Monday, 3 December, 2012 — Seasonal Climate Summary for Australia — Product Code IDCKGC2A00

Australia in spring 2012

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

In Brief

Generally spring 2012 was rather warm across Australia, with most of the country experiencing above-normal daytime temperatures. For the nation as a whole, it was the second-warmest spring maximum temperature on record, with 65% of the country in the top 10% of records. Minimum temperatures were warmer than normal across large parts of western and southern Australia, and closer to normal across the northern and eastern regions.

Rainfall for spring was generally below average across much of southern and eastern Australia, and above average across parts of Western Australia.

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Temperatures

Spring maximum temperatures across Australia were mostly warmer than normal. Averaged across the nation, maximum temperatures were 1.73 °C above normal, the second-warmest spring in 63 years. Both the NT and SA measured their warmest spring maximum temperature on record, with anomalies of +1.60 °C and +2.69 °C, respectively. All States ranked in their respective top ten warmest springs, with both WA and Tasmania experiencing their second-warmest spring, NSW its fifth, Queensland sixth, and Victoria equal-eighth.

Most of the country was more than 1 °C warmer than usual, with temperatures further north generally closer to normal. A broad area of the southern inland experienced temperatures more than 2 °C above normal, with isolated pockets more than 3 °C above normal over the SA-Queensland border and just north of the Great Australian Bight.

Minimum temperatures during spring were generally warmer than normal over large parts of western and southern Australia, with temperatures generally closer to normal across the remainder of the country. For Australia as a whole, minimum temperatures were 0.40 °C above normal, ranking as 44th out of 63 years. The only State to fall in the top/bottom 10 of their respective records was WA, recording its third-warmest night-time temperatures on record (anomaly of +1.00 °C). Despite experiencing a close to normal month, Queensland had its coolest over-night temperatures since 1994 (18 years).

Night-time temperatures more than 1 °C above normal were measured across the Pilbara, Gascoyne, and Interior Districts of WA, and extended from southeast WA to the SA-Queensland border. Isolated pockets more than 1 °C below normal were measured across parts of the northern tropics and eastern Australia, with the majority of the country within 1 °C of normal.

Towards the end of November, exceptional heat was experienced across central and southeastern Australia. During this event, many stations measured their warmest spring day on record. Notably, five sites in Victoria broke the existing State record, with Ouyen's 45.8 °C on the 29th the new Victorian highest spring temperature (previous record held by Mildura, with 44.5 °C on 17 November 1980). Overnight temperatures were also affected, with Oodnadatta breaking the highest SA minimum temperature on record (with 32.3 °C on the 29th of November). A Special Climate Statement will be released shortly on this event.

Areal average temperatures
	Maximum Temperature			Minimum Temperature
	Rank (out of 63)	Anomaly* (°C)	Comment	Rank (out of 63)	Anomaly* (°C)	Comment
Australia	62	+1.73	2nd highest; record is +1.82 (2006)	44	+0.40
Queensland	58	+1.24		23	−0.16	Lowest since 1994
New South Wales	59	+2.24		28.5	−0.04
Victoria	55.5	+1.44		39	+0.11
Tasmania	62	+1.28	2nd highest; record is +1.38 (2009)	48	+0.28
South Australia	63	+2.69	Highest on record; previous record +2.67 (2006)	53	+0.99
Western Australia	62	+1.64	2nd highest; record is +1.88 (2006)	61	+1.00	3rd highest; record is +1.70 (2006)
Northern Territory	63	+1.60	Highest on record; previous record +1.59 (2002)	31	−0.10

^*Anomaly is the departure from the long-term (1961–1990) average.
A fractional rank indicates that the value is tied for that rank.

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

Rainfall for spring 2012 was mostly below average across most of Australia, with the exception of WA. Neutral (neither El Niño nor La Niña) conditions over the tropical Pacific were in place during spring, but remained on the warm side of neutral. A positive Indian Ocean Dipole was in place for much of the spring period, which generally results in below-normal rainfall across parts of southern, central and northern Australia, and this is evident in the rainfall pattern for spring.

Area-averaged rainfall for Australia was 51.6 mm (29% below normal), ranking as the 33rd-driest spring of 113 years. SA and Victoria were the only States to fall in the top/bottom ten of historical records, with SA measuring its third-driest spring on record (14.7 mm), and Victoria its tenth-driest. Only WA experienced above-average spring rainfall.

Below-normal rainfall was measured across much of eastern Australia, as well as SA and parts of the NT. Areas of decile 1 rainfall (lowest 10% of records) were broadly recorded across SA, northeast NSW and western and central Victoria. Small areas of decile 1 were also recorded elsewhere in NSW, Queensland and the NT. Above-normal rainfall was recorded across most of WA, with isolated areas of above-normal falls across the NT and Queensland as well.

Area-average rainfall
	Rank (out of 113)	Average (mm)	Departure from mean*	Comment
Australia	33	51.6	−29%
Queensland	26	48.9	−42%
New South Wales	16	66.0	−47%
Victoria	10	107.6	−41%
Tasmania	36	313.7	−14%
South Australia	3	14.7	−71%	3rd lowest; record is 11.4 (1963)
Western Australia	87	49.0	+19%
Northern Territory	54	56.1	−17%
Murray-Darling Basin	11	57.6	−50%

^*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 spring 2012
Hottest day	46.4 °C at Roebourne (WA) on the 15th of November
Coldest day	−4.5 °C at Thredbo AWS (NSW) on the 29th of September
Coldest night	−9.0 °C at Cooma Airport AWS (NSW) on the 2nd of September
Warmest night	32.3 °C at Oodnadatta Airport (SA) on the 29th of November
Wettest day	233.0 mm at Ulladulla AWS (NSW) on the 12th of October

Temperatures Rainfall Extremes Important notes the top

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