2nd	14.1		8.2	30th	0.2
Kalbarri	31.4	+2.0	38.7	2nd	17.1	+0.8	11.9	29th	0	19.7	lowest	0%
Morawa Airport	30.0	+1.2	35.5	3rd	13.5	-1.0	8.5	28th	15.0	18.6	average	81%
Mullewa	30.9	+2.2	36.0	3rd	16.2	+1.1	11.7	30th	0	21.5	lowest	0%
North Island	26.6	+0.3	30.8	2nd	20.9	+0.5	19.2	19th	3.0	17.5	low	17%
Wongan Hills	27.7	+1.3	33.2	5th	12.7	-0.7	8.0	8th	20.8	22.6	average	92%
Central Coast (district 09)
Badgingarra Research Stn	28.1	+1.0	33.9	3rd	13.7	+0.1	10.4	8th	1.0	27.5	v low	4%
Bickley	24.8	+1.3	29.7	3rd	12.2	-0.5	6.8	8th	0.4	55.6	v low	1%
Garden Island HSF	23.1	-0.8	30.0	2nd	15.2	-0.9	11.9	8th	0	38.4	v low	0%
Gingin Aero	28.0	+1.4	32.8	3rd	10.1	-2.1	3.7	8th	0.2	28.4	lowest	1%
Gosnells City	27.8	+1.4	32.8	3rd			8.9	30th	0	43.2	lowest	0%
Jandakot Aero	26.8	+1.1	32.0	3rd	11.7	-0.8	4.3	8th	1.0	41.8	v low	2%
Jurien Bay	26.7	+0.3	34.7	2nd	12.2	-1.8	7.2	9th	1.1	30.1	v low	4%
Lancelin	25.4	-0.1	33.0	1st	12.6	-2.0	9.0	29th	0	31.1	lowest	0%
Pearce RAAF	28.3	+1.9	33.1	3rd	11.2	-2.2	5.0	30th	0	34.8	lowest	0%
Perth Airport	27.5	+1.9	32.6	3rd	12.1	-0.9	6.2	30th	0	40.5	lowest	0%
Perth Metro	27.0	+1.1	31.8	3rd	12.9	-0.9	8.3	26th	0	44.0	lowest	0%
Rottnest Island	23.3	-0.5	30.0	2nd	16.8	-0.5	13.0	8th	0	34.2	lowest	0%
Swanbourne	24.9	-0.5	31.5	2nd	14.5	-0.8	10.4	8th	0.4	39.7	lowest	1%
South Coast (district 09A)
Albany	20.1	-0.8	27.4	2nd	14.3	+1.5	10.8	13th	51.3	68.8	average	75%
Albany Airport	21.3		29.3	11th	10.6		5.4	13th	31.2
Bridgetown	23.6	+0.2	29.6	2nd	8.3	-1.1	1.1	8th	2.2	49.1	v low	4%
Bunbury			29.4	2nd	10.5	-1.3	3.5	8th	0	37.4	lowest	0%
Busselton Aero	24.2	+0.2	28.3	1st	9.9	-1.2	3.7	25th	0.4	34.0	low	1%
Cape Leeuwin	21.0	-0.3	29.3	2nd	15.8	+0.3	12.8	9th	6.8	59.1	v low	12%
Cape Naturaliste	23.6	+1.7	28.0	3rd	13.4	-0.5	9.4	13th	2.0	43.4	v low	5%
Collie East	25.0	+1.3	29.6	2nd	7.5	-1.5	0.8	8th	0	43.9	v low	0%
Dwellingup	24.8	+2.3	29.0	3rd	9.7	-0.6	4.6	8th	0	65.8	lowest	0%
Esperance	23.0	-0.2	31.0	6th	13.1	-0.2	9.5	10th	8.6	44.7	v low	19%
Esperance Aero	24.0	+0.5	30.9	6th	11.5	-1.2	6.0	8th	10.4	39.6	low	26%
Hopetoun North	22.6	-0.6	30.8	11th	12.4	-0.1	7.0	10th	10.2	37.1	low	27%
Jarrahwood	24.7	+0.9	29.7	2nd	7.2	-1.5	0.5	8th	1.8	48.3	v low	4%
Mandurah	24.8	+0.7	29.3	2nd	14.9	-0.9	11.3	8th	0	40.2	v low	0%
Manjimup	21.9	+0.8	28.6	2nd	10.4	-0.4	5.0	8th	5.0	59.5	v low	8%
North Walpole	20.8	-0.7	28.6	2nd	12.0	-0.8	9.1	8th	28.0	87.0	v low	32%
Rocky Gully	21.0	-1.0	28.3	11th	9.8	-1.2	4.6	8th	11.8	52.7	low	22%
Shannon	20.7	-0.8	27.2	2nd	10.2	-0.7	5.1	25th	7.6	66.3	v low	11%
Witchcliffe	22.3	-0.3	28.4	2nd	10.2	-1.0	5.7	25th	7.2	63.9	v low	11%
North Central (district 10)
Bencubbin	27.0	+1.2	31.4	11th	12.5	-0.3	7.2	28th	3.8	22.6	low	17%
Cunderdin Airfield	27.2	+0.7	33.0	5th	10.7	-1.5	5.0	26th	1.2	24.7	v low	5%
Merredin	27.3	+1.8	32.0	5th	13.1	+0.3	6.8	30th	4.8	23.0	low	21%
Northam	27.4	+1.3	32.7	5th	11.2	-0.8	5.9	28th	0.1	23.4	v low	0%
York	27.5	+1.2	32.2	5th	9.0	-2.0	3.0	8th	1.1	22.4	lowest	5%
South Central (district 10A)
Beverley	27.3	+1.2	32.2	5th	10.2	-1.1	4.4	8th	0.2	23.4	v low	1%
Brookton	26.2	+1.3	31.5	20th	10.9	-0.3	5.6	30th	2.4	26.0	v low	9%
Corrigin	26.1	+1.9	31.3	5th	10.7	-0.5	5.1	30th
Hyden	26.9	+1.3	32.5	5th	10.8	-0.3	3.4	8th	10.6	23.5	average	45%
Jacup	23.2	+0.3	29.8	11th	9.9	-0.9	3.8	8th	19.8	42.5	low	47%
Katanning	23.2	-0.1	28.9	11th	10.0	-1.1	5.0	8th	22.2	30.4	average	73%
Lake Grace	24.5	+0.3	30.5	5th	11.0	-1.0	3.9	8th	2.8	25.3	low	11%
Narembeen	27.3	+1.5	32.5	5th	11.5	-0.5	5.6	30th	19.1	23.2	average	82%
Narrogin	24.4	+1.4	29.5	5th	10.1	-0.4	3.6	8th	2.0	29.4	v low	7%
Newdegate Research Station	25.2	+1.0	31.0	5th	8.5	-1.8	1.2	8th	1.6	26.6	low	6%
Ongerup	23.1	+0.4	29.1	11th	10.7	-0.5	4.4	8th	16.2	26.1	average	62%
Pingelly			30.8	5th	11.5	-0.3	5.0	8th	3.6	27.1	low	13%
Ravensthorpe	24.0	+0.3	31.0	5th	11.7	-0.1	5.5	8th	9.0	32.8	low	27%
Wagin	24.0	+0.3	28.7	11th	11.1	+0.3	4.6	8th	5.4	28.7	low	19%
Wandering	25.1	+0.6	30.5	5th	7.8	-1.8	1.1	8th	3.2	30.6	v low	10%
Eucla (district 11)
Balladonia	24.3	-0.7	31.4	12th	9.6	-1.3	5.1	27th	4.5	19.7	low	23%
Eucla	23.8	+0.2	30.6	16th	13.6	+0.2	9.4	30th	15.8	26.7	average	59%
Eyre	24.2	0.0	31.6	15th	9.3	-2.5	1.0	27th	16.5	24.8	average	67%
Forrest	25.8	-0.4	32.6	16th	11.0	-1.0	4.9	27th	9.0	17.8	average	51%
Red Rocks Point	22.5	-1.3	27.9	12th	13.7	-0.6	9.0	25th	18.8	25.8	average	73%
South East (district 12)
Bulga Downs	27.7	-0.9	33.4	16th	12.9	-1.4	7.0	30th	11.2	20.8	average	54%
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport	25.4	+0.2	31.4	12th	12.2	-0.5	6.7	30th	4.0	20.4	low	20%
Laverton Aero	26.0	-0.7	32.8	16th	13.7	-1.2	8.7	30th	17.6	20.0	average	88%
Leinster Aero	26.8	-0.9	33.4	16th	13.9	-1.5	8.0	30th	16.0	25.4	average	63%
Leonora Aero	26.2	-1.7	32.8	16th	14.0	-1.3	8.1	30th	13.4	17.0	average	79%
Munglinup West	24.6	+0.3	31.7	5th	11.4	-0.8	5.2	8th	41.0	34.1	high	120%
Norseman Aero	25.3	+0.1	31.5	6th	9.8	-1.2	2.5	8th	6.4	24.3	low	26%
Salmon Gums Res.Stn.	24.6	+0.8	31.5	6th	8.6	-1.4	1.9	29th	9.6	26.9	low	36%
Southern Cross Airfield	26.7	+0.5	32.8	6th	11.2	-0.5	3.2	30th	2.6	23.4	low	11%
North East (district 13)
Carnegie	29.0	-1.1	34.2	7th	14.8	-1.4	9.0	30th	47.4	22.9	high	207%
Giles Meteorological Office	28.0	-1.4	35.7	8th	14.1	-2.3	9.2	29th	87.4	18.1	v high	483%
Telfer Aero	32.8	-1.8	37.4	8th	20.0	-0.6	14.7	13th	19.0	19.2	high	99%
Warburton Airfield	28.1	-1.3	33.9	8th	14.3	-1.0	7.2	30th	42.6	18.8	high	227%
Wiluna	28.4	-0.8	35.0	15th	14.7	-0.4	9.5	30th	22.5	28.9	average	78%
Offshore Islands (district 200)
Browse Island	31.0		32.5	22nd	27.8		23.4	30th
Rowley Shoals	29.9		30.9	9th			26.2	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

---

---