Thursday, 1 December 2016 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Canberra - Product code IDCKGC25L0
Canberra in spring 2016: A cool, wet start and a warm finish
Spring was variable in the ACT during 2016, with a cold, wet September followed by closer to average rainfall in the rest of the season. Temperatures were close to normal for the season as a whole, although September was the fifth-warmest on record for minimum temperatures at Canberra Airport.
Wettest spring in 16 years
- Rainfall was above average across the ACT, with Canberra Airport recording its wettest spring since 2000
- September was the second-wettest on record for Canberra, with slightly below average rainfall during October and November
- Canberra Airport recorded 5 mm or more on 18 days, the equal third-highest number on record and the most since 1975 (average is 11 days)
- Rainfall reached 53.6 mm on 3 September, the second-wettest September day on record for Canberra Airport
Variable temperatures throughout the season
- Both the average maximum and minimum temperatures were close to average for spring as a whole
- Daytime temperatures were well above average during November, but below average in both September and October, which were the coolest since 1992 and 2003 respectively
- Overnight temperatures were the fifth-warmest on record in September, but below average during both October and November
- Canberra Airport recorded its longest spring warm spell since 2009 on 18-22 November and its coolest September day since 2009 on 2 September
Further information
- Media
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
- Enquiries
- helpdesk.climate@bom.gov.au
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Extremes in spring 2016 | |
|---|---|
| Hottest day | 31.6 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on 19 Nov |
| Warmest days on average | 19.7 °C at Canberra
Airport 19.7 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS |
| Coolest days on average | 10.7 °C at Mount Ginini AWS |
| Coldest day | 1.1 °C at Mount
Ginini AWS on 15 Sep 1.1 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on 30 Sep |
| Coldest night | -4.8 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on 31 Oct |
| Coolest nights on average | 1.9 °C at Mount Ginini AWS |
| Warmest nights on average | 6.7 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS |
| Warmest night | 15.6 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on 23 Nov |
| Warmest on average overall | 13.2 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS |
| Coolest on average overall | 6.3 °C at Mount Ginini AWS |
| Wettest overall | 407.0 mm at Mount Ginini AWS |
| Driest overall | 244.8 mm at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS |
| Wettest day | 53.6 mm at Canberra Airport on 3 Sep |
| Strongest wind gust | 96 km/h at Canberra
Airport on 4 Oct 96 km/h at Mount Ginini AWS on 4 Oct |
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Summary statistics for spring 2016 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Rainfall (millimetres) |
||||||||||
| Mean for spring 2016 |
Diff from average |
Highest for spring 2016 |
Mean for spring 2016 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for spring 2016 |
Total for spring 2016 |
Average for spring |
Rank of spring 2016 |
Fraction of spring average |
|||
| Canberra Airport | 19.7 | +0.3 | 31.2 | 22 Nov | 6.2 | +0.2 | -1.3 | 1 Nov | 249.6 | 179.7 | high | 138.9% |
| Mount Ginini AWS | 10.7 | -1.8 | 22.5 | 21 Nov | 1.9 | -1.2 | -4.8 | 31 Oct | 407.0 | 272.2 | high | 150% |
| Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS | 19.7 | -1.3 | 31.6 | 19 Nov | 6.7 | +0.1 | -0.5 | 28 Sep | 244.8 | 188.7 | high | 130% |
| Note:
Observations for “Canberra Airport” are taken from
the current site (Bureau number 070351), which opened in late 2008.
Comparisons are made against data from the previous site Canberra Airport Comparison (070014), which ran from 1939 to 2010. |
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Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
Notes
The Seasonal climate summary, generally published on the first working day of each month, lists the main features of the weather in Canberra using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated. More extensive discussion of significant weather events, along with later information and data that has had greater opportunity for quality control, will be presented in the Monthly Weather Review.
This statement has been prepared based on information available at 9 am on Thursday 1 December 2016. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.
Averages for individual sites 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 10 years of
record, as they cannot then be calculated reliably.
The median
is sometimes more representative than the mean
of long-term average rain.
Observations for “Canberra Airport” are taken from the
current site (Bureau number 070351), which opened in late 2008.
Comparisons are made against data from the previous site
Canberra Airport Comparison (070014), which ran from 1939 to 2010.
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, average in decile 4 to 7, high in decile
8 or 9 and very high is in decile 10).
The Fraction of average shows how much rain has fallen this time
as a percentage
of the long-term mean.
Where temperature area averages are mentioned, they are derived from the ACORN-SAT dataset.
Further information
- Media
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
- Enquiries
- helpdesk.climate@bom.gov.au
Unless otherwise noted, all maps, graphs and diagrams in this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
