Wednesday, 1 February 2023 - Monthly Climate Summary for Western Australia - Product code IDCKGC11R0

Western Australia in January 2023: very wet in the Kimberley

Rainfall totals in January were very much above average for most of the Kimberley and the adjacent Northern Interior, and above average in the west Pilbara and eastern Gascoyne. Rainfall was below average in the central and southwest coasts of the state. Daytime temperatures were cooler than average in northeastern WA, and along the south coast, while the western parts of the state observed above average maximum temperatures.

Wet in the north, dry in the central and southwest

• Rainfall in January 2023 was 57% above the 1961–1990 average for Western Australia, and it was the wettest January since 2018.
• A slow-moving ex–Tropical Cyclone Ellie brought significant rainfall across the south and west Kimberley for many days (29 December 2022–6 January 2023)
• Multiple sites in the Kimberley recorded 10-day (to 6 January) rainfall totals in excess of 300 mm to 600 mm, their highest 10-day totals for any month on record; a total of 838.8 mm at Dimond Gorge (northeast of Fitzroy Crossing in the Fitzroy River Catchment) was almost equivalent to its average annual rainfall. The high rainfall totals caused major flooding and significant damage to roads and properties in the Fitzroy River Catchment areas, and Roebuck Plain in and around Broome.
• January rainfall totals were very much above average for most of the Kimberley and the adjacent Northern Interior; a number of sites had their wettest January on record or wettest January for at least 20 years.
• Fitzroy Crossing Aero recorded a monthly total of 437.4 mm, the highest January on record at the current site (since 1998), and the third-wettest January (or any month) in 132 years of combined rainfall record at Fitzroy Crossing, behind 461.1 mm (January 1986) and 443.2 mm (January 1991).
• Broome Airport recorded 757.2 mm in January, which was its fifth-wettest month in 83 years of record, and the wettest month was January 2018 with 945.4 mm.
• The area-averaged January rainfall was about 360 mm for the Kimberley district as a whole, the seventh-wettest January on record.

Below average daytime temperatures in the Kimberley

• The mean maximum temperature was 0.35 °C below the 1961–1990 average for Western Australia as a whole, the state's coolest January since 2017.
• Daytime temperatures were very much below average in the southern Kimberley region and adjacent Northern Interior; Fitzroy Crossing Aero recorded the coolest January in 25 years of record, which was 3 degrees cooler than its average.
• The mean minimum temperature was 0.34 °C below the 1961–1990 average for Western Australia as a whole, the state's coolest January since 2002.
• Sites in the southern Kimberley and eastern interiors, Great Southern and South East Coastal districts observed cooler overnight temperatures; Jacup recorded a mean minimum temperature of 11.9 °C, the lowest of the month in the state and its lowest January mean maximum temperature since 2002

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie brought significant rainfall and flooding in the Kimberley

• Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie was an exceptionally long lived tropical low, spending more than 2 weeks (23 December 2022- 9 January 2023) tracking between the Northern Territory and the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
• Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie moved into the southern inland Kimberley on 29 December 2022, and as a near stationary system produced heavy rain over the next few days.
• The Fitzroy River at Fitzroy Crossing peaked at 15.81m on 4 January 2023, its record high river level, causing significant damage to the Great Northern Highway bridge and isolating the town and many other nearby communities, resulting in the evacuation of more than 200 hundreds people in the Fitzroy Valley.
• Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie moved to the west Kimberley on 3 January, then stalled inland from Broome for a few days before moving south-east away from the Kimberley and dissipating in the southwest Northern Territory on 9 January 2023.
• Heavy rain in and around Broome caused flooding of the Roebuck Plain and the town was cut-off by road.

 

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Extremes in January 2023
Hottest day	49.3 °C at Onslow Airport on the 14th
Warmest days on average	41.3 °C at Emu Creek Station
Coolest days on average	22.8 °C at Albany
Coldest day	19.1 °C at North Walpole on the 17th
Coldest night	3.5 °C at Eyre on the 24th
Coolest nights on average	11.9 °C at Jacup
Warmest nights on average	27.2 °C at Troughton Island
Warmest night	33.7 °C at Karijini North on the 14th
Warmest on average overall	33.4 °C at Paraburdoo Aero
Coolest on average overall	18.9 °C at Hopetoun North
Wettest overall	757.2 mm at Broome Airport 757.2 mm at Curtin Aero
Wettest day	282.0 mm at Country Downs on the 4th
Strongest wind gust	104 km/h at Troughton Island on the 2nd

Extremes 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 January daily rainfall
	New record (mm)		Old record		Years of record
Mount Winifred	132.2	on the 2nd	94.8	on the 18th in 2014	22
Old Mornington Homestead	207.6	on the 2nd	147.4	on the 30th in 2021	20

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Record highest January total rainfall
	New record (mm)	Old record		Years of record	Average for January
Fossil Downs	548.5	501.5	in 1986	111	165.0
Udialla	621.4	584.3	in 1978	65	219.7
Mount Hart Station	695.3	672.4	in 1997	54	293.5
Camballin	547.4	525.1	in 1978	48	196.0
Cherrabun	442.7	428.2	in 1991	48	150.7
Curtin Aero	757.2	518.0	in 2018	29	249.8
Fitzroy Crossing Aero	437.4	401.0	in 2022	26	195.5
Mount Krauss	494.4	350.2	in 2022	22	186.1
Mount Winifred	569.2	348.2	in 2022	22	179.9

Highest January total rainfall for at least 20 years
	Observed (mm)	Most recent higher		Average for January
Bamboo Creek	333.5	421.4	in 1942*	87.3
Mount Barnett	547.2	592.6	in 1915*	235.2
Napier Downs	681.7	858.1	in 1964*	239.6
Port Smith	650.3	667.3	in 1974*	188.8
Jubilee Downs	395.6	631.2	in 1986*	156.3
Sturt Creek	314.4	485.1	in 1991	112.1
Debesa	512.8	603.2	in 1997*	261.1

* 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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Record highest January temperature
	New record (°C)		Old record		Years of record	Average for January
North Island	38.5	on the 5th	37.5	on the 26th in 2017	23	27.7

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Record lowest January mean daily maximum temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for January
Fitzroy Crossing Aero	34.3	34.6	in 2017	25	37.6

Lowest January mean daily maximum temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent lower		Average for January
Derby Aero	32.4	31.7	in 1974*	35.2
Curtin Aero	33.6	33.0	in 1997	36.3

* 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 January temperature
	New record (°C)		Old record		Years of record	Average for January
Windy Harbour	6.5	on the 17th	= 6.5	on the 11th in 2002	33	14.3

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Record lowest January mean daily minimum temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for January
Munglinup West	13.0	13.4	in 2005	20	14.4

Lowest January mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years
	Observed (°C)	Most recent lower		Average for January
Jacup	11.9	11.8	in 2002	13.1

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Record lowest January mean temperature
	New record (°C)	Old record		Years of record	Average for January
Fitzroy Crossing Aero	29.4	29.5	in 2000	25	31.4

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Summary statistics for January 2023
	Maximum temperatures (°C)				Minimum temperatures (°C)				Rainfall (millimetres)
	Mean for January 2023	Diff from average	Highest for January 2023		Mean for January 2023	Diff from average	Lowest for January 2023		Total for January 2023	Average for January	Rank of January 2023	Fraction of January average
North Kimberley (district 01)
Doongan	31.9	-1.3	35.2	23rd	24.6	+1.7	23.3	6th	111.3	303.1	v low	37%
Kalumburu	33.7	-0.4	37.8	21st	25.2	+0.5	23.5	8th	261.6	342.8	average	76%
Troughton Island	31.7	-0.1	32.9	17th	27.2	+0.8	23.4	25th	70.0	270.1	low	26%
Truscott	31.7	-0.5	35.1	23rd	25.8	+0.4	23.0	25th	300.8	338.8	average	89%
Wyndham Aero	35.3	-1.1	38.6	12th	25.9	-0.3	23.1	15th	221.0	201.7	average	110%
East Kimberley (district 02)
Argyle Aerodrome	34.8	-1.7	38.5	9th	25.1	-0.7	23.1	30th	179.4	162.8	average	110%
Halls Creek Airport	33.4		37.9	24th	23.0		19.9	8th	199.2
Kununurra Aero	34.6	-1.2	37.8	12th	24.8	-0.3	22.6	23rd	263.0	213.5	high	123%
West Kimberley (district 03)
Broome Airport	31.8	-1.5	35.4	24th	25.9	-0.4	23.2	17th	757.2	200.9	v high	377%
Curtin Aero	33.6	-2.7	38.8	25th	24.1	-0.9	21.8	23rd	757.2	249.8	highest	303%
Cygnet Bay	31.9	-1.7	35.5	25th	25.2	-0.4	21.2	5th	463.6	245.8	high	189%
Derby Aero	32.4	-2.8	35.9	25th	25.3	-0.4	22.3	15th	497.0	211.2	v high	235%
Fitzroy Crossing Aero	34.3	-3.3	37.7	13th	24.4	-0.8	22.3	15th	437.4	195.5	highest	224%
Yampi Sound (Defence)	33.1		37.7	25th	24.8		22.3	22nd	464.0
De Grey (district 04)
Bedout Island	32.2	-1.3	35.9	26th	26.6	-0.8	23.4	18th
Karratha Aero	36.1	0.0	43.7	1st	26.9	0.0	23.3	9th	3.6	45.7	low	8%
Mandora	34.3	-1.7	40.3	25th	25.3	-0.2	22.5	24th	199.0	89.3	v high	223%
Marble Bar	39.8	-1.0	46.1	13th	25.9	-0.6	21.9	24th	143.6	110.5	average	130%
Pardoo Station			43.5	5th	26.2	+0.6	23.0	19th	41.1	68.8	average	60%
Port Hedland Airport	35.9	-0.5	44.1	5th	26.2	+0.5	23.9	30th	78.6	62.3	high	126%
Roebourne Aero	38.9	0.0	47.1	1st	26.1	-0.3	21.6	9th	11.0	62.1	average	18%
Fortescue (district 05)
Barrow Island Airport	32.4	-1.0	38.1	14th	25.4	-0.6	22.2	10th	13.6	21.5	average	63%
Karijini North	39.7		45.4	13th	25.4		21.5	24th	103.6
Learmonth Airport	37.9	-0.1	46.3	14th	22.9	-0.2	20.0	10th	3.2	28.7	average	11%
Mardie	36.1	-1.8	42.7	1st	25.5	+0.3	21.6	9th	10.2	37.4	average	27%
Onslow Airport	36.8	+0.3	49.3	14th	25.0	+0.5	22.2	2nd	8.8	36.0	average	24%
Thevenard Island	32.9	-0.5	36.5	16th	25.7	+0.2	22.1	10th	44.0	27.1	high	162%
West Gascoyne (district 06)
Carnarvon Airport	31.0	-0.4	38.1	3rd	22.8	+0.2	19.8	11th	0	11.1	lowest	0%
Emu Creek Station	41.3	+0.1	47.0	14th	24.2	-0.3	21.0	1st	99.6	46.4	high	215%
Shark Bay Airport	33.7	-0.4	44.7	3rd	21.2	-0.4	18.1	17th	0.2	7.0	average	3%
East Gascoyne (district 07)
Newman Aero	38.7	-0.4	43.4	13th	25.8	+0.7	21.6	6th	45.8	67.7	average	68%
Paraburdoo Aero	40.7	-0.1	45.6	14th	26.1	0.0	21.2	20th	94.4	58.6	high	161%
Murchison (district 07A)
Meekatharra Airport	39.4	+1.0	43.1	13th	25.3	+0.9	21.3	20th	7.4	29.2	average	25%
Mount Magnet Aero	38.8	+0.7	43.6	9th	23.8	+0.3	18.1	11th	42.4	25.0	high	170%
Paynes Find	38.1	+0.7	43.2	9th	21.5	+0.4	15.9	12th	19.8	20.6	average	96%
North Coast (district 08)
Dalwallinu	35.8	+0.5	41.7	9th	17.6	-0.5	13.3	7th	13.6	21.2	average	64%
Geraldton Airport	33.0	0.0	43.6	5th	18.8	-0.4	13.7	17th	0	7.9	v low	0%
Kalbarri	33.1	-0.2	45.2	4th	19.7	0.0	13.5	11th	0	5.0	lowest	0%
Morawa Airport	38.1	+0.7	44.0	9th	19.6	-0.2	13.9	12th	8.4	20.0	average	42%
Mullewa	38.1	+1.2	42.5	9th	19.7	+0.2	13.6	17th	10.6	13.4	average	79%
North Island	27.7	0.0	38.5	5th	21.1	-0.3	19.1	17th	0.4	2.4	average	17%
Wongan Hills	35.4	+0.7	41.7	9th	17.3	-0.5	12.5	17th	17.6	15.0	high	117%
Central Coast (district 09)
Badgingarra Research Stn	35.1	+0.5	40.9	9th	17.5	+0.4	12.1	7th	16.8	10.7	high	157%
Bickley	31.5	+0.9	37.5	21st	15.1	-0.3	10.3	7th	0.2	19.5	low	1%
Garden Island HSF	27.9	+0.5	37.5	5th	18.5	-0.5	14.1	17th	0.2	12.9	low	2%
Gingin Aero	33.9	+0.7	41.0	21st	17.1	+0.7	11.5	12th	0	14.5	lowest	0%
Jandakot Aero	32.6	+1.1	39.6	21st	17.7	+0.8	11.0	7th	0	15.1	lowest	0%
Jurien Bay	31.2	+1.1	40.6	6th	17.6	+0.4	13.7	12th	0	7.7	lowest	0%
Millendon (Swan Valley)	34.0		40.1	21st	17.9		13.2	7th	0
Pearce RAAF	34.8	+1.2	41.3	21st	18.2	+1.2	12.0	7th	0	10.0	lowest	0%
Perth Airport	33.7	+1.9	40.7	21st	18.0	+0.9	12.7	7th	0	10.5	lowest	0%
Perth Metro	32.4	+1.1	39.5	21st	18.1	0.0	13.7	7th	0.4	17.2	average	2%
Rottnest Island	26.9	+0.3	35.9	21st	18.9	-0.2	14.7	17th	0	14.5	lowest	0%
Swanbourne	30.2	+0.4	38.1	5th	18.6	+0.3	13.5	17th	0.2	17.5	low	1%
South Coast (district 09A)
Albany	22.8	0.0	30.6	10th	16.5	+1.2	13.3	26th	6.9	23.6	low	29%
Albany Airport	25.1	-0.4	38.9	10th	13.5	-0.8	8.1	28th	3.6	21.1	low	17%
Bridgetown	30.0	0.0	37.8	23rd	12.4	-0.7	4.1	17th	10.2	14.8	average	69%
Bunbury	30.9	+1.0	37.8	30th	16.2	+0.8	10.1	17th	0.6	10.4	average	6%
Busselton Aero	31.0	+0.8	37.6	23rd	14.2	0.0	8.3	17th	0	13.0	lowest	0%
Cape Leeuwin	23.5	+0.4	26.7	22nd	17.4	+0.4	14.4	28th	0.6	16.3	v low	4%
Cape Naturaliste	28.1	+2.6	35.2	30th	15.4	+0.2	10.8	17th	1.2	10.7	low	11%
Collie East	31.8	+0.9	38.7	23rd	13.5	+0.1	5.7	17th	0.2	17.1	low	1%
Dwellingup	32.1	+2.3	38.0	21st	14.7	+0.4	9.8	17th	0.8	16.1	low	5%
Esperance	24.5	-1.6	33.7	6th	15.4	-0.3	11.7	19th	12.0	25.1	average	48%
Esperance Aero	26.9	-1.0	40.2	24th	14.1	-0.8	9.8	18th	14.0	26.0	average	54%
Hopetoun North	23.5	-1.7	35.1	6th	14.6	-0.7	9.1	15th	1.4	31.3	low	4%
Jarrahwood	32.4	+2.6	39.2	23rd	13.6	+0.9	4.5	17th	0	15.8	lowest	0%
Mandurah	30.5	+1.0	37.0	9th	18.8	-0.1	13.3	17th	0	15.2	lowest	0%
Manjimup	28.7	+1.4	36.4	21st	12.9	-0.2	8.8	17th	5.4	19.6	low	28%
North Walpole	24.0	-0.4	31.4	22nd	14.0	-0.4	10.0	15th	9.6	26.6	low	36%
Rocky Gully	27.0	-0.5	36.7	10th	12.3	-0.4	7.8	18th	19.8	18.9	high	105%
Shannon	26.3	-0.3	34.3	21st	12.6	-0.2	7.2	28th	3.8	16.8	low	23%
Windy Harbour	22.9	-0.4	29.0	5th			6.5	17th	3.1	16.8	v low	18%
Witchcliffe West	26.6		35.1	21st	13.9		8.0	28th	0.8
North Central (district 10)
Bencubbin	35.2	+0.6	41.5	24th			12.0	13th	11.9	16.8	average	71%
Cunderdin Airfield	35.4	+0.5	41.3	24th	16.6	-0.6	12.1	17th	1.2	21.5	average	6%
Merredin	34.7	+0.7	43.0	24th	18.1	+0.2	12.6	17th	2.0	14.4	average	14%
Northam	35.2	+1.0	41.1	23rd	17.0	-0.2	12.6	7th	0.1	11.7	low	1%
York	35.4	+1.1	41.0	22nd	16.3	-0.1	11.7	17th	5.4	27.3	average	20%
South Central (district 10A)
Beverley	35.9	+1.5	41.6	23rd	15.9	-0.4	10.6	17th	0.8	12.7	average	6%
Brookton	34.4	+1.4	40.5	10th	14.9	-0.6	9.1	17th	1.0	13.0	average	8%
Hyden	34.2	+0.4	42.5	24th	15.0	-0.6	10.0	17th	2.2	19.3	average	11%
Jacup	27.4	-0.5	36.4	6th	11.9	-1.2	6.4	28th	6.0	27.9	average	22%
Katanning	30.1	0.0	37.7	10th	12.5	-1.1	7.4	17th	4.4	19.1	average	23%
Lake Grace	31.4	+0.2	39.8	10th	14.2	-1.1	9.4	17th	5.6	30.3	average	18%
Narrogin	31.8	+0.8	38.6	10th	14.2	0.0	8.9	17th	1.8	12.8	average	14%
Newdegate Research Station	31.5	+0.2	39.7	24th	12.0	-1.7	6.7	8th	1.4	18.2	average	8%
Ravensthorpe	27.6	-1.3	37.5	24th	13.4	-0.8	9.0	8th	5.4	24.0	low	23%
Wandering	33.0	+0.8	39.9	10th	13.8	-0.4	7.0	17th	7.0	14.3	average	49%
Eucla (district 11)
Eucla	25.3	-0.6	37.1	16th	16.0	-0.7	10.8	30th	13.0	15.7	average	83%
Eyre	25.9	-0.8	36.5	25th	14.6	-0.7	3.5	24th	4.8	17.4	average	28%
Forrest	31.9	-1.1	44.3	13th	15.3	-1.2	10.6	24th	13.0	23.4	average	56%
Red Rocks Point	23.4	-2.0	27.5	16th	17.0	-1.3	11.0	30th	6.8	23.2	low	29%
South East (district 12)
Bulga Downs	38.0	+0.1	43.9	13th	21.9	-0.5	18.2	6th	26.0	29.9	average	87%
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport	33.4	-0.3	41.4	13th	17.6	-0.7	13.0	18th	3.2	26.6	low	12%
Laverton Aero	36.0	+0.4	42.7	13th	20.8	-0.8	15.1	15th	0.6	45.0	v low	1%
Leinster Aero	37.7	+0.4	42.9	13th	22.8	-0.4	19.0	15th	11.8	36.9	average	32%
Leonora Aero	36.3	-0.6	43.3	13th	21.9	-0.9	16.6	15th	3.8	39.9	low	10%
Munglinup West	28.2	-0.8	39.3	24th	13.0	-1.4	8.2	17th	2.8	34.6	v low	8%
Norseman Aero	31.9	-0.7	40.4	13th	14.7	-1.1	9.1	17th	17.8	32.1	average	55%
Salmon Gums Res.Stn.	30.4	-0.3	39.3	24th	12.5	-1.4	3.7	18th	10.4	25.6	average	41%
Southern Cross Airfield	34.5	-0.3	42.6	24th	17.5	-0.4	13.0	18th	12.8	27.3	average	47%
North East (district 13)
Carnegie			41.5	1st	24.0	+0.1	20.1	31st	2.6	38.3	low	7%
Giles Meteorological Office	35.2	-2.1	40.8	2nd	22.3	-1.3	18.3	21st	24.2	33.9	average	71%
Telfer Aero	38.4	-1.9	44.8	13th	25.5	-0.6	21.9	9th	102.8	62.8	high	164%
Warburton Airfield	37.2	-0.6	43.3	13th	22.8	-0.3	18.9	30th	18.2	31.3	average	58%
Wiluna Aero	39.1		43.4	13th	24.9		20.8	7th	1.4
Offshore Islands (district 200)
Adele Island	30.3		31.8	30th	26.3		23.5	15th
Rowley Shoals	29.1		31.9	21st	27.1		25.2	4th
Varanus Island	31.6	-0.4	36.5	14th	25.7	-0.5	23.7	10th	2.6	28.1	average	9%

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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