Monday, 1 December 2008 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Canberra area - Product code IDCKGC2xx0
Canberra area in spring 2008
A warm, dry and sunny spring for Canberra
Summary
- Plentiful sunshine
- Slightly below average rainfall
- Above average maximum and minimum temperatures
An archive of previous seasonal summaries for Canberra area is also available, as are summaries for other states and many other climate summaries and diagnostics.
Jump to: Extremes Maps Records Summaries Notes the top
Rainfall
The total spring rainfall of 159.4 mm at Canberra Airport was slightly below the historical spring average1 of 178.6 mm. This is the 3rd consecutive spring with below average rainfall for Canberra Airport, however, it marks the highest spring rainfall total since 2005 (245.0 mm).
Much of Canberra Airport's spring rainfall fell in November (85.0 mm), with September and October recording below average rainfall (40.8 mm and 33.6 mm respectively).
See a map of total rainfall. See a map of rainfall deciles.
![total rainfall](javascript:ShowMap("http://www.bom.gov.au/web03/ncc/www/awap/rainfall/totals/3month/colour/history/ns/2008090120081130.gif")){kind=link}
![rainfall deciles](javascript:ShowMap("http://www.bom.gov.au/web03/ncc/www/awap/rainfall/decile/3month/colour/history/ns/2008090120081130.gif")){kind=link}
Temperature
The average1 maximum temperature for spring at Canberra Airport was 21.5°C, which is above the historical average of 19.4°C. This is the 5th consecutive spring with above average maximum temperatures at Canberra Airport, but is slightly cooler than spring 2007 (21.8 degs). The warm spring temperature was a result of higher than average maximum temperatures recorded in all spring months, particularly October, where temperatures were 3 - 4 degrees above average.
The average minimum temperature for spring at Canberra Airport was 7.2°C, which is above the historical average of 6.0°C,. This resulted from the higher than average minimums recorded during each month of spring, particularly October and November, which recorded minimum temperatures 1 - 2 degrees above average. Spring 2008 marks the 14th consecutive spring with above average minimum temperature at Canberra Airport.
See a map of mean maximum temperatures. See a map of maximum temperature anomalies.
![mean maximum temperatures](javascript:ShowMap("http://www.bom.gov.au/web03/ncc/www/awap/temperature/maxave/3month/colour/history/ns/2008090120081130.gif")){kind=link}
![maximum temperature anomalies](javascript:ShowMap("http://www.bom.gov.au/web03/ncc/www/awap/temperature/maxanom/3month/colour/history/ns/2008090120081130.gif")){kind=link}
See a map of mean minimum temperatures. See a map of minimum temperature anomalies.
![mean minimum temperatures](javascript:ShowMap("http://www.bom.gov.au/web03/ncc/www/awap/temperature/minave/3month/colour/history/ns/2008090120081130.gif")){kind=link}
![minimum temperature anomalies](javascript:ShowMap("http://www.bom.gov.au/web03/ncc/www/awap/temperature/minanom/3month/colour/history/ns/2008090120081130.gif")){kind=link}
Wind
The prevailing spring winds at Canberra Airport were close to the long term averages. During the mornings (9am) the prevailing wind was from the NW for 20% of the time, compared to the expected 22%. During the afternoons (3pm) the prevailing wind direction was from the NW quadrant, accounting for 64% of the observations (from W through to N), which is close to what is expected for this season.
The number of days with strong winds observed during spring was 13, slightly higher than the historical spring average of 11. October was the windiest month, recording 5 strong wind days, followed by 4 days in September and 4 in November.
Other phenomena
There were 8thunderstorms (average 8) and 1 hail day (average 3) reported at Canberra Airport during spring. Bright sunshine average 9.0 hours per day, which is higher than the historical average of 8.4 hours per day. October was the sunniest month of the season, recording an average of 9.9 hours of sunshine per day.
Further information
NSW Climate Services CentreNSW Regional Office
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (02) 9296 1555
Email reqnsw@bom.gov.au
Extremes
| Hottest day Highest temperature | 32.9°C at Canberra Airport on 14 Nov |
|---|---|
| Warmest days on average Highest mean daily maximum temperature |
21.5°C at Canberra Airport 21.5°C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 12.2°C at Mount Ginini AWS |
| Coolest days on average Lowest mean daily maximum temperature |
12.2°C at Mount Ginini AWS 21.5°C at Canberra Airport 21.5°C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS |
| Coldest day Lowest daily maximum temperature | −1.0°C at Mount Ginini AWS on 22 Nov |
| Coldest night Lowest temperature |
−5.0°C at Mount Ginini AWS on 16 Sep |
| Coolest nights on average Lowest mean daily minimum temperature |
2.7°C at Mount Ginini AWS 6.8°C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 7.2°C at Canberra Airport |
| Warmest nights on average Highest mean daily minimum temperature | 7.2°C at Canberra Airport |
| Warmest night Highest daily minimum temperature | 16.8°C at Canberra Airport on 3 Oct |
| Wettest overall Highest total rainfall | 267.8 mm at Mount Ginini AWS 261.4 mm at Canberra (Corin Dam (Boat Ramp)) |
| Wettest day Highest daily rainfall | 55.0 mm at Mount Ginini AWS on 23 Sep
47.8 mm at Canberra (Corin Dam (Boat Ramp)) on 23 Sep |
| Highest wind gust | 98 km/h at Canberra Airport on 15 Sep |
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Records
Nil recordedJump to: Extremes Maps Records Summaries Notes the top
Summaries
This table is very wide and may not fit if printed.
| Summary statistics for spring 2008 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum temperatures for spring (°C) |
Minimum temperatures for spring (°C) |
Rainfall for spring (millimetres) |
||||||||||
| Mean for spring 2008 |
Diff from average |
Highest for spring 2008 |
Mean for spring 2008 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for spring 2008 |
Total for spring 2008 |
Average for spring |
Rank of spring 2008 |
Fraction of spring average |
|||
| Southern Tablelands (Goulburn-Monaro) (district 70) | ||||||||||||
| Canberra Airport | 21.5 | +2.2 | 32.9 | 14 Nov | 7.2 | +1.2 | −3.7 | 9 Sep | 159.4 | 179.0 | average | 89% |
| Mount Ginini AWS | 12.2 | 22.0 | 14 Nov | 2.7 | −5.0 | 16 Sep | 267.8 | |||||
| Tuggeranong | 21.5 | +0.8 | 32.3 | 14 Nov | 6.8 | +0.3 | −4.4 | 11 Sep | 134.8 | 176.8 | low | 76% |
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Notes
This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Monday 1 December 2008. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.
1Averages: historical average temperatures and rainfall are based on all available records.
Normals 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 20 years of record, as they cannot then be calculated reliably.
The Rank indicates how rainfall this time compares with the climate record for the site, based on the decile ranking (very low rainfall is in decile 1, low in decile 2 or 3, normal in decile 4 to 7, high in decile 8 or 9 and very high is in decile 10).
The Fraction of normal shows how much rain has fallen this time as a percentage of the long-term mean.
Further information
NSW Climate Services CentreNSW Regional Office
Bureau of Meteorology
Phone (02) 9296 1555
Email reqnsw@bom.gov.au