Monday, 1 March 2010 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Sydney - Greater Sydney - Product code IDCKGC25L0

Record consecutive warm nights in Sydney during summer

• Record 18 consecutive warm nights in summer
• Second warmest summer on record for overnight minimum temperatures
• 52 nights above 20.0 °C - second highest on record

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

Sydney experienced above average rainfall during summer. Observatory Hill's total of 342.2 mm was slightly above the historical summer average¹ of 297.2 mm. This is the highest summer rainfall for Sydney since 2007/2008 when 438.6mm was recorded.

The majority of Sydney's summer rainfall fell during February and was associated with moist onshore winds and thunderstorms during the month. Close to average rainfall was recorded during December, whilst well below average rainfall was recorded in January.

There were 35 rain days over summer, which is slightly below the historical summer average of 36 rain days.

Storage levels in Sydney's catchment have risen over summer from 54.5% on 3 December to currently 59.3% of total capacity. Recent rainfall and current levels in Sydney's water catchments can be found on the Sydney Catchment Authority web site http://www.sca.nsw.gov.au/dams/rainfall.html

Temperature

Sydney experienced a record number of consecutive warm nights during summer, with 18 consecutive nights above 20.0 °C recorded over the period January 30 to February 16, exceeding the previous record of 16 consecutive nights in January/February 1973. A total of 52 nights above 20.0 °C were recorded during summer, which is well above the historical average of 21 nights. This is the second highest number of nights on record with a minimum temperature above 20 °C for summer. The current record is 64 nights set in 1990/1991.

The average minimum (overnight) temperature of 20.3 °C was 2.0 °C above the historical average ¹of 18.3 °C. This is the second warmest summer on record for overnight minimum temperatures (current record is 20.7 °C, set in 1990/1991). The average maximum (daytime) temperature at Observatory Hill during summer was 26.8 °C, which is 1.2 °C above the historical average of 25.6 °C. This is the warmest summer for average maximum temperatures since 2005/2006 (27.8 °C).

Relative humidity averaged 71% at 9am, and 62% at 3pm, which is average for summer. However, Sydney experienced four consecutive days above 80% relative humidity during the period December 25th to 28th, and an exceptionally high 3pm relative humidity of 95% on the 6th February.

Some sites had their warmest summer night (highest daily minimum temperature) on record. Some sites had their highest summer mean daily minimum temperature on record.

Wind

There were 21 strong wind days reported in coastal Sydney during summer, slightly above the historical average of 19. The prevailing wind direction during summer afternoons was east/northeasterly for 62% of the time (recorded at Fort Denison).

Other phenomena

Sydney recorded a summer average of 7.3 hours of sunshine per day (recorded at Sydney Airport) which is close to the historical average of 7.1 hours per day. A total of 7 thunderstorms were reported in Sydney during summer (historical average 9), with flash flooding on the 12th and 13th.

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top