Friday, 1 June 2018 - Seasonal Climate Summary for Greater Sydney - Product code IDCKGC25L0
Greater Sydney in autumn 2018: new autumn temperature records set for Sydney
Autumn 2018 was the warmest on record for most sites in Greater Sydney, beating the previous record set in 2016. Rainfall was well below average across the region and the driest autumn at Observatory Hill since 2006.
Drier than average
- Rainfall was below average across Greater Sydney, with a particularly dry May to end the season
- The wettest day for autumn occurred on 13 March, where most coastal sites recorded more than 50 mm of rain; Mona Vale Golf Club was the wettest site in Greater Sydney recording 112.8 mm to 9am, its wettest March day on record
- Sydney Observatory Hill recorded a daily rainfall of 25 mm or greater on only one occasion, compared to the autumn average of 4 days; while nearly all sites in the west of Greater Sydney had zero days with 25 mm or more
- Sydney Observatory Hill recorded rainfall on 24 days, compared to the autumn average of 39 days
- Sydney Airport averaged 7.7 hours of sunshine per day in autumn, an hour more than the average of 6.7 hours per day
Record breaking warmth
- Autumn 2018 was the warmest autumn on record in terms of mean maximum temperature for many of the sites across Greater Sydney, slightly eclipsing records set in autumn 2016
- The warmest day across the region for autumn 2018 was 18 March, when Badgerys Creek had its highest autumn temperature on record with 40.0 °C; Sydney Airport, Holsworthy and Bankstown Airport also recorded maxima over 40 °C
- April was particularly warm, with many new April temperature records being set; March and May also brought above average temperatures across Greater Sydney
- Sydney Observatory Hill experienced maximum temperatures of 25 °C or more on 49 days this autumn, the most ever for autumn, and well above the autumn average of 20 days
- Minimum temperatures were typically up to 1 °C warmer across the region, however Sydney Observatory Hill and Sydney Airport were 1.8 °C and 2.0 °C above average respectively
- Norah Head in the north of the region recorded its highest autumn mean daily minimum temperature on record equal with 2016, with an average of 16.9 °C
- With the combination of warm days and nights, many sites had their highest autumn mean temperature on record
Sydney (Observatory Hill)
- Total rainfall for Sydney (Observatory Hill) was 165.2 mm, which is 44% of the long-term average of 376.7 mm and the driest autumn since 2006
- The mean daily maximum temperature for Sydney (Observatory Hill) was 24.9 °C, which is 2.7 °C above the long-term average of 22.2 °C, and the warmest autumn in its 160 years of record. The warmest day was 38.4 °C on 18 Mar, and the coolest day was on 11 May when the temperature reached 16.5 °C
- The mean daily minimum temperature for Sydney (Observatory Hill) was 16.4 °C, which is 1.8 °C above the long-term average of 14.6 °C. The coldest morning was 9.2 °C on 20 May, and the warmest morning was on 14 Apr when the minimum temperature was 23.2 °C
Further information
- Media
- media@bom.gov.au (03) 9669 4057
- Enquiries
- helpdesk.climate@bom.gov.au
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
Extremes in autumn 2018 | |
---|---|
Hottest day |
40.5 °C at Sydney Airport AMO on 18 Mar |
Warmest days on average |
26.9 °C at Penrith Lakes AWS |
Coolest days on average |
19.3 °C at Mount Boyce AWS |
Coldest day |
7.2 °C at Mount Boyce AWS on 11 May |
Coldest night |
-0.1 °C at Mount Boyce AWS on 11 May |
Coolest nights on average |
9.5 °C at Mount Boyce AWS |
Warmest nights on average |
17.4 °C at Sydney Harbour (Wedding Cake West) |
Warmest night |
23.2 °C at Sydney (Observatory Hill) on 14 Apr |
Warmest on average overall |
20.8 °C at Norah Head AWS 20.8 °C at Sydney (Observatory Hill Comparison) |
Coolest on average overall |
14.4 °C at Mount Boyce AWS |
Wettest overall |
261.8 mm at Katoomba (Murri St) |
Driest overall | 38.0 mm at Milperra Bridge (Georges River) |
Wettest day |
112.8 mm at Mona Vale Golf Club on 13 Mar |
Strongest wind gust |
107 km/h at Wattamolla AWS on 13 May |
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
Record highest autumn temperature | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for autumn |
|||
Badgerys Creek AWS | 40.0 | on 18 Mar | = 40.0 | on 13 Mar 1998 | 23 | 23.8 |
Record highest autumn mean daily maximum temperature | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for autumn |
||
Sydney (Observatory Hill) | 24.9 | 24.8 | in 2016 | 159 | 22.2 |
Sydney Airport AMO | 25.1 | = 25.1 | in 2016 | 78 | 22.8 |
Bankstown Airport AWS | 26.2 | 26.0 | in 2016 | 49 | 23.5 |
Parramatta North (Masons Drive) | 25.7 | 25.5 | in 2016 | 48 | 23.6 |
Camden Airport AWS | 26.1 | 26.0 | in 2016 | 41 | 23.8 |
Norah Head AWS | 24.6 | 24.4 | in 2016 | 23 | 22.7 |
Canterbury Racecourse AWS | 25.0 | = 25.0 | in 2016 | 22 | 23.3 |
Penrith Lakes AWS | 26.9 | 26.7 | in 2016 | 22 | 24.4 |
Record highest autumn mean daily minimum temperature | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for autumn |
||
Norah Head AWS | 16.9 | = 16.9 | in 2016 | 23 | 16.0 |
Record highest autumn mean temperature | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New record (°C) |
Old record |
Years of record |
Average for autumn |
||
Bankstown Airport AWS | 20.0 | 19.8 | in 2016 | 49 | 18.2 |
Parramatta North (Masons Drive) | 19.7 | = 19.7 | in 2016 | 48 | 18.2 |
Norah Head AWS | 20.8 | 20.7 | in 2016 | 23 | 19.3 |
Richmond RAAF | 19.5 | = 19.5 | in 2016 | 23 | 17.8 |
Canterbury Racecourse AWS | 19.4 | 19.2 | in 2016 | 22 | 18.1 |
Horsley Park Equestrian Centre AWS | 19.7 | = 19.7 | in 2016 | 20 | 18.2 |
Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top
Summary statistics for autumn 2018 | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maximum temperatures (°C) |
Minimum temperatures (°C) |
Rainfall (millimetres) |
||||||||||
Mean for autumn 2018 |
Diff from average |
Highest for autumn 2018 |
Mean for autumn 2018 |
Diff from average |
Lowest for autumn 2018 |
Total for autumn 2018 |
Average for autumn |
Rank of autumn 2018 |
Fraction of autumn average |
|||
Badgerys Creek AWS | 25.9 | +2.1 | 40.0 | 18 Mar | 12.4 | +1.0 | 2.5 | 18 May | 54.0 | 171.6 | low | 31% |
Bankstown Airport AWS | 26.2 | +2.7 | 40.1 | 18 Mar | 13.7 | +0.9 | 4.4 | 20 May | 63.0 | 247.9 | v low | 25% |
Camden Airport AWS | 26.1 | +2.3 | 39.7 | 18 Mar | 11.5 | +0.5 | 0.4 | 20 May | 59.2 | 209.4 | v low | 28% |
Campbelltown (Mount Annan) | 26.3 | +2.3 | 39.7 | 18 Mar | 12.0 | +0.8 | 1.6 | 20 May | 41.4 | 180.4 | v low | 23% |
Canterbury Racecourse AWS | 25.0 | +1.7 | 38.9 | 18 Mar | 13.8 | +0.9 | 4.1 | 31 May | ||||
Cooranbong (Lake Macquarie AWS) | 25.3 | 38.8 | 18 Mar | 12.5 | 2.7 | 18 May | 194.2 | |||||
Gosford AWS | 24.5 | 38.2 | 18 Mar | 14.5 | 6.0 | 18 May | 193.6 | |||||
Holsworthy (Defence) | 25.1 | 40.4 | 18 Mar | 12.5 | 3.8 | 20 May | 132.8 | |||||
Holsworthy Aerodrome AWS | 25.5 | 39.8 | 18 Mar | 12.7 | 3.3 | 18 May | 49.4 | |||||
Horsley Park Equestrian Centre AWS | 25.9 | +2.2 | 39.2 | 18 Mar | 13.5 | +0.8 | 3.5 | 20 May | 46.6 | 194.6 | v low | 24% |
Katoomba (Murri St) | 30.2 | 18 Mar | 10.5 | +1.7 | 0.8 | 11 May | 261.8 | 389.2 | average | 67% | ||
Mangrove Mountain AWS | 24.0 | +2.3 | 36.4 | 18 Mar | 12.5 | +0.4 | 3.6 | 20 May | 178.6 | 303.3 | low | 59% |
Mount Boyce AWS | 19.3 | +2.3 | 29.8 | 18 Mar | 9.5 | +0.8 | -0.1 | 11 May | 134.6 | 235.8 | low | 57% |
Norah Head AWS | 24.6 | +1.9 | 37.1 | 18 Mar | 16.9 | +0.9 | 9.4 | 31 May | 138.4 | 375.0 | v low | 37% |
Parramatta North (Masons Drive) | 25.7 | +2.1 | 38.5 | 18 Mar | 13.6 | +0.7 | 5.2 | 20 May | 109.1 | 268.6 | low | 41% |
Penrith Lakes AWS | 26.9 | +2.5 | 38.8 | 18 Mar | 13.6 | +0.5 | 3.8 | 31 May | 104.4 | 161.6 | average | 65% |
Prospect Reservoir | 25.7 | +2.2 | 39.1 | 18 Mar | 13.7 | +0.7 | 4.4 | 20 May | 85.9 | 243.3 | low | 35% |
Richmond RAAF | 26.5 | +2.6 | 39.6 | 18 Mar | 12.5 | +0.9 | 0.3 | 20 May | 54.6 | 179.7 | low | 30% |
Springwood (Valley Heights) | 24.0 | +1.8 | 37.1 | 18 Mar | 13.5 | +1.1 | 5.2 | 20 May | 136.2 | 287.4 | low | 47% |
Sydney (Observatory Hill Comparison) | 25.4 | 38.0 | 18 Mar | 16.1 | 8.8 | 20 May | 157.6 | |||||
Sydney (Observatory Hill) | 24.9 | +2.7 | 38.4 | 18 Mar | 16.4 | +1.8 | 9.2 | 20 May | 165.2 | 376.7 | low | 44% |
Sydney Airport AMO | 25.1 | +2.3 | 40.5 | 18 Mar | 16.3 | +2.0 | 8.2 | 31 May | 149.2 | 320.8 | v low | 47% |
Sydney Harbour (Wedding Cake West) | 22.9 | +0.9 | 38.2 | 18 Mar | 17.4 | +0.9 | 10.4 | 11 May | ||||
Sydney Olympic Park AWS (Archery Centre) | 25.5 | 38.5 | 18 Mar | 14.4 | 5.5 | 31 May | 108.4 | |||||
Terrey Hills AWS | 23.4 | +1.3 | 37.1 | 18 Mar | 14.7 | +0.9 | 5.7 | 31 May | 210.4 | 307.0 | low | 69% |
Extremes Maps 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 Greater 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.
In September 2017 this summary was broadened to include data from observing sites in or near the Greater Sydney “Greater Capital City Statistical Area” (GCCSA). The Australian Bureau of Statistics designed the GCCSAs to “include the population within the urban area of the city, as well as people who regularly socialise, shop or work within the city, and live in small towns and rural areas surrounding the city. It is important to note that GCCSAs do not define the built up edge of the city. They provide a stable definition for these cities and are designed for the output of a range of social and economic survey data.”
This statement has been prepared based on information available at 10 am on Friday 1 June 2018. Some checks have been made on the data, but it is possible that results will change as new information becomes available.
In some situations, some or all of the rainfall is in the form of hail or snow. In these cases the totals given are for the water equivalent: the depth of liquid water that results from melting any frozen precipitation. There can be significant 'undercatch' of snow in strong winds, meaning the true precipitation can be higher than that reported.
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