Wednesday, 1 December 2010 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Sydney - Greater Sydney - Product code IDCKGC25L0

Sydney in spring 2010: Wettest spring in 7 years

• Wettest spring for Sydney since 2004
• Cool days, warm nights

The Bureau of Meteorology’s 2010 annual climate summary for Sydney will be published on this web site on Wednesday 5 January, as will a comprehensive summary for all of Australia.

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Rainfall

Following near-normal winter rainfall, Sydney experienced above average rainfall during spring. The season started dry, with below average rainfall in September (42.2 mm), however, above average falls in October (85.0 mm) and November (129.6 mm) lifted the total spring rainfall to 256.8 mm. This is above the historical spring average of 229.7 mm, which is wetter than spring 2009 (209.4 mm), and the wettest spring since 2004 (361.0 mm) for Sydney Observatory Hill.

The rain fell on 37 days (spring average 34 days), with 8 days recording 10 mm or more of rainfall, which is above average for the season (6 days). There were 3 days with 25 mm or more of rainfall, which is above the historical average of 2 days.

Sydney's water storage levels have risen during spring, from 57.8% in September to 59.3% in November. Current water storage information can be found on the new Bureau of Meteorology Water Storage web site.

Temperature

Spring kicked off in Sydney with warmer than average day-time temperatures in September (21.0°C). However, temperatures returned to near-normal in October (22.0°C) and cooled off in November (23.5°C), bringing the overall spring average maximum temperature to 22.2°C which is 0.3°C above the historical average of 21.9°C. Although above average, this is lower than the spring 2009 average maximum temperature of 23.5°C, which was the 8th warmest on record. Two days above 30 °C were recorded during the season (both occurred in November), which is below the spring average of 4 days.

Minimum temperatures were above average throughout the season, averaging 14.7°C which is 1.3°C above the historical average of 13.4°C. Although above average, this is lower than the spring 2009 average minimum temperature of 15.4°C (which was the warmest on record).

There were 14 warm nights during spring (minimum temperature greater than 18°C). This is double the historical average of 7 nights, yet less than the spring 2009 total of 24 warm nights.

Wind

Coastal Sydney experienced prevailing north-eastlery winds during spring, with a frequency of 53% from this direction at 3pm, which is about average for the season. The strongest wind gust at Sydney Airport was 93 km/hr from the west on the 16th October.

Other phenomena

Sunshine at Sydney Airport averaged 6.8 hours per day (historical average for spring 7.4 hours per day). There were 8 thunderstorms observed at Sydney Airport during spring, which is average for the season.

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top

Details Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top