Thursday, 1 September 2022 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Australian Capital Territory - Product code IDCKGC25L0

Australian Capital Territory in winter 2022: A dry start with a wet end

Winter rainfall across the Australian Capital Territory for 2022 was 100 to 150% of the winter average due to a very wet August compensating for a drier than average June and July. Mean minimum temperatures were generally up to 1 °C above their average while mean maximum temperatures were close to their average.

A dry start followed by a wet end to winter

  • Winter rainfall was close to average to slightly above average, with totals generally around 100 to 150% of their average.
  • Most sites recorded average to below average rainfall during June while below average rainfall was more widespread during July.
  • August rainfall was well above average, with many sites recording over twice their monthly average.
  • The wettest day was in the 24 hours to 9am on 5th August, when a vigorous cold front embedded with thunderstorms passed over the territory.
  • Most sites recorded over 50 mm of rainfall with Bruce (Australian Institute of Sport) having its highest winter daily rainfall on record.

Cooler nights, close to average days

  • Mean maximum temperatures were up to 1 °C cooler than average, in part due to a cool June where monthly minimum temperatures were between 1 °C and 2 °C cooler than average for most sites.
  • Mean minimum temperatures were close to average with cooler than average temperatures in June and warmer than average temperatures in August.

Canberra Airport

  • Total rainfall for Canberra Airport was 156.4 mm, which is 118% of the average at the current site of 133.0 mm, or 166% of the average over all years of 128.8 mm.
  • The mean daily maximum temperature for Canberra Airport was 12.9 °C, which is 0.5 °C below the average at the current site of 13.4 °C, or 0.5 °C above the average over all years of 12.4 °C.
  • The warmest day was 18.7 °C on the 28th August, and the coolest day was on the 14th June when the temperature reached 6.8 °C.
  • The mean daily minimum temperature for Canberra Airport was 1.1 °C, which is 0.4 °C above the average at the current site of 0.7 °C, or 0.5 °C above the average over all years of 0.6 °C.
  • The coldest morning was -6.5 °C on the 30th July, and the warmest morning was on the 4th August when the minimum temperature was 9.1 °C.
    • Note: Observations for “Canberra Airport” are taken from the current site Canberra Airport (070351) which opened in late 2008. Comparisons and averages over all years 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.

Further information

Media
(03) 9669 4057

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Extremes in winter 2022
Hottest day 18.7 °C at Canberra Airport on 28 Aug
Warmest days on average 12.9 °C at Canberra Airport
Coolest days on average 2.3 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Coldest day -3.0 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on 1 Jun
Coldest night -6.7 °C at Mount Ginini AWS on 19 Jul
Coolest nights on average -2.2 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Warmest nights on average 1.1 °C at Canberra Airport
Warmest night 9.1 °C at Canberra Airport on 4 Aug
Warmest on average overall 7.0 °C at Canberra Airport
Coolest on average overall 0.0 °C at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest overall 346.0 mm at Mount Ginini AWS
Wettest day 66.6 mm at Nicholls (Gungahlin Lakes) on 5 Aug
Strongest wind gust 94 km/h at Mount Ginini AWS on 4 Aug

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Record highest winter daily rainfall
New record
(mm)		 Old
record		 Years of
record
Bruce (Australian Institute of Sport) 58.2 on 5 Aug 54.4 on 9 Jul 2005 41


Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Summary statistics for winter 2022
Maximum temperatures
(°C)		 Minimum temperatures
(°C)		 Rainfall
(millimetres)
Mean for
winter
2022		 Diff
from
average		 Highest for
winter
2022		 Mean for
winter
2022		 Diff
from
average		 Lowest for
winter
2022		 Total for
winter
2022		 Average
for
winter		 Rank of
winter
2022		 Fraction of
winter
average
Canberra Airport 12.9 -0.5 18.7 28 Aug 1.1 +0.4 -6.5 30 Jul 156.4 133.0 average 118%
Mount Ginini AWS 2.3 -1.1 8.6 31 Aug -2.2 -0.3 -6.7 19 Jul 346.0 275.2 high 126%
Tuggeranong (Isabella Plains) AWS 12.7 -0.5 18.3 28 Aug 1.0 +0.3 -6.6 30 Jul 179.2 143.5 high 125%

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 9 am on Thursday 1 September 2022. 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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