Thursday, 1 September 2016 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Sydney - Product code IDCKGC25L0
Sydney in winter 2016: A warm, wet winter for Sydney
Winter 2016 was the wettest for Sydney since 2007, with several heavy rain events including a severe East Coast Low during the first week of June. Both maximum and minimum temperatures were warmer than average, particularly during June and July, with a notable warm spell during mid-July.
A wet winter for Sydney
- Sydney Observatory Hill recorded its wettest winter since 2007, with some stations recording their wettest winter in at least 20 years
- An East Coast Low produced very heavy rain in early June, and broke winter rainfall records at some stations
- Five days had 50 mm or more at Observatory Hill, the equal third-highest number on record for winter (average is one day)
- There were 37 rain days at Observatory Hill, close to average for winter (34 days)
- Sydney Airport recorded an average of 6.4 hours of sunshine, slightly below normal for winter (6.8 hours) and the least sunshine since winter 2008
A warm winter across the city
- Equal third-warmest winter on record for average minimum temperatures at Observatory Hill
- Seventh-warmest winter average maximum temperatures on record
- 47 nights had minimum temperatures of 10 °C or higher, the equal second-highest number on record (average is 26 nights)
- Notable winter warm spells broke records in June and mid-July, including the second-warmest July day on record
- Observatory Hill recorded its coldest day in 20 years on 27 June
East Coast Low causes severe weather
- A severe East Coast Low caused heavy rain, strong winds, large waves, flooding, and coastal erosion in the first week of June. For more information see Special Climate Statement 57: Extensive early June rainfall affecting the Australian east coast.
Further information
- Media
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
- Enquiries
- helpdesk.climate@bom.gov.au
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Extremes in winter 2016 | |
|---|---|
| Hottest day | 27.0 °C at Sydney
Airport AMO on 22 Jul |
| Warmest days on average | 19.1 °C at Sydney
Airport AMO |
| Coolest days on average | 16.6 °C at Springwood
(Valley Heights) |
| Coldest day | 10.8 °C at Terrey
Hills AWS on 27 Jun 10.8 °C at Springwood (Valley Heights) on 24 Aug |
| Coldest night | -2.1 °C at Camden
Airport AWS on 30 Jun |
| Coolest nights on average | 5.2 °C at Camden
Airport AWS |
| Warmest nights on average | 10.2 °C at Sydney
(Observatory Hill) 10.2 °C at Sydney Airport AMO |
| Warmest night | 16.5 °C at Sydney
(Observatory Hill) on 20 Jul |
| Warmest on average overall | 14.7 °C at Sydney
Airport AMO |
| Coolest on average overall | 11.8 °C at Camden
Airport AWS |
| Wettest overall | 674.2 mm at Castle
Cove (Rosebridge Ave) |
| Driest overall | 306.4 mm at Penrith Lakes AWS |
| Wettest day | 170.0 mm at Turramurra (Kissing Point Road) on 5 Jun |
| Strongest wind gust | 98 km/h at Sydney
Airport AMO on 4 Jun |
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Record highest winter daily rainfall | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (mm) |
Old record |
Years of record |
||||
| Campbelltown (Kentlyn (Georges River Roa | 154.0 | on 5 Jun | 117.4 | on 21 Jun 1975 | 39 | |
| Ingleburn (Sackville Street) | 140.0 | on 5 Jun | 96.0 | on 31 Aug 1996 | 24 | |
| Badgerys Creek AWS | 109.2 | on 6 Jun | 70.0 | on 8 Aug 1998 | 21 | |
| Penrith Lakes AWS | 81.6 | on 5 Jun | 67.8 | on 9 Jun 2007 | 21 | |
| Record highest winter total rainfall | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (mm) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for winter |
||
| Bankstown Airport AWS | 507.6 | 425.4 | in 1998 | 48 | 176.8 |
| Camden Airport AWS | 429.6 | 378.8 | in 1998 | 40 | 150.5 |
| Campbelltown (Kentlyn (Georges River Roa | 479.0 | 372.8 | in 1975 | 37 | 155.8 |
| Audley (Royal National Park) | 665.0 | 650.8 | in 1991 | 33 | 259.0 |
| Badgerys Creek AWS | 353.6 | 348.4 | in 1998 | 21 | 124.2 |
| Highest winter total rainfall for at least 20 years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observed (mm) |
Most recent higher |
Average for winter |
|||
| Strathfield Golf Club | 464.0 | 555.7 | in 1952* | 210.7 | |
| Prospect Reservoir | 457.3 | 480.9 | in 1986 | 183.8 | |
| Seven Hills (Collins St) | 401.8 | 421.4 | in 1986* | 180.9 | |
| Chatswood Bowling Club | 657.0 | 697.2 | in 1952* | 289.8 | |
| Marrickville Golf Club | 490.0 | 559.0 | in 1963* | 259.7 | |
* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a higher value has gone unreported.
| Record highest winter daily minimum temperature | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for winter |
|||
| Badgerys Creek AWS | 14.5 | on 5 Jun | 14.4 | on 30 Aug 2007 | 21 | 4.8 |
| Record highest winter mean daily minimum temperature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for winter |
||
| Sydney Airport AMO | 10.2 | = 10.2 | in 2013 | 77 | 8.0 |
| Highest winter mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observed (°C) |
Most recent higher |
Average for winter |
|||
| Parramatta North (Masons Drive) | 8.1 | 8.2 | in 1973 | 6.9 | |
| Record highest winter mean temperature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for winter |
||
| Bankstown Airport AWS | 13.1 | = 13.1 | in 2013 | 46 | 12.0 |
| Richmond RAAF | 12.4 | = 12.4 | in 2013 | 21 | 11.4 |
| Badgerys Creek AWS | 12.2 | 12.1 | in 2013 | 20 | 11.4 |
| Penrith Lakes AWS | 12.9 | = 12.9 | in 2013 | 20 | 12.4 |
| Highest winter mean temperature for at least 20 years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observed (°C) |
Most recent higher |
Average for winter |
|||
| Camden Airport AWS | 11.8 | 11.9 | in 1991* | 10.9 | |
* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a higher value has gone unreported.
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Summary statistics for winter 2016 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Rainfall (millimetres) |
||||||||||
| Mean for winter 2016 |
Diff from average |
Highest for winter 2016 |
Mean for winter 2016 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for winter 2016 |
Total for winter 2016 |
Average for winter |
Rank of winter 2016 |
Fraction of winter average |
|||
| Badgerys Creek AWS | 18.4 | +0.3 | 25.7 | 22 Jul | 6.0 | +1.2 | -1.9 | 4 Jul | 353.6 | 124.2 | highest | 285% |
| Bankstown Airport AWS | 18.9 | +0.9 | 25.8 | 22 Jul | 7.3 | +1.3 | 0.5 | 30 Jun | 507.6 | 176.8 | highest | 287% |
| Camden Airport AWS | 18.4 | +0.4 | 26.0 | 22 Jul | 5.2 | +1.4 | -2.1 | 30 Jun | 429.6 | 150.5 | highest | 285% |
| Campbelltown (Mount Annan) | 18.4 | 25.7 | 22 Jul | 5.9 | -1.0 | 4 Jul | 424.2 | 178.5 | v high | 238% | ||
| Canterbury Racecourse AWS | 18.6 | +0.4 | 25.5 | 22 Jul | 7.5 | +1.1 | 0.7 | 30 Jun | 531.2 | 237.6 | v high | 224% |
| Holsworthy Aerodrome AWS | 18.1 | 25.4 | 22 Jul | 6.3 | -0.6 | 30 Jun | 444.4 | |||||
| Horsley Park Equestrian Centre AWS | 18.2 | +0.3 | 25.5 | 22 Jul | 7.3 | +0.8 | -0.3 | 26 Jun | 419.0 | 156.8 | v high | 267% |
| Parramatta North (Masons Drive) | 18.6 | +0.5 | 25.5 | 22 Jul | 8.1 | +1.2 | 1.5 | 30 Jun | 519.6 | 195.1 | v high | 266% |
| Penrith Lakes AWS | 18.5 | -0.1 | 25.9 | 10 Aug | 7.4 | +1.3 | 1.0 | 15 Jul | 306.4 | 121.9 | v high | 251% |
| Prospect Reservoir | 18.3 | +0.6 | 25.2 | 22 Jul | 7.6 | +0.8 | 0.4 | 26 Jun | 457.3 | 183.8 | v high | 249% |
| Richmond RAAF | 18.7 | +0.3 | 25.7 | 22 Jul | 6.0 | +1.6 | -1.9 | 15 Jul | 308.0 | 117.8 | v high | 261% |
| Springwood (Valley Heights) | 16.6 | 0.0 | 24.5 | 19 Jul | 7.9 | +0.9 | 2.1 | 14 Jul | 356.6 | 188.1 | high | 190% |
| Sydney (Observatory Hill) | 18.9 | +1.8 | 25.7 | 22 Jul | 10.2 | +1.4 | 5.4 | 30 Jun | 561.0 | 312.0 | v high | 180% |
| Sydney Airport AMO | 19.1 | +1.4 | 27.0 | 22 Jul | 10.2 | +2.2 | 5.4 | 26 Jun | 528.0 | 271.9 | v high | 194% |
| Terrey Hills AWS | 17.2 | +0.5 | 23.8 | 22 Jul | 8.9 | +0.6 | 3.1 | 29 Jul | 484.4 | 269.8 | high | 180% |
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
Notes
The Seasonal climate summary lists the main features of the weather in Sydney using the most timely and accurate information available on the date of publication; it will generally not be updated. Later information, including data that has had greater opportunity for quality control, will be presented in the Monthly Weather Review.
A climate summary is generally published on the first working day of each month.
This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Thursday 1 September 2016. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.
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.
The ACORN-SAT dataset is used for temperature area averages.
Further information
- Media
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
- Enquiries
- helpdesk.climate@bom.gov.au
Unless otherwise noted, all maps, graphs and diagrams in this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
