Wednesday, 1 March 2017 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Sydney - Product code IDCKGC25L0
Sydney in summer 2016-17: Warmest summer on record
Summer 2016-17 was the warmest on record for Sydney, with persistent warmth throughout the season and few cold spells. Records were broken for numbers of hot days and nights across the city, with many stations experiencing their warmest February day on record on the 10th and 11th. Rainfall was close to average, with a dry start to the summer followed by some heavy rain and thunderstorms during February.
Warmest summer on record
- Summer 2016-17 was the warmest on record for Sydney Observatory Hill with the mean temperature 2.8 °C above average
- Most stations, including Observatory Hill, broke summer records for all of average maximum, minimum, and mean temperatures
- Temperatures were persistently warm throughout the summer, with only 14 days failing to reach 25 °C at Observatory Hill, the second-fewest on record behind summer 1990-91 (average 41 days)
- Observatory Hill experienced a record-breaking 26 days of 30 °C or higher and 11 days of 35 °C or higher, with record numbers of days above 40 °C recorded in western Sydney including 11 days at Richmond
- Summer temperatures peaked over 10 and 11 February, with many stations recording their hottest February day on record and some also breaking summer records, although the 47.0 °C at Richmond remained below Sydney's all-time record of 47.8 °C at the old Richmond site on 14 January 1939
- Minimum temperatures were also persistently warm, with no nights below 15 °C at Observatory Hill and 58 nights reaching at least 20 °C, the second-most warm nights on record behind 64 nights in summer 1990-91 (average 22 nights)
- Five nights reached at least 25 °C, the most hot nights on record, with ten nights reaching at least 24 °C; the previous records are 4 and 6 nights respectively in 2010-11
- Temperatures reached 30 °C by 9 am on four days, with a temperature of 36.5 °C recorded at Observatory Hill at 9 am on January 18, the highest 9 am temperature since records began in 1955
- For more information on heat records broken during summer, see Special Climate Statement 61: Exceptional heat in southeast Australia in early 2017
A dry start and a wet finish
- Rainfall was average to below average across the city, with a dry December and January but a wetter than average February
- Observatory Hill recorded rain on 32 days, close to the summer average of 36 rain days
- Five days had more than 25 mm of rain (average 3 days), mostly in February, with flash flooding in parts of the Sydney CBD on 7 February and severe thunderstorms with large hail in parts of the north and northwest on 18 February
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 summer 2016-17 | |
|---|---|
| Hottest day | 47.0 °C at Richmond RAAF on 11 Feb 2017 |
| Warmest days on average | 32.9 °C at Richmond RAAF |
| Coolest days on average | 28.2 °C at Terrey Hills AWS |
| Coldest day | 17.5 °C at Springwood (Valley Heights) on 15 Dec 2016 |
| Coldest night | 9.9 °C at Springwood (Valley Heights) on 21 Dec 2016 |
| Coolest nights on average | 17.9 °C at Campbelltown (Mount Annan) |
| Warmest nights on average | 20.9 °C at Sydney (Observatory Hill) |
| Warmest night | 27.5 °C at Parramatta
North (Masons Drive) on 14 Dec 2016 27.5 °C at Springwood (Valley Heights) on 14 Dec 2016 27.5 °C at Sydney Airport AMO on 14 Dec 2016 |
| Warmest on average overall | 26.3 °C at Penrith Lakes AWS |
| Coolest on average overall | 23.5 °C at Terrey Hills AWS |
| Wettest overall | 441.8 mm at Mona Vale Golf Club |
| Driest overall | 162.0 mm at Milperra Bridge (Georges River) |
| Wettest day | 85.0 mm at Sydney (Observatory Hill) on 8 Feb 2017 |
| Strongest wind gust | 93 km/h at Horsley Park Equestrian Centre AWS on 17 Feb 2017 |
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Record highest summer temperature | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for summer |
|||
| Richmond RAAF | 47.0 | on 11 Feb 2017 | 46.4 | on 18 Jan 2013 | 24 | 29.2 |
| Badgerys Creek AWS | 46.4 | on 11 Feb 2017 | 45.8 | on 18 Jan 2013 | 22 | 28.9 |
| Penrith Lakes AWS | 46.9 | on 11 Feb 2017 | 46.5 | on 18 Jan 2013 | 22 | 29.8 |
| Record highest summer mean daily maximum temperature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for summer |
||
| Sydney (Observatory Hill) | 28.7 | 28.6 | in 1990 | 157 | 25.6 |
| Sydney Airport AMO | 29.3 | 29.0 | in 1990 | 77 | 26.2 |
| Bankstown Airport AWS | 31.0 | 30.3 | in 1990 | 48 | 27.8 |
| Camden Airport AWS | 31.8 | 31.5 | in 1990 | 40 | 28.8 |
| Richmond RAAF | 32.9 | 31.4 | in 1997 | 23 | 29.2 |
| Canterbury Racecourse AWS | 29.3 | 29.0 | in 1997 | 21 | 27.1 |
| Penrith Lakes AWS | 32.8 | 31.7 | in 1997 | 21 | 29.8 |
| Highest summer mean daily maximum temperature for at least 20 years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observed (°C) |
Most recent higher |
Average for summer |
|||
| Prospect Reservoir | 30.9 | 31.0 | in 1990 | 28.0 | |
| Record highest summer daily minimum temperature | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for summer |
|||
| Sydney Airport AMO | 27.5 | on 14 Dec 2016 | 26.4 | on 6 Feb 2011 | 78 | 18.5 |
| Camden Airport AWS | 24.3 | on 14 Jan 2017 | 24.0 | on 3 Feb 2011 | 42 | 16.3 |
| Richmond RAAF | 26.2 | on 31 Jan 2017 | 25.0 | on 23 Dec 2000 | 24 | 17.1 |
| Badgerys Creek AWS | 25.1 | on 14 Jan 2017 | 23.9 | on 3 Feb 2011 | 22 | 16.5 |
| Horsley Park Equestrian Centre AWS | 24.8 | on 31 Jan 2017 | 24.7 | on 3 Feb 2011 | 20 | 17.2 |
| Record highest summer mean daily minimum temperature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for summer |
||
| Sydney (Observatory Hill) | 20.9 | 20.7 | in 1990 | 157 | 18.4 |
| Sydney Airport AMO | 20.5 | = 20.5 | in 1990 | 77 | 18.5 |
| Parramatta North (Masons Drive) | 19.1 | 18.4 | in 2009 | 49 | 17.1 |
| Bankstown Airport AWS | 19.5 | = 19.5 | in 1990 | 48 | 17.6 |
| Camden Airport AWS | 18.1 | 17.6 | in 1990 | 40 | 16.3 |
| Richmond RAAF | 19.1 | 18.2 | in 2010 | 22 | 17.1 |
| Canterbury Racecourse AWS | 19.4 | 19.1 | in 1997 | 21 | 17.8 |
| Penrith Lakes AWS | 19.8 | 19.0 | in 2010 | 21 | 18.0 |
| Highest summer mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observed (°C) |
Most recent higher |
Average for summer |
|||
| Prospect Reservoir | 19.1 | 19.9 | in 1990 | 17.3 | |
| Record highest summer mean temperature | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for summer |
||
| Sydney (Observatory Hill) | 24.8 | 24.7 | in 1990 | 157 | 22.0 |
| Sydney Airport AMO | 24.9 | 24.8 | in 1990 | 77 | 22.4 |
| Bankstown Airport AWS | 25.2 | 24.9 | in 1990 | 48 | 22.7 |
| Parramatta North (Masons Drive) | 24.8 | 24.3 | in 1990 | 48 | 22.5 |
| Camden Airport AWS | 24.9 | 24.6 | in 1990 | 40 | 22.5 |
| Richmond RAAF | 26.0 | 24.6 | in 1997 | 22 | 23.1 |
| Canterbury Racecourse AWS | 24.3 | 24.1 | in 1997 | 21 | 22.4 |
| Penrith Lakes AWS | 26.3 | 25.1 | in 1997 | 21 | 23.9 |
| Highest summer mean temperature for at least 20 years | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observed (°C) |
Most recent higher |
Average for summer |
|||
| Prospect Reservoir | 25.1 | 25.5 | in 1990 | 22.6 | |
Extremes Records Summaries Important notes the top
| Summary statistics for summer 2016-17 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Rainfall (millimetres) |
||||||||||
| Mean for summer 2016-17 |
Diff from average |
Highest for summer 2016-17 |
Mean for summer 2016-17 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for summer 2016-17 |
Total for summer 2016-17 |
Average for summer |
Rank of summer 2016-17 |
Fraction of summer average |
|||
| Bankstown Airport AWS | 31.0 | +3.2 | 44.5 | 10 Feb 2017 | 19.5 | +1.9 | 13.1 | 10 Dec 2016 | 182.4 | 264.5 | average | 69% |
| Camden Airport AWS | 31.8 | +3.0 | 45.6 | 11 Feb 2017 | 18.1 | +1.8 | 10.7 | 21 Feb 2017 | 180.8 | 240.2 | average | 75% |
| Campbelltown (Mount Annan) | 31.4 | +2.9 | 45.6 | 11 Feb 2017 | 17.9 | +1.7 | 11.4 | 21 Feb 2017 | 188.2 | 249.7 | average | 75% |
| Canterbury Racecourse AWS | 29.3 | +2.2 | 43.1 | 10 Feb 2017 | 19.4 | +1.6 | 12.9 | 21 Feb 2017 | 283.0 | 245.5 | average | 115% |
| Holsworthy Aerodrome AWS | 30.3 | 45.1 | 11 Feb 2017 | 18.3 | 11.3 | 10 Dec 2016 | 226.0 | |||||
| Horsley Park Equestrian Centre AWS | 31.4 | +2.6 | 44.5 | 11 Feb 2017 | 18.7 | +1.5 | 13.0 | 20 Feb 2017 | 233.8 | 251.9 | average | 93% |
| Parramatta North (Masons Drive) | 30.6 | +2.7 | 44.5 | 10 Feb 2017 | 19.1 | +2.0 | 12.0 | 20 Feb 2017 | 265.0 | 304.5 | average | 87% |
| Penrith Lakes AWS | 32.8 | +3.0 | 46.9 | 11 Feb 2017 | 19.8 | +1.8 | 13.9 | 20 Dec 2016 | 163.2 | 279.1 | low | 58% |
| Prospect Reservoir | 30.9 | +2.9 | 43.4 | 13 Jan 2017 | 19.1 | +1.8 | 13.1 | 20 Dec 2016 | 322.9 | 267.2 | average | 121% |
| Richmond RAAF | 32.9 | +3.7 | 47.0 | 11 Feb 2017 | 19.1 | +2.0 | 11.5 | 21 Feb 2017 | 172.2 | 282.0 | low | 61% |
| Springwood (Valley Heights) | 30.2 | +3.2 | 44.6 | 11 Feb 2017 | 18.0 | +1.6 | 9.9 | 21 Dec 2016 | 223.2 | 366.8 | low | 61% |
| Sydney (Observatory Hill) | 28.7 | +3.1 | 39.4 | 31 Jan 2017 | 20.9 | +2.5 | 16.7 | 20 Dec 2016 | 318.6 | 297.4 | average | 107% |
| Sydney Airport AMO | 29.3 | +3.1 | 42.9 | 10 Feb 2017 | 20.5 | +2.0 | 16.2 | 10 Dec 2016 | 261.8 | 280.7 | average | 93% |
| Terrey Hills AWS | 28.2 | +2.4 | 40.9 | 5 Feb 2017 | 18.9 | +1.3 | 13.5 | 10 Dec 2016 | 278.8 | 304.1 | average | 92% |
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 Wednesday 1 March 2017. 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
