Thursday, 1 September 2016 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Canberra - Product code IDCKGC25L0

Canberra in winter 2016: A wet winter with warm nights


Canberra had its third-wettest winter on record during 2016, with more rain days than average and an East Coast Low which caused record rainfall in early June. Temperatures were warmer than average, particularly overnight during June and July, but a cold front caused some snow to settle on July 13.

Third-wettest winter on record

  • Canberra Airport recorded double its average rainfall during winter, the third-wettest winter on record (behind 1998 and 1991)
  • June was the wettest on record for Canberra, with some stations including Canberra Airport recording their wettest winter day on record during an East Coast Low on 6 June
  • Rain fell on 48 days, the fourth-highest number on record for winter and the most rain days since winter 1956

Warm winter nights

  • Minimum temperatures were 1.5 °C above average, the equal fifth-warmest winter nights on record and the warmest since 2009
  • 26 nights were 5 °C or warmer, the equal third-highest number on record (average is 14 nights), with two nights exceeding 10 °C
  • Very warm temperatures during July, with a mid-July warm spell breaking July temperature records
  • Maximum temperatures were also warmer than average, the equal eighth-warmest on record
  • The winter mean temperature was consequently 1.3 °C above average, the third-warmest winter on record behind 2013 and 2009

Notable weather

A cold front brought strong winds on 13 July, with snow reported in many Canberra suburbs

Further information

Media
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Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes in winter 2016
Hottest day 19.4 °C at Canberra Airport on 30 Aug
Warmest days on average 13.3 °C at Canberra Airport
Coolest days on average 3.6 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Coldest day -4.8 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on 13 Jul
Coldest night -7.8 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on 25 Jun
Coolest nights on average -1.4 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Warmest nights on average 2.2 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Warmest night 11.8 °C at Canberra Airport on 5 Jun
Warmest on average overall 7.7 °C at Canberra Airport
7.7 °C at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS
Coolest on average overall 1.1 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest overall 542.2 mm at Mount Ginini AWS
Driest overall 261.4 mm at Canberra Airport
Wettest day 81.8 mm at Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS on 6 Jun
Strongest wind gust 107 km/h at Mount Ginini AWS on 22 Jul

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Record highest winter daily rainfall

New record
(mm)		 Old
record		 Years of
record
Canberra (Australian National Botanic Ga 59.8 on 6 Jun 52.8 on 28 Jun 1997 49
Torrens (Darke St) 66.2 on 6 Jun 49.4 on 7 Jul 1988 32
Lanyon House 68.0 on 6 Jun 55.2 on 12 Jun 1991 22
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 81.8 on 6 Jun 51.0 on 9 Jul 2005 21


Record highest winter mean daily minimum temperature

New record
(°C)		 Old
record		 Years of
record		 Average for
winter
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 2.2 2.0 in 2013 20 0.7


Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for winter 2016

Maximum temperatures
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
(°C)		 Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
winter
2016		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
winter
2016		 Mean for
winter
2016		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
winter
2016		 Total for
winter
2016		 Average
for
winter		 Rank of
winter
2016		 Fraction of
winter
average
Canberra Airport 13.3 +1.1 19.4 30 Aug 2.1 +1.5 -5.5 15 Jun 261.4 127.9 v high 204%
Mount Ginini AWS 3.6 +0.2 10.2 15 Aug -1.4 +0.4 -7.8 25 Jun 542.2 278.0 v high 195%
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 13.2 +0.1 18.7 30 Aug 2.2 +1.5 -5.1 15 Jun 286.6 148.7 v high 193%
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.

Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Notes

The Seasonal climate summary 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. Later information, including data that has had greater opportunity for quality control, will be presented in the Monthly Weather Review.

A climate summary is generally published on the first working day of each month.

This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Thursday 1 September 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.

The ACORN-SAT dataset is used for temperature area averages.

Further information

Media
(03) 9669 4057
Enquiries