Wednesday, 1 September, 2010 — Seasonal Climate Summary for Australia — Product Code IDCKGC1A00

Australia in Winter (June-August) 2010

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

In Brief

Winter 2010 was a generally wet season over much of Australia, with near-normal daytime temperatures and warmer than normal overnight temperatures. Victoria and South Australia had their coolest winter in thirteen years, and NSW in a decade, while the northern tropics had a very warm winter, especially their overnight minima, of which there were areas of highest on record.

Significant rainfall fell over the northern and eastern regions of Australia, while southwestern WA had its driest winter on record.

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Temperatures

Maximum temperatures averaged over Australia were 0.01°C below normal for winter. Areas above normal were the western half of Western Australia, the northern half of the NT, northern and eastern Queensland, the South Coast district of NSW and Tasmania. The Pilbara region and a small area of the western Kimberley in Western Australia had stronger anomalies, with temperatures at least 1°C above normal, and much of this area was in the highest decile. The northern NT and northern Queensland both also had maxima at least 1°C above normal, with parts of the Darwin-Daly district and the Cape York Peninsula recording highest on record winter daytime temperatures.

Below normal maximum temperatures covered most of the central and southern regions of Australia. A region of central Australia, covering the southern NT and northern South Australia, extending slightly over the borders into Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales, recorded at least 1°C below normal, with small areas in the Alice Springs district 2°C or more below normal.

Minimum temperatures for winter were generally below normal in the south, and above normal in the north. Minimum temperatures of 1 to 3°C above normal covered most of the northern half of Western Australia, the northern and western NT, as well as northern and eastern Queensland, with the stronger anomalies tending to be further north. Positive anomalies exceeded 3°C in a small area of the central Kimberley in Western Australia, and also in the Cape York Peninsula region of Queensland, where there were record high minima for winter. New records were set during the winter period. Cape Don in the NT set the record high daily minimum July temperature for Australia, with 26.9°C on the 26th of July. Horn Island and Coconut Island, both in Queensland, set the record high daily minimum July temperature for Queensland, with 26.2°C on the 27th and 2nd of July, respectively. Horn Island then set a record again in August, measuring the record high daily minimum August temperature for Queensland with 26.8°C on the 19th of August.

Notable cooler than normal minimum temperatures were measured in southwest Western Australia and small areas near Port Augusta and Tarcoola in South Australia, where temperatures were 1 to 2°C below normal. These areas were in the lowest decile, with a small area near Perth recording lowest on record.

Areal average temperatures
	Maximum Temperature			Minimum Temperature
	Rank (out of 61)	Anomaly* (°C)	Comment	Rank (out of 61)	Anomaly* (°C)	Comment
Australia	24	−0.01	Lowest since 1997	50	+0.56
Queensland	38	+0.54		54	1.18
New South Wales	18	−0.18	Lowest since 1998	37	+0.27
Victoria	21	−0.18	Lowest since 1992	15	−0.26
Tasmania	55	+0.97		40	+0.28
South Australia	9	−0.87	Lowest since 1989	34	+0.17
Western Australia	34	+0.25		49	+0.55
Northern Territory	17	−0.46		40	+0.39

^*Anomaly is the departure from the long-term (1961-1990) average.

Temperature maps
	Mean	Anomaly	Deciles
Mean daily maximum temperatures
Mean daily minimum temperatures

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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Rainfall

Nationally averaged rainfall was 13% above the long-term average, with higher than normal falls generally in the north and east of the country. A large band of highest decile rainfall extended across from the Kimberley, into the southern half of the NT and northern SA, through to the Queensland and NSW bordering region. Small areas near Derby in WA, Alice Springs in the NT and Moomba in SA had highest on record falls. An area of western Victoria between Ballarat and Warrnambool, and smaller patches, expecially around Bendigo, in Victoria also had winter rainfall in the highest decile, as did a small area east of Darwin and the far north Peninsula region in Queensland, where a small area on the eastern tip was highest on record.

Below average rainfall for winter was recorded in small areas near the Gulf of Carpentaria, Gippsland in Victoria, a small area near Bega, NSW, and small scattered areas of southeast SA. The most substantial area of below-normal rainfall was in the wider southwest WA region, extending down from Carnarvon and reaching just beyond Esperance. A large area of the southwest, extending almost up to Geraldton, and across to Southern Cross had their driest winter on record. The area averaged rainfall for the southwest WA region was 179.3mm, or 34% below average. This was lower than the previous record by a margin of more than 30 mm.

Areal average rainfall
	Rank (out of 111)	Average (mm)	Departure from mean*	Comment
Australia	83	75.0	+13%
Queensland	79	66.3	+25%
New South Wales	81	136.9	+11%
Victoria	65	210.3	+1%
Tasmania	46	415.3	−7%
South Australia	72	64.1	+7%
Western Australia	54	56.3	−9%
Northern Territory	107	51.5	+168%	Highest since 1986
Murray-Darling Basin	87	135.1	+15%

^*The mean is calculated for the 1961-1990 reference period.

Rainfall maps
	Totals	Percentages	Deciles
Total rainfall

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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Australian weather extremes in winter 2010
Hottest day	39.0 °C at Wyndham Aero (WA) on 20 August and Bradshaw (NT) on 25 August
Coldest day	−5.3 °C at Mount Hotham (Vic) on 28 June
Coldest night	−19.6 °C at Charlotte Pass (NSW) on 20 July
Warmest night	26.9 °C at Cape Don (NT) on 26 July
Wettest day	199.0 mm at Mount Wellington (Tas) on 12 August

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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