Thursday, 1 December 2016 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Sydney - Product code IDCKGC25L0
Sydney in spring 2016: Dry and persistently warm
Spring was warmer than average across the Sydney metropolitan region. Western Sydney recorded some cool days in September with a warm finish to the season in November. Rainfall was below average across the city, particularly later in the season, with above average sunshine.
A dry spring
- Rainfall was below average across the city during spring, with above-average September rain followed by a dry October and November
- Observatory Hill recorded rain on 29 days (average 34 days), but no days had more than 25 mm of rain for the first time since 2012 (the average is 2 days)
- Sunshine was below average during September but well above average in October and November, making spring the sunniest for Sydney Airport since 2013
Warm temperatures across the city
- Both daytime and overnight temperatures were above average across the city
- Cool September days for much of western Sydney were balanced by a very warm November, with persistent warmth in the east
- Eighth-warmest spring for average temperatures at Observatory Hill, but cooler than recent record-breaking springs in 2013, 2014 and 2015
- Only six days had maximum temperatures below 20 °C at Observatory Hill, the fewest cool days on record (the average is 31 days)
- Seven days reached 30 °C, above the average of four days but the fewest since spring 2012
- Six nights had minimum temperatures of 20 °C or higher, the equal-highest number on record with 2009 (the average is 1 night)
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 spring 2016 | |
|---|---|
| Hottest day | 37.4 °C at Campbelltown
(Mount Annan) on 18 Nov 37.4 °C at Penrith Lakes AWS on 22 Nov |
| Warmest days on average | 25.7 °C at Penrith Lakes AWS |
| Coolest days on average | 22.6 °C at Terrey Hills AWS |
| Coldest day | 14.3 °C at Springwood (Valley Heights) on 2 Sep |
| Coldest night | 2.8 °C at Camden Airport AWS on 28 Sep |
| Coolest nights on average | 10.2 °C at Camden
Airport AWS 10.2 °C at Campbelltown (Mount Annan) |
| Warmest nights on average | 14.9 °C at Sydney (Observatory Hill) |
| Warmest night | 21.8 °C at Sydney Airport AMO on 5 Nov |
| Warmest on average overall | 19.4 °C at Sydney (Observatory Hill) |
| Coolest on average overall | 17.4 °C at Campbelltown (Mount Annan) |
| Wettest overall | 176.4 mm at Mona Vale Golf Club |
| Driest overall | 65.0 mm at Milperra Bridge (Georges River) |
| Wettest day | 36.6 mm at Rose Bay (Royal Sydney Golf Club) on 3 Sep |
| Strongest wind gust | 81 km/h at Kurnell
AWS on 3 Sep 81 km/h at Sydney Airport AMO on 4 Oct 81 km/h at Sydney Airport AMO on 13 Nov |
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Lowest spring total rainfall for at least 20 years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observed (mm) |
Most recent lower |
Average for spring |
|||
| Belrose (Evelyn Place) | 128.2 | 87.8 | in 1991* | 249.4 | |
* note: there are gaps in the historical record at this site, so it is possible a lower value has gone unreported
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Summary statistics for spring 2016 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Rainfall (millimetres) |
||||||||||
| Mean for spring 2016 |
Diff from average |
Highest for spring 2016 |
Mean for spring 2016 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for spring 2016 |
Total for spring 2016 |
Average for spring |
Rank of spring 2016 |
Fraction of spring average |
|||
| Badgerys Creek AWS | 25.1 | +0.5 | 36.8 | 22 Nov | 10.4 | -0.1 | 2.9 | 27 Sep | 78.8 | 156.9 | v low | 50% |
| Bankstown Airport AWS | 24.9 | +1.3 | 36.9 | 18 Nov | 12.1 | +0.5 | 5.7 | 2 Oct | 82.2 | 180.3 | v low | 46% |
| Camden Airport AWS | 25.0 | +0.8 | 37.2 | 22 Nov | 10.2 | +0.3 | 2.8 | 28 Sep | 85.8 | 176.5 | low | 49% |
| Campbelltown (Mount Annan) | 24.7 | 37.4 | 18 Nov | 10.2 | 3.3 | 27 Sep | 94.0 | |||||
| Canterbury Racecourse AWS | 23.7 | +0.3 | 34.9 | 18 Nov | 12.1 | 0.0 | 5.4 | 4 Sep | 107.4 | 190.9 | low | 56% |
| Holsworthy Aerodrome AWS | 24.3 | 37.1 | 22 Nov | 10.7 | 3.6 | 20 Sep | 93.4 | |||||
| Horsley Park Equestrian Centre AWS | 24.7 | +0.2 | 36.6 | 22 Nov | 12.0 | +0.2 | 4.6 | 5 Sep | 81.6 | 161.1 | v low | 51% |
| Parramatta North (Masons Drive) | 24.5 | +0.8 | 36.5 | 22 Nov | 12.5 | +0.7 | 5.4 | 20 Sep | 104.2 | 204.7 | low | 51% |
| Penrith Lakes AWS | 25.7 | +0.2 | 37.4 | 22 Nov | 12.4 | +0.2 | 5.5 | 5 Sep | 79.0 | 166.1 | v low | 48% |
| Prospect Reservoir | 24.8 | +1.2 | 36.4 | 18 Nov | 12.3 | +0.4 | 5.3 | 5 Sep | 102.6 | 178.8 | low | 57% |
| Richmond RAAF | 25.6 | +0.6 | 36.7 | 22 Nov | 11.3 | +0.2 | 3.4 | 28 Sep | 109.6 | 173.0 | average | 63% |
| Springwood (Valley Heights) | 23.6 | 0.0 | 35.1 | 22 Nov | 11.9 | +0.2 | 5.5 | 20 Sep | 104.2 | 225.0 | low | 46% |
| Sydney (Observatory Hill) | 23.8 | +1.9 | 33.6 | 10 Oct | 14.9 | +1.4 | 9.0 | 14 Oct | 128.6 | 228.5 | low | 56% |
| Sydney Airport AMO | 24.0 | +1.6 | 35.1 | 18 Nov | 14.7 | +1.6 | 8.4 | 14 Oct | 129.2 | 211.5 | low | 61% |
| Terrey Hills AWS | 22.6 | +0.1 | 33.5 | 12 Nov | 12.9 | -0.4 | 6.5 | 12 Oct | 111.6 | 235.7 | v low | 47% |
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
Notes
The Seasonal climate summary, generally published on the first working day of each month, 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. More extensive discussion of significant weather events, along with later information and data that has had greater opportunity for quality control, will be presented in the Monthly Weather Review.
This statement has been prepared based on information available at 9 am on Thursday 1 December 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.
Where temperature area averages are mentioned, they are derived from the ACORN-SAT dataset.
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
