Tuesday, 1 December 2020 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Australian Capital Territory - Product code IDCKGC25L0

Australian Capital Territory in spring 2020: wet with record warm nights

It was a wet spring in the ACT, with Canberra Airport having its highest spring rainfall since 2010. Overnight minimum temperatures were the highest on record at both metropolitan sites, while daytime maximum temperatures were slightly above average.

A wet spring

  • Spring was wetter than average at all ACT locations, with most sites receiving about 50% above their normal spring rainfall.
  • October was particularly wet, and November was also wetter than average, while September was near average.

Very warm nights, days slightly above average

  • Overnight minimum temperatures were well above average at all locations.
  • Some sites had their highest spring mean daily minimum temperature on record.
  • Daytime maximum temperatures were generally above average, although lower than those of the last three years.
  • All three spring months were generally warmer than average, especially at night.

Canberra Airport

  • Total rainfall for Canberra Airport was 267.0 mm, which is 151% of the long-term average of 176.2 mm, the highest for spring since 2010.
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Canberra Airport was 21.0 °C, which is 1.3 °C above the long-term average of 19.7 °C.
  • The warmest day was 35.3 °C on 28 November, and the coolest day was on 26 September when the temperature reached 10.5 °C.
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Canberra Airport was 8.0 °C, which is 2.0 °C above the long-term average of 6.0 °C.
  • This is the highest spring mean minimum on record for Canberra Airport, breaking the previous record of 7.8 °C set in 2005 and 2007.
  • The coldest morning was -1.3 °C on 28 September, and the warmest morning was on 29 November when the minimum temperature was 16.8 °C.

Many wet days in spring

  • There were 13 days in spring when 10 mm or more of rain fell, an equal record for spring (with 1974) and the most in any season since summer 1983–84.
  • River rises occurred on several occasions, but impacts were mostly limited to disruption at low-level road crossings.

Further information

Media
(03) 9669 4057

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes in spring 2020
Hottest day 35.3 °C at Canberra Airport on 28 Nov
Warmest days on average 21.1 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Coolest days on average 12.5 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Coldest day -1.3 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on 26 Sep
Coldest night -6.9 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on 26 Sep
Coolest nights on average 4.2 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Warmest nights on average 8.2 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Warmest night 18.0 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on 29 Nov
Warmest on average overall 14.7 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Coolest on average overall 8.3 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest overall 412.2 mm at Mount Ginini AWS
Driest overall 254.6 mm at Bruce (Australian Institute of Sport)
Wettest day 50.6 mm at Mount Ginini AWS on 23 Nov
Strongest wind gust 93 km/h at Mount Ginini AWS on 23 Nov

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Record highest spring mean daily minimum temperature
New record
(°C)		 Old
record		 Years of
record		 Average for
spring
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 8.2 7.7 in 2009 24 6.6


Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for spring 2020
Maximum temperatures
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
(°C)		 Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
spring
2020		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
spring
2020		 Mean for
spring
2020		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
spring
2020		 Total for
spring
2020		 Average
for
spring		 Rank of
spring
2020		 Fraction of
spring
average
Canberra Airport 21.0 +1.3 35.3 28 Nov 8.0 +2.0 -1.3 28 Sep 267.0 176.2 high 151%
Mount Ginini AWS 12.5 +0.2 25.1 28 Nov 4.2 +1.2 -6.9 26 Sep 412.2 272.1 high 151%
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 21.1 +0.1 34.9 28 Nov 8.2 +1.6 -1.6 28 Sep 294.8 186.4 v high 158%
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,
combined with the current site from March 2010 onwards.

Extremes Maps 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 Australian Capital Territory 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 summary includes data from observing sites in or near the Australian Capital Territory “Greater Capital City Statistical Area” (GCCSA). The Australian Bureau of Statistics designed the GCCSAs to “include the population within the urban area of the city, as well as people who regularly socialise, shop or work within the city, and live in small towns and rural areas surrounding the city. It is important to note that GCCSAs do not define the built up edge of the city. They provide a stable definition for these cities and are designed for the output of a range of social and economic survey data.”

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Tuesday 1 December 2020. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.

In some situations, some or all of the rainfall is in the form of hail or snow. In these cases the totals given are for the water equivalent: the depth of liquid water that results from melting any frozen precipitation. There can be significant 'undercatch' of snow in strong winds, meaning the true precipitation can be higher than that reported.

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.

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
(03) 9669 4057

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